Fodder School Mixed Media + Collage Art Online Course
The most joyful mixed media art making starts here.
Create beautiful collage fodder & transform it into art you never thought you could make.
Find your creative people & build a creative practice you can return to again and again.
Whether this is your first year or your sixth, Fodder School is where inspiration, community, and creativity come together.
Join thousands of artists who have discovered that the secret is not talent.
It is giving yourself permission to begin.
You don’t have to imagine it.
Let me show you.
In this short video, you'll get a glimpse into the creativity, community, inspiration, and joy that have made Fodder School a beloved tradition for artists around the world.
Look at Everything We'll Be Making Together in Fodder School 6!
You won’t just learn. You’ll make art every single month!
The Simple Fodder School Method:
Step 1
Learn how to create beautiful handmade papers, fabrics, marks, textures, and embellishments that become the building blocks of your art.
Step 2
Transform those materials into journals, collages, books, cards, home decor, stitch projects, mixed media artwork, and more.
Step 3
Each month brings new teachers, new techniques, new inspiration, and new possibilities. Choose what excites you, explore at your own pace, and watch your collection of skills, artwork, and creative confidence grow throughout the year.
Learn from artists who see the world differently.
One of the most powerful parts of Fodder School is learning from a variety of teachers.
Each artist brings a different perspective, different techniques, different materials, and a different creative voice. Some lessons will feel comfortably familiar. Others will push you in exciting new directions.
You don't need to love every project. You only need one lesson, one idea, or one technique to completely change the way you make art.
And after five years of Fodder School, we've seen that happen again and again.
Meet the Fodder School 6 Teachers
Every reveal brings a new creative adventure!
Your Fodder School 6 Year Begins With Fodder Challenge 2026!
When you join Fodder School 6, you're also joining us for one of our favorite Willa Workshops traditions: Fodder Challenge!
Beginning October 1, we'll kick off the year with Fodder Challenge 2026: 10 artists, 10 brand-new mixed media projects, and an entire month of creating together.
And then we're just getting started.
After Fodder Challenge, your Fodder School experience continues with 11 additional months of brand-new Make Fodder + Use Fodder lessons from this incredible group of teachers. Explore the projects that call to you, learn new techniques, discover new artists, and keep coming back whenever you're ready for your next spark of inspiration.
Your Fodder School 6 enrollment includes:
The complete Fodder Challenge 2026 experience
10 brand-new Fodder Challenge projects beginning October 1
11 additional months of brand-new Make Fodder + Use Fodder projects
Our private creative community
Bonus content that develops throughout the year
Lifetime access to your Fodder Challenge 2026 and Fodder School 6 lessons
One entire year of creative inspiration—including Fodder Challenge 2026—plus “lifetime” access to every lesson you receive.
Looking for the October Fodder Challenge 2026? You can find the details here.
If you have been here before, welcome home!
You already know what happens:
A lesson catches your eye. You make a few papers. One project turns into three. Your creative spark comes roaring back. Before you know it, you've made art, made books, tried new techniques, and connected with artists from around the world.
Every October Fodder Challenge is different. Every Fodder School year is different. Every year brings new teachers, new ideas, and new possibilities.
And every year reminds us why we fell in love with making art in the first place.
And you don't need to have finished every lesson from a previous year before beginning this one. Fodder School isn't something to “catch up” on. Each new year is simply a fresh collection of artists, projects, techniques, and ideas waiting for you whenever you're ready to create.
You don't have to be “done” with the art you already own to be excited about what you want to make next.
But don’t just take our word for it!
It's a creative practice. It's a source of inspiration. It's a place to experiment, learn, and grow.
Every year brings new teachers, new projects, and new techniques, but the real magic is what happens when something sparks your curiosity. One lesson leads to another. One project sparks a new idea. One year of creating gives you a whole new collection of ideas, skills, and inspiration to return to again and again.
That's why so many of our participants return again and again.
Why do people come back year after year?
Because Fodder School is more than a collection of classes
I'm Ready to Ignite my Creative Spark! →
JOIN FODDER SCHOOL 6 + FODDER CHALLENGE 2026 →
One entire year of creative inspiration—including Fodder Challenge 2026—plus “lifetime” access to every lesson you receive.
Looking for the October Fodder Challenge 2026? You can find the details here.
Fodder School is a Living, Creative Community
See What Happens When Our Teachers Inspire Each Other.
Fodder School is a "Living Course" responsive to the needs of the community. Each month, opportunities arise as a result of the collaborative creative process. Bonus video content is created and arrives in the classroom. The learning opportunities and inspiration available within Fodder School are unparalleled!
