Teaching and learning…

…are often spoken about as two seperate things, but over the past month I've been reminded how deeply connected they really are. While teaching a recent four-week landscape-based course at Studio164 in Falkirk, I found myself reflecting not only on what participants were gaining from the experience, but also on how much the process was reshaping and reinvigorating my own creative practice.

The course was built around exploring the landscape through a range of materials and processes, encouraing experiementation rather than perfection. Each week focused on a different way of observing, translating and responding to landscape, gradually building towards a finished painted piece by the final session. What became clear very quickly, however, was that the most valuable outcomes were not necessarily the finished works themselves, but the confidence, curiosity and openness that developed throughout the process.

As artists, it can be easy to become overly focused on outcomes, productivity and refinement. Working alone in the studio often means becoming highly self-critical or rushing towards resolution too quickly. Teaching disrupted that mindset for me. It created a space where slowing down, observing closely and allowing uncertainty became not only acceptable, but essential.

In the first week, we explored sketching and mono-printing as tools for simplifying the landscape down to its key compositional elements. Rather than focusing on realism or detail, we looked at rhythm, shape, atmosphere and structure. Participants worked intuitively, layering marks and reducing forms in unexpected ways. Watching people interpret the same starting points so differently reminded me that there is never a single 'correct' response to landscape. It also reminded me how powerful simplification can be within paintings - something I often know instinctively in my own work, but sometimes forgot in practice.

One of the things I noticed immediately was how quickly participants began to loosen up one the pressure of creating something 'good' disappeared. There was a real shift when people realised the sessions were about exploration rather than technical perfection. That openness created some of the most exciting moments within the course. People began taking risks, layering over work, embracing mistakes and discovering unexpected textures and compositions through experimentation.

Week two focused on colour through watercolour and geli plate printing. This became one of the most energetic and playful sessions of the course. The unpredictability of the printing process encourage people to let go of control and respond instinctively to what emerged on the page. Watching participants become absorbed in the process - excited by accidents, overlaps and surprising combinations - reminded me how important spontaneity and play are within creativity.

As artists, we often lose touch with experiments once we become overly concerned with outcomes or professional expectations. Teaching brought me back to the importance of process-led making and reminded me that some of the strongest creative ideas often emerge through openness rather than planning. Seeing others work without overthinking encouraged me to approach my own practice with more freedom and less self-editing.

By week three, the course shifted toward creating handmade artist books using the sketches, prints and painted studies developed in earlier sessions. This became one of the most thoughful and refelctive parts of the programme. Participants began bringing together fragments of work into small visual narratives connected to place, memory and atmosphere. Although everyone has worked from similar themes, every book became entirely individual.

What struck me most during this stage was how naturally people began trusting their own instincts once they stopped searhcing for approval or certainty. There was a growing confidence in decision-making - not because people suddenly believed they were 'good' at art, but because they became more comfortable responding intuitively and allowing the work to evolve naturally.

Teaching often reveals that confidence in creativity rarely comes from mastering techinque alone. More often, it develops through permission - permission to experiement, to fail, to change direction and to trust personal responses. Watching participants grow more comfortable within uncertainty was genuinely inspiring.

The final week focused on creating a resolved 20 x 20cm plywood painting using ideas, textures and approaches developed throughout the course. By this stage, there was a noticeable transformation in the room. Participants were approaching materials differently, taking more ownership over their decisions and becoming less concerned with comparison or perfection. The final paintings were incredibly varied, expressive and personal precisely because people had stopped trying to produce a singular 'correct' outcome.

Seeing that growth unfold over four weeks brought me a huge amount of joy. One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching has been witnessing people surprise themselves creatively. There is something incredibly special about seeing someone move from hesitation and uncertainty toward total immersion, confidence and excitement in their own process.

At the same time, teaching has encouraged me to reflect more deeply on my own relationship with creativity. It has reminded me that making art is not only about producing finished works for exhibition or sale. Creativity also has an important emotion and human function - helping people slow down, observe more carefully, connect with memory and experience, and spend time making without pressure or expectation.

In many ways, I feel I learned just as much from the course as the particpants did. Teaching encouraged me to articulate my own processes more clearly, revisit techinques with fresh eyes and reconnect with the joy of experiementation. It reminded me that creativity thrives most when there is space for curiosity, play and openness.

Following the course, I'm now exploring opportunities to develop more workshops at Studio164, alongside potential artist book and landscape-focused classes in Falkirk town centre and at Callander House over the summer. Building creative spaces where people can experiment freely, grow in confidence and connect through making is becoming an increasingly important part of my practice.

This experience has reinforced something I continue to come back to within both art and teaching: creativity is rarely about perfection. More often, it is about attention, curiosity, connection and giving ourselves permission to explore.