All Art Classes

A Year of Light 2025

Course skill level: Beginner & Intermediate

Join us for “A Year of Light” and illuminate your art and life!

 

A Year of Light is a year-long, immersive mixed media art course which explores the myriad aspects of light, both literal and metaphorical. This course is hosted by renowned artist and author; Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts. She is joined by 30 incredible artists to provide you with an illuminating new creative experience! On this course, we dive deeply into the concept of light and its profound implications in art, emotion and expression.

 

Join us for a journey through art & light.

✨🙌✨

All lessons are intricately themed around the concept of ‘light,’ ensuring a rich and varied learning experience. By the end of the year, you will have created a series of beautiful paintings having gained a deeper understanding of light in art and how to convey its emotional and expressive depths in your work.

Join “A Year of Light” now and embark on an illuminating creative journey through the essence of art & light! ♥️♥️♥️

 

Register Now!

 

When you join us for “A Year of Light” you will get a wealth of inspiring art classes worth over $3500 for only a fraction of the price! Included on this course are:

  • Over 65+ mixed media art & classes by over 30+ expert artists
  • Lifelong access to all Taster Session content (over 30+ taster art sessions!)
  • Learn all about light and how to convey it both literally & emotionally in your paintings
  • A like minded non-judgemental community of wonderful fellow artists and creatives
  • Lifetime access to all class videos
  • All content downloadable
  • Exclusive access to our private Facebook Group
  • Access to your own private class room
  • Work from the comfort of your own home

Register Now!

For questions about Life Book contact Tam and the Willowing Team on [email protected]

Why Join A Year of Light?

 

Life has been challenging for many of us for quite some time now. On this brand new course, we aim to bring you life enriching, joyful and illuminating creative content that will bring more light to your life! ✨🙌✨

  • Do you want a break from the dread and drudgery of everyday life?
  • Do you want to learn to paint inspiring, fun and joyful paintings in a non-judgemental, safe environment with lovely fellow students who cheer you on every step of the way?
  • Do you want to spend your time making beautiful things and bask in the light of your own creativity?
  • Do you want to play with art supplies, have fun and create joy with your own hands?
  • Do you want to learn from over 30 expert artists and teachers who will guide you gently on your creative journey?
Then A Year of Light might be the right fit for you! ♥️🙌♥️ 

Register Now!

Key Focus / Themes

“A Year of Light” is structured around 4 key themes:

 

  • Painting literal light (think moonlight, how light falls through tree branches, how a camp fire lights up a face, lanterns, rainbows, fireflies in the dark etc)
  • Exploring light technically (think backlit subjects, high contrast light, chiaroscuro, Rembrandt’s triangle etc).
  • Capturing the essence of light objects/ beings (think clouds, butterflies, feathers, soap bubbles, balloons etc).
  • Portraying light-hearted imagery or ‘emotional light’ (think uplifting, moving, inspiring, emotional and joyful imagery).

 

Who is your host ?

Hi! I am Tam (also known as willowing), I’m a mixed media artist, teacher and author. I love making art and I love even more helping people to create self-connecting and life-enriching art works that support creative and personal growth. I’ve been teaching since 2008 and it’s been my absolute honour and joy to have taught over 50k students over the years!

I’m super excited about this new course and can’t wait to see what kinds of beautiful light-filled paintings you’ll create!

Become part of the Willowing Arts Creative Community!

Our courses are some of the most popular art courses on the internet and have been joined by
over 50k+ creative souls since we first started our business in 2008! 😍😍😍

 

Register Now!

 

We have a wonderfully inspiring and talented teacher line up for A Year of Light!

I’m so excited about all the fantastic contributors to this course! We have a range of truly incredible artists contributing their wisdom, light, beauty and artistic talent to the course.

If you want to read more about these gorgeous artists and see some examples of their beautiful works, make sure to download the ‘teacher profile pdf’ from this link:

Teacher Profiles

Below is some artwork by the teachers who will be teaching this year (please note these are examples of their work, not art pieces taught necessarily).

Art by (from left to right): Eulalia Mejia, Nadyia Duff, Lauren Rudolph, Cyndy Ross, Tracy Lizotte, Laly Mille, Lucy Brydon, Ida Andersen Lang, Alena Hennessy. 

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Value for Money
Making Creativity Accessible to All!