And because your Fodder School 6 lessons are yours to keep, there's no rush to experience everything while the year is unfolding—you can return to the projects that inspire you whenever the time is right.
"I soOoo appreciate how these bonus videos add to the featured artist's process, expanding it even further and encouraging creative experimentation which is such a hallmark of creativity. The comments and photos by the community take this even further and I'm also so grateful for those who pipe in. It makes FS such a rich and wonderful place to be!"
- Fodder School Student
Maybe you've been waiting for the right time.
Maybe you've been watching Fodder School each year from the sidelines, wondering if this might finally be your year to join us.
Maybe you've thought:
"Next year."
"When life settles down."
"When I have more time."
"When I'm more creative."
"When I'm better at mixed media."
The truth is that most of us don't begin because we feel ready. We begin because we're tired of waiting.
There will always be laundry, deadlines, obligations, and reasons to put your creativity on hold.
Fodder School isn't for people who have everything figured out. It's for people who are ready to make space for joy, curiosity, and creative play.
What if life gets in the way? (It always does.)
Your creative journey doesn't pause for life's interruptions. That's why Fodder School is designed for real artists with real lives. Pick up where you left off, skip to what excites you most, or binge-watch during creative spurts. Lessons are recorded and placed into our Teachable classroom where you will get “lifetime access” to them.
Your lifetime access means your art evolves on YOUR timeline.
I'm Ready to Ignite my Creative Spark! →
JOIN FODDER SCHOOL 6 + FODDER CHALLENGE 2026 →
One entire year of creative inspiration—including Fodder Challenge 2026—plus “lifetime” access to every lesson you receive.
Looking for the October Fodder Challenge 2026? You can find the details here.
Why I Created Fodder School
Many years ago, when I was in law school, I stumbled across Somerset Studio magazine for the very first time. I was completely captivated. The artwork was layered, complex, and beautiful.
I would flip through the pages thinking, "How on earth do people make this stuff?" I didn't even know where to begin. What I did know was that I loved the feeling I got when my hands touched art supplies.
I have never been the kind of person who walks around with elaborate artistic visions dancing in my head, waiting to be brought to life. What I love is the experience of making. The feeling of a pencil moving across paper. The sound of scissors cutting. The swipe of paint across a page. The simple joy of playing with materials.
Over time, I learned that mixed media art is not some mysterious talent that other people are born with. It is a collection of techniques, skills, and playful experiments that anyone can learn.
One painted paper. one stamp, one collage, one project at a time.
Fodder School was born from that realization.
It is the learning experience I wish I had when I first opened those magazines and wondered how anyone made art that looked like that.
Let’s Make Art Less Intimidating and Way More Joyful!
JOIN FODDER SCHOOL 6 + FODDER CHALLENGE 2026 →
One entire year of creative inspiration—including Fodder Challenge 2026—plus “lifetime” access to every lesson you receive.
Looking for the October Fodder Challenge 2026? You can find the details here.
Still Have Questions? We've Got Answers.
Fodder School FAQs
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Fodder Challenge is our month-long creative event each October featuring 10 fun, approachable mixed media projects—one from each of this year's artists.
Fodder School includes the entire Fodder Challenge experience and then continues for 11 additional months with brand-new, in-depth Make Fodder + Use Fodder projects released throughout the year.
Standalone Fodder Challenge participants have access to their Challenge lessons through November 15, 2026. Fodder School 6 participants receive lifetime access to both their Fodder Challenge 2026 and Fodder School 6 lessons.
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Absolutely! If you begin with Fodder Challenge 2026 and later decide you'd like to join Fodder School 6, you're welcome to enroll in the full year.
Your Fodder Challenge purchase cannot be applied toward your Fodder School 6 tuition. Once you join Fodder School 6, however, you'll receive lifetime access to the Fodder Challenge 2026 lessons along with everything included in the full Fodder School 6 year.
Fodder School 6 Early Bird pricing is available through November 7, 2026.
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None of the Fodder Schools are prerequisites for the others, so you can start with any year you’d like.
However, if you want to join a large, active community and follow along with monthly lesson releases, we would strongly recommend starting with the current Fodder School.
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First, check out the General FAQs listed below. If your question still isn’t answered, please email us at wendy@willawanders.com
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You can view all of your Willa Workshops by going to our website, https://www.willawanders.com/ and clicking on the “Class Login” button at the top right of the page.
