Artist-Tutors: Bob Matthews and Annie Cattrell FRSS RSA
Format: Online — fortnightly full studio days, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Frequency: Every two weeks throughout the year — 6 sessions per term, 18 sessions across the year
Fee: £525 per term | Annual fee £1,450
Please note: course fees will increase with effect from 5 July 2026.
Interior with simple window, 2012. Watercolour on paper © Bob Matthews
About This Course
Developing Your Art Practice is a yearlong, online programme for artists who want to give their practice the sustained attention, critical structure and creative community it deserves — but who may be working across media, disciplines or stages of development where a single medium course would not fully serve them.
Led by painter Bob Matthews and sculptor and Royal Scottish Academician Annie Cattrell, the course takes a deliberately broad view of what it means to develop as an artist. It is not a painting course, a sculpture course, or a drawing course. It is a course about the practice of making art: how you generate ideas, how you develop and test them, how you discuss your work with clarity and confidence, and how you build the habits and critical frameworks that sustain a practice over years rather than weeks.
The fortnightly format — one full day every two weeks — is designed to give participants genuine breathing space between sessions: time to make work, reflect on what was discussed, and return with new material and new questions. There are no half terms. The rhythm is the structure.
Who This Course Is For
- Artists at intermediate to advanced level, working in any media
- Those who want the support of a structured programme without being confined to a single discipline
- Former art school students who miss the structure and conversation of a creative cohort
- Practitioners looking to reignite their practice or move it in a new direction
- Artists based anywhere in the UK or beyond for whom an online fortnightly programme is the right fit
What the Year Involves
- Three terms of six fortnightly sessions — full live online studio days, 10am to 5pm
- No half terms — the two-week rhythm between sessions provides the natural break
- Personalised one-to-one feedback alongside group critiques tailored to each participant’s goals
- Practical demonstrations and guided activities alongside broader discussions on research and professional development
- A small, committed cohort of maximum ten participants — ensuring genuine individual attention
Session Dates 2026–27
| Term | Session Dates (fortnightly) |
| Autumn Term | 9 Oct · 23 Oct · 6 Nov · 20 Nov · 4 Dec · 18 Dec 2026 |
| Spring Term | 15 Jan · 29 Jan · 12 Feb · 26 Feb · 12 Mar · 26 Mar 2027 |
| Summer Term | 23 Apr · 7 May · 21 May · 4 Jun · 18 Jun · 2 Jul 2027 |
Total sessions: 18 across the year (6 per term). No half terms — the fortnightly rhythm is the structure. Annual programme runs 9 October 2026 – 2 July 2027.
About the Artist-Tutors
Bob Matthews
Bob is an established painter and long-standing member of the ESOP tutor team. His practice spans painting, drawing and printmaking, with a particular focus on the observed interior and landscape. He brings to his teaching both rigorous material knowledge and a deep commitment to helping artists find their own means of expression.
Annie Cattrell FRSS RSA
Annie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors and a Royal Scottish Academician. Her practice engages with the intersection of art, science and natural phenomena, and has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Her approach to making and thinking about art offers participants on this course an expansive and intellectually stimulating perspective.
| Art Materials As an online course, students are responsible for providing their own art materials. A recommended materials list will be provided at enrolment.Over the course of the year, we encourage students to build their own studio palette. The recommended list is a practical guide to assembling and sourcing materials that serve your practice well beyond the course itself. |
The ESOP Pathway
Developing Your Art Practice is designed for artists who want sustained support for their practice regardless of discipline. Those who discover through the year that painting is their primary medium may wish to explore ESOP’s painting-specific yearlong programmes or the Advanced Painting Course.
