The Cluster
Saturday 28th November 2026
Festive Workshops at The Cluster
With Jessica Holzhausen
Price: from £30 per workshop
WHAT
Come and get properly festive at The Cluster with a day of hands-on Christmas creativity led by Oxford artist Jessica Holzhausen. Choose from two workshops or make a day of it and come to both!
Create your own set of handmade Christmas cards, experimenting with everything from drawing and small prints to collage, dried leaves and flowers or get your hands on some air-dry clay and make beautiful Christmas ornaments and tree decorations using natural plant imprints, before learning how to finish them with gold and copper paints and inks.
No artistic wizardry required, both workshops are completely beginner-friendly and all materials are provided. Just turn up, get creative and leave with something genuinely lovely (and handmade) for Christmas.
Come for one workshop or go full festive and do both.
WHO
Jessica Holzhausen is an artist, writer and historian, living and working in Oxford. Jessica always had a creative streak for which she found an outlet in writing short stories, crafting and painting in various media. While she finds inspiration in the natural world and real places, her art is often based on her own inner landscapes: a storm brewing in the head or the calm serenity that arises from focusing on the twisting branches of a tree. Like trees a lot of her paintings tell a hidden (hi)story.
Next to painting landscapes in oil, pastels and acrylics, Jessica has a passion for creating wearable art pieces, like hand-painted bags or purses and jewellery from recycled materials. For the Christmas season she loves to create hand-painted cards and Christmas ornaments from wood, clay and recycled metal.
Learn more about your workshop leader here.
WHEN, HOW MUCH & HOW TO BOOK
WORKSHOP 1
Christmas Card Workshop
Saturday 28th November 2026
10:30am to 1pm (2.5 hours)
£30.00
FIND OUT MORE HERE BOOK HERE
WORKSHOP 2
Christmas Decoration Workshop
Saturday 28th November 2026
2pm to 5pm (3 hours)
£40.00
FIND OUT MORE HERE BOOK HERE
WHERE & HOW TO GET THERE
The Cluster
3-5 Middle Way
Summertown
Oxford
OX2 7LH
BY BUS
You can reach Summertown by bus from the city centre.
2A, 2, 800, S4 gold, S5 gold from Magdalen Street to South Parade East
S1 from George Street to South Parade West
BY CAR
There are some 3 hour parking spaces along Middle Way, subject to availability. Additional car parking spaces can be found at Summertown Car Park, behind M&S. From here it takes about 8 minutes by foot to reach The Cluster.
WORKSHOP 1
Christmas Card Workshop
Saturday 28th November 2026
10:30am to 1pm (Duration: 2.5 hours)
£30
In this workshop you will learn how to create unique handmade Christmas cards. We will cover a wide range of techniques – from drawing with pencils to small prints, from using paper collages to arranging dried leaves and flowers. The workshop talks you through each option and lets you experiment before we will start working on a set of five cards. The workshop is beginner-friendly and all materials are provided.
All materials provided, suitable for all experience levels.
WORKSHOP 2
Christmas Decoration Workshop
Saturday 28th November 2026
2pm to 5pm (Duration: 3 hours)
£40
Learn how to make Christmas ornaments and tree decorations using air dry clay, plant imprints and stencils. This workshop takes you step-by-step through how to work with the material, create a design and use plants to make imprints in the clay. In the second part you will work with pre-made decorations to learn how to paint the ornaments after drying, using gold and copper acrylic paint and inks. This workshop is beginner friendly, no crafting or painting experience needed. All materials are provided.
All materials provided, suitable for all experience levels.
OTHER USEFUL STUFF
The Meet Point Coffee Summertown at the entrance to The Cluster offers delicious coffees and snacks.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION
Please be aware that the Cluster is an older building and is not fully accessible. The outside has some old tiles as paving and there is a small step leading into the building. The workshop is held on the first floor, which can only be reached via a staircase.
Toilets are available on the ground floor. Please be aware there are no accessible and wheel-chair friendly toilets in the building.
If you have any questions about accessibility, please get in touch with Jessica prior to booking.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Life happens and in case you can’t make it to the class or it’s not the right one for you, we offer a full refund up to 5 days before the workshop date. Alternatively, you can swap the class for another available class in this course series. Additional charges may apply, if you choose a longer class (acrylic landscape paintings).
If you have to cancel within five days of the workshop, please get in touch and we’ll try to find a solution, including transferring your spot to another workshop or to someone else.
If the course is cancelled by the class tutor or the venue, we guarantee a full refund within two weeks. Alternatively, you can also switch to another workshop in the series.