 

Creativity and crafting can be incredibly healing for people! I have always wanted the healing power of creativity to be available to as many people as possible, so we try to keep the price, for a year long course, with so much content, as low as possible. The course is valued at over $3500, but can now be bought for ONLY £159 (or approx $174 USD depending on exchange rate). That covers the entire year. Say what?! 

You get a year filled with incredible lessons and inspiration for only a fraction of the retail price, is that awesome or awesome? There is no catch here, just me and a bunch of awesome artists wanting you to have access to a ‘library’ of inspiring, illuminating & educational art lessons a that help you enrich your art and life. Simple as that. 😊

More Art Examples by our talented teachers.

Art by (from left to right): Natalie Mecham, Shilpa Lalit, Bonita Hendriks, Toni Burt, Dena Adams, Tamara Laporte, Tracy Verdugo, Milena Guberinic, Kim Dellow. 

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Praise for Willowing Arts Courses by Previous Participants

Unbelievable, Life changing, jammed packed classes for any skill level. Wonderful teachers that explain and guide you to create in a loving environment. They even have a Facebook group just for you and your class mates to share and support one another. You will not be sorry, Tam is amazing and will have you relaxed and comfortable and all the teachers are as well. There is something in Life Book that is waiting for just you. – Denise Sorro-Butler – Tennessee, USA

Honestly, it is the best course I have taken in my life (seriously). I have learned so much and it is helping to make my art evolve.  The teachers are wonderful.  If you would’ve shown me some of the pieces I did from this course a year ago,  I wouldn’t have believed I could have created them. This is the most amazing course EVER!  I am so glad I stumbled across the mention on Facebook. – Susan Romita – New York, USA

I have grown so much and learned so much about how my different art materials work. I’ve struggled and been astounded at things I’ve created. I’ve been blown away by some of my fellow classmates’ work, and I am determined not to compare my near-beginning to someone else’s middle! I’ve learned how to fix things if I mess up and I’m more confident in my work. And I had fun! I think you undervalue the course – it is worth far more than we pay for it. But I understand you want to keep it affordable for a larger number of people. And Tam, I love love love the little dance you do at the beginning of your videos! It makes me so happy. – Life Book is an amazing mixed media journey with a great variety of teachers, where you have a lesson each week and you learn more than you ever thought possible. It’s an amazing value for what you receive. You MUST do it! –  Kim DuPree

Life Book is a weekly online event that is like a party and a classroom. It teaches participants skills in self-care and emotional well-being that I, as a licensed professional counselor, could charge a tidy sum to teach! Combining this teaching with art is the kind of art therapy we taught in the residential program where I worked. Tam and her guest artists do this in lovely non-intrusive ways that are not overwhelming for any one who has not experienced it, but are satisfying for those of us who have. Further, wherever you place yourself on the continuum of skill as an artist, you will still grow and learn from this course. The classes with Tam are priceless, then she adds guests artists to bring in their unique perspectives. I look forward to find this in my email every week! I highly recommend it for all!! – Janet Howerton

You can read many more testimonials here and here. 😊 

What you need and need to know to join A Year of Light  / FAQ

Dates, timings and format
This course begins on January 1st 2025. However, the 30+ taster sessions will start on September 16th. If you buy this course, you get life long access to the taster sessions too! Join the taster sessions for A Year of Light here. Videos are pre-recorded and downloadable, there will be no live sessions.

Who can sign up for A Year of Light?
A Year of Light can be joined by people of all skill levels. We welcome beginner artists, intermediates or the very experienced. Yes: A Year of Light is for EVERYONE! Everyone tends to get something different out of Willowing Art’s courses. The course is run in an open, supportive, inclusive and encouraging environment where you can play, experiment, make a ‘fool’ of yourself and start all over again! There will be no judgement, we will only love you and encourage you! 😊  All lessons are conducted in such a way that you can follow the tutors step by step, so you can do what they do, and if that bores you, then you can go totally off the rails and do your own thing inspired by their lesson! Sounds good? 😊  You are welcome here, no matter what skill level.

