Cath teaching insect-art at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Cath teaches on workshops with relevant partner organisations in the region and nationally.
Sat 22nd April 2023 – Welsh Society for Botanical Illustration. Insect-art workshop. Tredegar House, South Wales. “Studying and Painting Ladybirds”.
13-14th May 2023 – 10.00 – 4.00 Closed workshop for the Eden Project Floregium. “Studying and Painting Dragonflies & Damselflies” .
Dragonflies and Damselflies are leviathans amongst insects. They are the UK’s biggest insect and also one of its most mystical. They are great survivors and date back as far as the dinosaurs. They are notoriously shy, but are skilled and ruthless hunters. In this water colour painting course, participants will have the chance to study and paint these beautiful creatures in much greater detail. This workshop is aimed at all skill-levels.
This unique water colour painting day will pay homage to these breath-taking insects
Cath and the course participants will discuss how they fly, hunt, and why they are so colourful. As with Cath’s other courses, each student will have access to their own high powered microscopes and specimens to study the anatomical beauty of these impressive insects.
27th May 2023 – New Brewery Arts Centre. – “Studying and Painting Beautiful Butterflies”
This watercolour painting workshop is for all abilities and for those who love insects, particularly butterflies and want to find out more about their fascinating anatomy, diversity of colour, form and lifestyle, …..In short, it is designed to celebrate their hidden world.
Painting such small and intricate creatures can be difficult because of the challenges thrown up by their size. To overcome this, each participant will have access to high-powered microscopes and other magnification equipment, such as hand-held magnifying glasses, as well as macro photographs from Cath’s own collection. They will also make use of Cath’s own fascinating ethical insect specimens – both exotic and indigenous….and then pay homage to these wonderful mini beasts by producing a beautiful, unique and detailed watercolour painting. ………Do come along and enter a fascinating unseen world
For more info, click here: https://www.newbreweryarts.org.uk/studying-and-painting-beautiful-butterflies
Sun 16th July 2023 – 10-4.00. Cath will be hosting a Bee Tutorial and Conservation day with Brigit Strawbridge-Howard (author of Dancing with Bees)
Aug 8,15,22 – Cranham Art Group – Studying an Painting Dragonflies & Damselflies –
Thurs 21st Sept 2023 (evening event) – “Why Insects Are So Important To Us All”
A unique talk and art session with Cath Hodsman, AMRSB in appreciation of one of our most important & fascinating groups of animals – insects….at Charlton King’s very own Eco/Conservation Summit.
23rd Sept 2023 – 10.00 – 4.00 – New Brewery Arts Centre – “Studying and Painting Spectacular Colours & Pattern in Animals” – Nature offers us the most spectacular visual show on Earth. Fabulous colour and pattern in the natural world offer us daily feasts for our eyes – and none more so than in the animal kingdom. This unique one-day watercolour painting workshop will use microscopes, magnifying glasses and macro photos to explore the magical and vibrant world of nature’s palette – to find out how animals use their vast range of colour, shades, patterns and hues to survive, hide, attract mates & communicate. Students will then pay homage to what they learn by painting an intricate and beautiful watercolour study. This workshop is not online yet. If you’d like more details, please email Cath on cathhodsman@gmail.com
7th October 2023 – Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. “Studying & Painting the Beauty of Butterflies”
This watercolour painting course is suitable for all levels and for those who want to learn more about the hidden micro worlds that are all around us. It will examine the essential and fascinating relationship between butterflies and moths and the plants that they live in, on and around. It will look at how butterflies and moths are not only beautiful, but design-perfection and a lot tougher than you might think.
Each student will have their own dedicated microscope for the day, as well as beautiful butterfly and moth specimens, (natural-death and ethically sourced) to enter their unseen and fascinating world.
Students will then pay homage to what they see and learn, through the medium of art, by producing a detailed, beautiful and unique watercolour painting.
Click for info : https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/slimbridge/whats-on/studying-and-painting-the-beauty-of-butterflies
15th October 2023 – Birmingham Society of Botanical Illustration. “Studying and Painting Pollinators”. This workshop will examine the essential and fascinating relationship between pollinating insects and the plants they live in, on and around. It will look at how plants provide food for insects, in return for pollination and how the insects obtain this food, especially bees.
Each student will have exclusive use of their own dedicated microscope, magnifying glasses and macro photographs, as well as Cath’s own huge insect (ethically sourced) specimen collection, to look at the anatomy of insects, (particularly bees) in order to produce a unique and detailed watercolour painting of a Common Carder bumblebee.
11-12th November – Nature in Art, Glos. “Studying & Painting the Loveliness of Ladybirds” . As winter’s bite takes hold, insects prepare to overwinter in safety. One of our most well-loved & well-known insects hiding away from weather extremes are ladybirds…. But just how much do we actually know about them, their lifecycle & lifestyle?
On this watercolour painting (or coloured pencils) workshop Cath will take participants on an incredible journey into the secret world of ladybirds – To discover how their brightly–coloured bodies are design perfection; how they fit into ecosystems and how we all benefit from their essential presence in our lives. She will then use art to pay homage to these cheery mini garden leviathans.
As with Cath’s other courses, each student will have access to their own high-powered microscopes, as well as her large selection of ethically-sourced insect specimens and macro photos, to study and paint/sketch the hidden beauty of these much-loved bugs.
Participants will be guided by Cath’s tutorage to produce a detailed and unique painting, paying homage to the smaller things in life.
This workshop is aimed at all ability levels: Click for more info: https://natureinart.org.uk/whatson/action~agenda/page_offset~2/cat_ids~16/request_format~json/
3rd February 2024 – Slimbridge Wetlands Trust. 10.00 – 4.00. “Studying and Painting Magnificent Metamorphosis – the Beautiful and Mysterious Lifecycle of Insects.” Click for more info:
https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/slimbridge/whats-on/studying-and-painting-magical-metamorphosis
