Drawing Ground: The Pause with Beyond Space

Drawing Ground: The Pause

How can we make our lives more creative and joyful? Perhaps by setting aside one creative day each month as a starting point. Drawing is a simple and powerful way to reconnect with your imagination, slow down, and reset.

Drawing Ground: The Pause at Stanley Arts is a series of relaxed and welcoming drawing sessions for adults, offering a gentle creative space to pause, breathe, and make art away from the pressures of everyday life. This is for anyone needing a creative reset – whether you’re a freelancer taking a mindful day away from work, a parent carving out a rare quiet moment, an older adult exploring creativity with more time, or simply someone looking for calm, inspiration, and connection. Each session explores a different approach to drawing, with gentle guidance, creative prompts, and all materials provided.

Inspired by the performative energy of Stanley Arts, these sessions invite you to explore drawing as a sensory experience. You’ll be invited to explore drawing in playful, imaginative, and sometimes unexpected ways. No previous experience is needed. You’ll leave with your own unique drawings, a sense of creative confidence, and a refreshed mind. Refreshments will be provided. Enjoy a morning tea or coffee while meeting others and drawing together.

Session 1, 22 May: Close observation & sensory still life drawing Starting with a series of guided drawing exercises, participants will explore drawing as a way of sensing – paying attention to detail, texture, and rhythm from provided objects. The focus is on slowing perception and translating what is seen and felt into your drawing.

Session 2, 26 June: Expressive pastel drawing inspired by abstract artists Participants will create an expressive drawing using soft pastels, working with movement and gesture beyond the desk. Inspired by abstract artists, you explore how colour, rhythm, and mark-making can express energy and feeling.

Session 3, 17 July: Fluid watercolour drawing Introducing watercolour as a fluid extension of drawing, participants will explore wet drawing materials responding intuitively rather than controlling outcomes. You combine line, wash, and chance effects to create atmospheric works.

Time: 10am–12.30pm When: 22 May, 26 June, 17 July 2026 (Fridays) Where: The Living Room, Stanley Arts

£30 – Single session £80 – Three-session bundle