Things to consider before joining

A Year of Light is all about inclusivity and welcomes every person no matter gender, ethnicity,  sexual orientation, religious background or age. That said, the course might not be suitable for you if:

  • You are under the age of 18 – it is recommended that children and teenagers do the course with a parent or custodian due to the fact that the course is not developed with children in mind, so adult topics may be mentioned or discussed. (Many parents have done the course with their teenage or younger children, if you have questions about this pls email us on [email protected]).
  • If you are bothered by references that are more ‘new age/ “woo woo”‘ in nature. We may refer to concepts such “The Inner Goddess”, “The Muse”, “Intuition”, “Angel Energy”, “Mandalas”, “Crystals”, “Yoga”, “Sacred Ritual”, “Being Here Now”, “Spirit” etc.
  • If you are hoping that each lesson will present a completely new technique and that no technique is ever repeated. Each lesson is fresh and newly created by each teacher, BUT we all work in the same field, so we will likely overlap with some techniques here and there. That doesn’t mean you don’t learn anything new because we all do something different with each technique, each teacher has their own unique style and creates amazing work, just be aware that some techniques may overlap or that some styles are similar.
  • If you don’t like drawing faces/ portraits. Though all lessons are different and many lessons will not include drawing/ painting a face, expect approx 40 – 50% of the lessons to include a face of some sorts (either attached to a little whimsical body or as an actual portrait by itself). The rest of the lessons can include: art journaling work, abstract paintings, natural shapes (flowers/ trees etc), animals, whimsical characters, landscapes including houses etc.
  • If you have a very slow internet connection or lack technical expertise to navigate websites.

What you need to join A Year of Light
  • You will need a high speed internet connection to be able to download and watch the videos. If you have a slower connection it’s still possible to stream the videos online (depending on your speed) and you can also learn through the PDFs, but the best option is to have a high speed internet connection.
  • You need to be relatively IT capable. Being part of this course involves things like reading emails, navigating sites like Facebook, downloading PDFs and uploading images to Facebook. If you’re having trouble with some IT related stuff, some help can be offered, but in depth IT troubleshooting is not offered.
  • If you are planning on downloading and keeping the videos you will need to make sure you have approx 80 – 100 gbs available. We recommend you buy a separate external hard drive to which you can download all the lessons). The course is not available on DVD or disc drive.

About Art Supplies
  • Here is a tentative supply list. Pls note: you don’t have to buy all the products on this list. Start with what you have and buy only if you really want to buy the products listed. Basic starter pack would be:

We encourage people as much as possible to ‘make-do’ with what they have available and buy some supplies here and there, but overall you can replace and substitute what the teachers use with what you already have. If you wanted to buy the bare essentials, I would buy: 

    • A pad of watercolour paper 140lbs (300gsm) 12 x 9″ or 16 x 12 hotpressed
    • A pencil to draw with + eraser
    • Some neocolor II crayons, colours: 1. salmon 2. magenta 3. teal 4. orangish yellow
    • A set of watercolour paints
    • Student grade or beginner acrylics set
    • 1 white posca pen/ 1 black posca pen (fine nibs) 
    • Some gel medium (impasto gel)
    • Some collage papers
    • Small pot of white gesso + a brayer

Click to Read Terms & Policies

Terms & Policies

  • Monthly & quarterly payment plans are available!  Please email us on [email protected] to discuss bespoke payment plans.
  • All other currency listings are approximate and depend entirely on the daily exchange rate – final sales are in GBP – check www.xe.com for currency conversions).
  • Refund Policy: Before the start of the course you can request a refund for the full course fee up to 14 days after the date of purchase. No refund can be given after the course has started.
  • Other payment forms: You can pay through paypal or STRIPE (credit card) on this site, if neither of these two options suit you, we can also offer an international bank transfer. If you need to pay through this option, please email us on [email protected]. Please note: you can pay through paypal with a credit card even if you don’t have a paypal account
  • Terms & Conditions: When you buy any of Willowing Arts LTD products you agree to their Terms & Conditions which can be read here.
  • Please note: if you are based in Europe, VAT MOSS local tax will be included in the final price.

 

 

 

 

We deeply hope you’ll join A Year of Light!!

We appreciate the unique light that you will bring to the group! See you there! ♥️

Click on ‘add to basket’ below to join us! 😊

Please note: if you are based in Europe, VAT MOSS local tax will be included in the price you see below.

£159.00

SKU: a-year-of-light-2025 Categories: ,


Teacher Profiles


Class Schedule – To be published soon!


Download the Tentative Supply List

 

You will be able to:

    • Download all class materials to your machine, keep them forever
    • Learn many new mixed media techniques and styles
    • Grow and develop both personally and artistically
    • Receive extra inspiration, like PDF worksheets, art journal prompts, guided visualisations & meditations, artist interviews etc!
    • Connect with like-minded creative people
    • Make new artistic connections
    • Become part of a buzzing/ thriving art community for a whole year!