Introduction to Oil Painting with Hannah O'Hagan

Hannah O'Hagan is running a six-week oil painting course at The Duncairn in North Belfast, starting Wednesday 4 November 2026. It runs from 6pm to 8pm each Wednesday, and it's aimed at beginners or anyone who's only ever dabbled a bit — you don't need to have picked up a brush before to join in.

The focus is modern still life, and O'Hagan describes it as a way to build confidence with oil paints by looking at the beauty of everyday life. It's rooted in the long tradition of oil painting, and the sessions work through composition, observation, and a kind of gentle storytelling told through objects and memory. Each week builds on the last, so you'll pick up technical skills and creative confidence as you go, and by the end of the six weeks you'll have completed one final piece on canvas.

The Duncairn itself is an arts centre, concert venue, theatre space, and art gallery in North Belfast that's put arts at the heart of the area since 2014. It's well known for its live folk, acoustic, and traditional Irish music, and this course sits alongside its regular programme of classes and workshops. If you've spent any time there, you'll know it's as much about the community as the performances.

The course costs £60, and that includes all your materials, so you don't need to go out and buy your own paints or canvases before you start. It runs for six weeks from Wednesday 4 November, 6pm to 8pm, at The Duncairn Arts Centre in North Belfast.