We recently welcomed a group of artists to our Spring 'Freedom in Painting' course in Port Isaac, Cornwall. As always, we begin the course drawing in the landscape, looking for ideas for paintings.This year we took our artists to two new and very different locations, bustling Padstow and the beautiful clifftop panoramas of Pentire.
We began by taking the short ferry ride from Rock to Padstow, where we spent the morning making a series of quick sketches around the harbour, also visiting the inspiring Padstow Gallery. We then headed for a delicious lunch at the Harbour Hotel with its fabulous views of the Camel River, before heading off to Pentire for the afternoon drawing session. The weather was glorious, the sketchbooks were bulging, full of ideas for painting...
Group exercise: Colour & collage, structure & movement
On Thursday morning, after setting up the studio, we went straight into a group markmaking exercise, responding to the idea of structure and movement in the landscape, using the distinctive blue and yellow palette of Padstow and the Camel River. Some of the studies became a direct entry into painting.
Erica Shipley
A question was posed about the difference between a study and a painting and with one of our artists, Erica Shipley, the study became the artwork, with multiple changes and refinements over two days, resulting in this delightful and inventive piece.
On Friday morning - another glorious day - I took the group drawing around Port Isaac, with the glistening water, piers and steep hillsides inspiring many of the paintings. After lunch, back at the studio, I gave an introductory talk about finding a personal language for 'image' and the relationship between abstraction and figuration in painting, including examples of work by Jeremy Gardiner, Roger Hilton and Rose Hilton and David Pearce. This was followed by a demonstration, starting my own Padstow painting and sharing my ideas about translating drawing into painting, unsurprisingly starting with blue and yellow stripes!
From this point on, the artists developed their paintings in the studio, with lots of individual tuition and further demonstrations, ending as always with an insightful group critique. The course offers space and encouragement for play and experimentation, leaving the comfort zone and exploring the possibilities of painting. As you can see from the gallery below, over the five days exciting paintings emerged, each artist with a distinctive approach, working from a shared subject. Hats off to the artists!
The story of Sarah Croome's painting...
ARTISTS QUOTES:
'Space to try out new techniques and ideas in a creative atmospere' MARION OWEN
'Definitely moved me forward with technique and organisation of colour balance' SARAH CROOME
'i got very involved and did work which surprised me - I think when you are surprised by what you've done, its a tribute to the course' ERICA SHIPLEY
In progress: 'Padstow 5' Ashley Hanson