Founder of Jessie’s Art Shed, Jessie together with Olly, creative and administrative director and the art teachers and creative assistants who help to run the workshops and classes, all share a passion for spreading the joy of creativity. Since Jessie established her Art Shed in a shed in Standlake back in 2015, she has remained the creative force behind everything JAS does.
Collectively the team offer the opportunity for toddlers to adults to get creative each week from their recently extended ‘shop’ located at 9 High Street, Eynsham. As Jessie had always wanted a ‘destination’ place for groups to get creative, when the shop next door to them came up for rent in summer 2023, Jessie and Olly decided that they had to go for it, opening up and connecting the two spaces. In order to help them achieve their dreams, they launched a Crowdfunder for the new project with a goal to raise £5,000 to cover the cost of cutting through and partial costs for setting the space up. Thanks however to contributions from a wide range supporters, they managed to raise over £6,000.
“JAS has always been about so much more than us earning money,” says Jessie. “It’s a place where people can connect, where you’ll always be met with friendly faces, where creativity can happen freely and where you can be completely yourself. In a world where the High Street is struggling, and businesses are being forced to close, we wanted to fight to prove that businesses like ours are an integral part of society.”
Each week, Jessie, Lisa, Emma and Grace teach a range of different art lessons and workshops. Friday mornings from 11am until 11.45am or 12pm, there is Toddler Session enabling parents or guardians, work one to one with their toddler, getting creative and getting messy. Older children are well catered for too as JAS runs group lessons throughout the school term, with different slots for different age groups, running during the afternoons and early evenings. They also offer Home Education sessions on Fridays.
The children’s workshops running during the summer cover interesting projects such as making jewellery dishes and bracelets, woodland animal vinyl clocks, even the Hogwarts Express, to mention just a few. There is also a longer crochet day, a craft which is once again becoming popular. They also run five day summer schools aimed at different age groups 7 to 11 and 9 to 15.
A wide variety of adult classes are also available, many of which are held on Saturdays. Subjects can range from bullet journaling, lino printing to creating retro city posters. You can also learn how to make attractive macramé wall hangings.
To offer another opportunity for women in their 20’s and 30’s to make new female friends, they hold a monthly Meet and Make Social Night. For two hours you can make new friends whilst learning a new creative skill, all for £20 including hot drinks and tasty snacks.
“Our lessons are built around building confidence within art, whilst developing artistic skills through using different media and techniques, doing different projects each term.
When lessons and workshops are not being held, you can be part of ‘Sit-in Sessions.’ Although not taught by a member of staff, the sessions enable you to come along the get involved in a selection of arts and craft goodies on your own and meet other people with shared interests.
To find out more about getting involved, visit jessiesartshed.com or feel free to send them an email (info@jessiesartshed.com) with any questions you may have!
