Something new

NEW SKILLS:Vouchers for classes can be great – but only if a) you're sure the person wants to learn Chinese, say, and b) you agree to take the course too, writes CATHERINE CLEARY

WE ALL KNOW someone with a book in him, but what about an oil painting or a piece of jewellery? The “experience present” is a great way to deliver a memorable gift in the slew of stuff that’s unwrapped over Christmas. And at this late stage, it’s easy to organise online, with nothing more to deliver than a clever voucher. Reinvention is everything at this time of year, and encouraging a loved one to start something new could be more welcome than you might even imagine.

At the Lyndsay Gallery in Monkstown, Co Dublin, artist Roy Lyndsay will start 12 people off with a blank canvas and, over four weeks, aim for a finished work and a group exhibition in the gallery. It will start on January 12th. Easel and seat are supplied and art equipment can be purchased from the gallery. The four classes cost €150. See thelyndsaygallery.com for booking details.

A gift that could help reclaim those days between Stephen’s Day and New Year is a voucher for the series of Release and Renew yoga workshops at The Yoga Room, Merrion Road in Dublin 4. The workshops in this beautiful space run from Tuesday, December 28th to Friday, December 31st, from 10.30am to 1pm (times that many of us will probably spend in our pyjamas). They cost from €30 per day to €100 for all four mornings and are suitable for everyone. The Yoga Room, 262 Merrion Road, Dublin 4, tel: 01-2196666 or see yoga.ie.

One present that’s definitely not going to get a “Oh I have one of those already” reaction is a voucher for a day’s blacksmithing at Russborough House in Co Wicklow. The tutor is Danish woman Gunvor Anhøj, who will take students through techniques using a traditional coke-hearth, hammer and anvil. The January 22nd workshop is a Young and Old session, aimed at 10- to 17-year-olds accompanied by an adult. Sounds like a fantastic one for a grandparent and their grandchild. The cost for two is €150. See russborough.ie for details.

The notoriously difficult-to-buy-for man on your Christmas list might enjoy a men-only cooking workshop at Cooks Academy, the Dún Laoghaire-based school that is opening a new city centre premises in January. The course promises a “culinary intensive care” workshop for men. The one-day workshop from 10am to 4pm costs €150. See cooksacademy.ie

The Galway Atlantaquaria on the promenade in Salthill offers two different one-day workshops for children. Aimed at slightly older children, the Marine Biologist workshop involves introducing children to the sea life in the aquarium and through lab work and microscopes. The day finishes with an optional “squid dissection if desired”. The workshop costs €35. A second workshop for five- to seven-year-olds gives them a view of the sea life, a visit to the lab and a “design their own marine animal and the habitat it lives in” activity to round it all off. This costs €20. To book telephone 091-585100, or see nationalaquarium.ie

The budding writer might appreciate a place on one of the courses at the Dublin Writers’ Centre in Parnell Square. One of the first in the new year is a six-week course with writer Molly McCloskey on non-fiction and memoir writing. Students will look at examples of memoir, personal essays, travel and reportage and also discuss their own work-in-progress. The course costs €165 and can be booked online at writerscentre.ie. The centre is also running a range of writing courses and workshops, including courses on feature writing run by the Guardian and Observer Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald, and fiction writing by novelist Chris Binchy.

At his workshop in Ballinaclash, Rathdrum Co Wicklow, Brian Clarke gives Saturday silversmithing workshops teaching people to make silver jewellery. Over four days the student is taken through the techniques to make a finished piece of jewellery. The four-week course costs €280. See silversmithingworkshop.com.

Darina Allen has some Forgotten Skills courses coming up at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Co Cork that might be of interest. On January 19th you can learn how to make butter, yoghurt and cheese (half-day course, €115), and on March 5th it’s the popular How To Keep a Few Hens in the Garden full-day course (€185). Book online at cookingisfun.ie or telephone 021-4646785.

Finally, put the names and addresses of six friends, family members or neighbours on six envelopes. Slip a Christmas card, with a €15 or €20 book token, into each one and the name of a book you’d like everyone to read and a date and venue for the first meeting. Voila! You’ve started a book club that will bring you and your friends through the year ahead with the same writer’s words roaming through your minds each month.

The most important thing to remember when giving vouchers of any kind is that you really must be willing to make sure that what is promised is actually delivered. Drawers, desks and boxes all over the land are full of unfulfilled promises and vouchers. Offer to drive the recipient to their first painting class; make sure that brother does book that flight to London to visit you; join the same yoga class or hiking club. The gift of your company and time, however corny it may sound, is the best gift of all.