Hello and welcome to Cardiff Open Art School. Our new programme of courses for Summer 2013 starts on Monday 22 April. It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced artist, are preparing a portfolio to apply for an art, design, architecture or creative industries course or if you’ve never picked up a pencil or paintbrush before, we’ve got something to offer you. What all our staff and students have in common is their passion for art and design.

For Summer 2013 we’re running our popular courses again which include Digital Photography – Introduction:DSLR, Life Drawing, Exploring Drawing and Painting in Oil & Acrylic for Beginners. We’re also re-launching the Relief Printmaking course with Laura Lillie who will also be running the Solarplate Etching 5 session course which is continuing to prove so popular. Sarah Edmonds will also be running the Book Binding and Handmade Books course as a four session course, starting on Monday 13 May.

We’ve also released details of some of our Summer holiday courses which will include a selection of Saturday sessions including a Letter Press workshop on 27 July with Sarah Edmonds, a Relief Printmaking: Studio Printing Day (for those who have complete the evening course previously) on 3 August with Laura Lillie and a five session Digital Photography – creating your portfolio that starts on Wednesday 3 July, 7-9pm.

Places are limited on all of the courses, so book now to avoid disappointment! You can pay by credit card by calling 029 2041 6628 or download an enrolment form (pdf format) and send in a cheque for your course fee along with the completed form. You can also buy a gift certificate as a present for someone else – the perfect gift for a creative friend.

For regular updates, news about CSAD shows and interesting art and design events happening around town follow us on twitter @CardiffCOAS or join our Facebook page Cardiff Open Art School at Cardiff Metropolitan University. If you’d like to join our emailing list just contact coas@cardiffmet.ac.uk .

A range of credit-bearing multimedia courses are also available with our partners Ffotogallery, based at Chapter Arts Centre. These include Introduction to Photography, Digital Video and Creative Web Design. Visit www.ffotogallery.org for further details.