Congratulations to the twelve artists who came on our recent Freedom in Painting course in Port Issac,Cornwall, a new venue. Their response to place, the landscape and the challenges resulted in a very strong body of work. The artists were a mixture of all abilities and experience with some new to painting. You may be able to deduce that some of the exercises were about 'frames' and the space between piers...
Trebarwith Strand
The first day was spent on location at Trebarwith Strand and Port Quinn two of our favourite places. The sea was wild at Trebarwith, crashing against the black rocks. With a mixture of group exercises and personal study the objective as always was to capture the essence of a place through drawing and to find ideas for painting. The brooding presence of Gull Rock became the subject of many of the paintings later in the studio. We had lunch at the Port William Inn, just above Trebarwith, with it's fantastic views of sea, before heading out to Port Quin, dramatic in a different way, with its clifftop views and sweeping 360 degree panoramas.
Port Quinn
On the second day we worked in and around Port Isaac, on both sides of the harbour and in the fascinating narrow backstreets, seeing the village from all possible viewpoints.
Port Isaac - Erica sketching from the pier
The next three days were spent in the studio, using the drawings and studies and the group exercises as a springboard into painting. We all loved the studio in Port Isaac Village Hall - well-lit, sea-views and a garden outside. At the end of the course, as always, we ended with a group critique where we could see their paintings properly for the first after the studio was cleared and the artists receive invaluable feedback on their work. Hope we meet again!
In the studio
Demonstration
Port Isaac - the artists
GALLERY
Janet Gervers
Testimonials
Thank-you for a stimulating week. Really enjoyed it and will move forward with my own work now.
Francis Beaumont
Learned some useful techniques and more info on how to look and see. Felt useful to be stretched and moved.
Dawn Benson
I found it very helpful - I am trying to use abstraction in my work and feel a little closer every course - but can not work from nothing- there has to be an element of drawing- observation.
Kate Watkins