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All Fodder School lesson content is delivered through our Willa Workshops classroom on Teachable. As soon as you enroll, you'll have access to the classroom and bonus content to begin exploring.
Your Fodder School 6 year begins with Fodder Challenge 2026 on October 1st, followed by new Fodder School 6 lessons released throughout the year.
You can watch your lessons in a web browser on your computer or mobile device, or use the Teachable app for iPhone and iPad.You can access Teachable and watch the lessons in your browser (PC, Mac, Android) or download the Teachable app for iOS (recommended for iPhone and iPad)
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Your Fodder School 6 lessons are yours to keep—you'll have “lifetime access” to all of your Fodder School 6 and Fodder Challenge 2026 lesson content. "Lifetime" is relevant to the lifespan of the Willa Workshops business (I don't plan on leaving anytime soon!) or the longevity of the technology.
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Most lesson videos have English, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Italian, and German subtitles. Some lessons may have more language options. Reach out to me if you’d like the video captions transcribed to your language!
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No, at least not available as local downloads to your device. The Teachable app for iOS allows you to download lessons for offline playback.
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Please do! Always tag @fodder.school, @willa.wanders, and the teacher who gave the lesson in your post description—use #fodderchallenge2026 on your posts!
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Yes! Please keep them for yourself, give them as a gift, or sell them.
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There are no refunds on online courses
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That's a hard no.
There's an endless amount of incredible art tutorial content in every year of Fodder School. For some creatives, it's tempting to want to use Fodder School as a well of inspiration for their own creative enterprise, YouTube channel, brand, etc.
Fodder School is not sold with permission for anyone to use it in this way--specifically, as a source of inspiration for any one's free how-to social media tutorial content, whether that be on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or any other social media platform.
If you are a creative who loves to share your work with the world, that's wonderful! We love it when participants share their finished collage fodder and finished Fodder School projects in photos and videos on social media. Please tag @fodder.school, the teacher of the month, and use our hashtag.
But making how-to videos of yourself while creating from Fodder School lesson content or obviously inspired and derivative of Fodder School content, and then posting those tutorials on any free social media platform, will get you banned from Fodder School with no refund issued.
When it doubt, please reach out and ask for permission instead of assuming that you aren't violating our boundaries.
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All Fodder School videos, documents and other associated content are the property of Fodder School. Duplication, modification, distribution, transformation, or reproduction of any part of Fodder School educational content (i.e., filming yourself creating a Fodder School lesson or lessons in whole or in part and then posting your video on social media) is a violation of copyright and may result in your removal from Fodder School or legal action against you.
We’re happy to have support from these amazing brands!
"I've been crafter for nearly all my life, rubber stamp card maker and artist since 1993, and for over a decade at least I've been into mixed media collage and gelli plate prints (for collage and cards). I joined Fodder School to use my stash and do some "me time" commitments. I love your organization, instructions presented in pace for all levels, variations of topics which you all present in a way so it flows together down the road, the introduction to new techniques/arts/crafts to incorporate into your work, your selection of instructors, the price point, the ease of using Teachable..... you get the picture - I think your classes/program over all A+++"
-Cheryl P.
"Oh my goodness, where do I start? This would have to be the best course I've ever done . . . I don't want to stop."
-Cathy W.
"If you're not in Fodder School, you're missing out."
-Leona D.
"Joining Fodder School was the best choice I made for my art practice."
-@sarah.bird.studio
"I love Fodder School. I have learned something valuable and fun from every single instructor. I already know that I will enroll in [the next] Fodder School."
-Justine B.
"Dear people who have not signed up yet for FS . . . you will never regret attending on-line Fodder School. You will learn so much about art and having fun with it!!! If you don't feel quite like an artist when you start, you will be by the end! That's what happened for me . . . and I haven't even completed every course yet!!! Go at your own speed and just enjoy the process!!!"
-Jane M
"I've loved everything about it! The projects, the instructors, working at my own pace, learning new things, seeing everyone's interpretation of each project, the bonus lessons . . . so much to rave about!!"
-@Sojournbookarts
"I love Fodder School! Before I signed up I thought it would be too much for me but not at all. It really fills me with joy watching the videos, finding ways to make my projects."
-@la_fee_uk
"Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the past and future teachers in Fodder School and to all the behind the scene workers keeping it running. What a feast of creativity! A full buffet of techniques! I am going at my own pace as I want to savour it all and life does get in the way every now and again. There is so much to learn and develop from each really full lesson. You teachers are so very generous with not only preparing the lessons, but taking time providing feedback as we post. My head is exploding with ideas and my heart is full. "
-Kaye S.