Collection: New Courses and Programs

This course presents a unique approach to understanding and applying colour developed by David over the last 25 years. It consists of eight beautifully illustrated lectures complemented by optional practical exercises that progress from mastering colour control in paint through to still-life painting studies. The live lectures and discussions can be viewed outside class as video recordings. Students undertake practical exercises outside class and can submit photos for feedback.

This course presents a unique approach to understanding and applying colour developed by David over the last 25 years. It consists of eight beautifully illustrated lectures complemented by optional practical exercises that progress from mastering colour control in paint through to still-life painting studies. The live lectures and discussions can be viewed outside class as video recordings. Students undertake practical exercises outside class and can submit photos for feedback.

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the Australian art world, a rich and complex ecosystem that bridges public exhibitions and collections, commercial galleries, university and art school galleries, art fairs, artist and community run initiatives, and private collections.

Learn to use the potter’s wheel to create simple, elegant ceramic forms in this hands-on eight-week course. Explore the full process from clay to glazed pot through group demonstrations and individual guidance. Suitable for all levels, the course builds confidence, refines technique, and reveals the creative possibilities of throwing and glazing.

This hands-on, practical workshop will cover the basics of ceramic glaze composition, surface development, application techniques, and firing over a range of temperatures. Learn how to test, apply, and fire glazes to suit your own practice.

Discover new approaches to handbuilding with an intuitive approach, exploring techniques such as pinching, coiling, stacking, joining, and slabs to create expressive vessels and sculptural forms. Across multiple firings, you’ll explore slip decoration and glazing, layering colour and texture to achieve rich, unexpected surfaces.  

Intermediate to advanced painters will develop their technical skill and studio practice through structured projects and critical discussions. Refine your oil and acrylic techniques, explore supports, colour theory, glazing and mediums, while engaging with traditional genres, historical examples, and group critiques to strengthen your artistic confidence. 

Learn to see beyond the bewildering details of your subject to gather the colour information you need to get your painting off to a great start! 

Discover how to think of colour in a way that enables you to mix the exact colour that you want confidently and directly, every time. The course assumes no prior knowledge and has given great results with students from beginner to advanced levels.

Have you always wanted to paint but haven’t known where to start? Designed for complete beginners, this course will give you a solid and practical foundation in painting using acrylics and oil paints. Learn simple processes for colour mixing, composition, and perspective, to produce a suite of finished paintings.

Learn to paint expressively with an individual approach while increasing your knowledge and understanding of the importance of colour, composition and form. Using acrylic or oil paint, students will learn how to mix and experiment with colour and will be encouraged to paint quickly and loosely and to develop expressive brushwork.

Engage your five senses in the act of drawing and experience a fresh, personal and perceptive approach to art making. From initial idea generation to the creation of resolved drawings, this course provides a pathway to dynamic and personal expression.

Do you want to develop your life drawing skills? This course is ideal for students and practicing artists interested in drawing from a range of models, both draped and undraped, exploring strategies for understanding and depicting the human form. Learn to draw key anatomical landmarks of the body and express gesture and rhythm.

Work directly from the nude figure to understand the balance between observed figuration and abstract formal qualities. All fundamental drawing elements are considered, including compositional issues of the human form, space and structure.

Join a comprehensive, foundation course in figure drawing to develop your technical skills and gain confidence in capturing the human form in dynamic poses in the drawing studio and in real-world environments. 

Immerse yourself in the luminous world of watercolour and explore the expressive potential of the medium, working across landscapes, still life, and the human figure. With demonstrations, hands-on exercises, and discussions, this course encourages you to refine your technique while embracing spontaneity.

Immerse yourself in the luminous world of watercolour and explore the expressive potential of the medium, working across landscapes, still life, and the human figure. With demonstrations, hands-on exercises, and discussions, this course encourages you to refine your technique while embracing spontaneity.

Immerse yourself in the luminous world of watercolour and explore the expressive potential of the medium, working across landscapes, still life, and the human figure. With demonstrations, hands-on exercises, and discussions, this course encourages you to refine your technique while embracing spontaneity.

Explore contemporary landscape painting through a balance of outdoor drawing and indoor painting practice. On location you’ll make sketches that capture shifting light, colour, and atmosphere. In the NAS studio, you’ll experiment, reflect, and transform these studies into painted works, developing confidence through spontaneous observation and thoughtful refinement.

Develop and deepen your practice of hand-building in ceramics, whether you're interested in creating vessels, figurative forms, abstract sculptures, large-scale works, or a series of smaller pieces. Ideal for both beginners and intermediate students seeking to expand their skills. 

Are you eager to move from being an arts enthusiast to a practising, exhibiting and sustainable artist? Learn what it takes to become a professional artist; how to research and understand the investment of time, money, planning, energy and creativity it requires to survive in the arts. 

This 5-day intensive is a hands-on introduction to the art of film photography. Designed for beginners and enthusiasts alike, the course covers the fundamentals of shooting with manual film cameras, understanding exposure, composition, darkroom printing, and the unique characteristics of film photography. 

Enhance your throwing skills to create larger, more intricate forms on the potter’s wheel and expand your existing throwing techniques. Explore new methods, including advanced coiling and the complexities of sectional throwing, to create tall forms and low, wide pieces.