We recently welcomed six artists from around the country to our latest 'Freedom in Painting' course in 'Porthleven, held in the wonderful Old Lifeboat House. As you can see from the gallery above and from the comments below, all the artists pushed the boundaries of their practice, learning new skills, techniques and making new friendships too.
View from the studio
After setting up the studio on Friday, our first morning was spent in St. Ives getting a flavour of the art of Cornwall, both historical and contemporary, Our visit included Tate St. Ives, the Penwith & Crypt Galleries, where we saw of work of Paul Wadsworth and Francesca Owen and also an inspiring visit to the studio of contemporary coastal artist Heather McAlpine. On our return to the studio, we had a demonstation and group exercise, working from colour inspired by both the art and the landscape we'd seen in St. Ives.
Morning drawing session around the harbour
On Sunday morning, we had a drawing session around the harbour, sourcing ideas and inspiration for paintings, with exercises designed to see and respond to the landscape in a different way. The weather was glorious - Porthleven never fails to inspire!
in the studio
The objective now was to take those drawings, ideas, memories, feelings into painting. Over the next few days, there was a series of demonstrations, discussions, group exercises, with plenty of one-to-one tuition. As part of my teaching, I worked on a new painting - 'Porthleven 67'. The artists were encouraged to work intuitively, to use paint and colour freely, to ask questions of their work, to take risks, to make something new. There was an incredible creative atmosphere and work ethic in the studio as the artists revealed their Porthleven in the paintings. As always, on the Porthleven courses, on Wednesday afternoon we transformed the studio into a gallery for the final-day exhibition.
Exhibition
The exhibition was a great sucees with over 80 visitors. Hats off to the artists! They produced an amazing body of work, during the week, all strong and highly individual.
On a personal level, Denise and I enjoyed meeting and working with you and best wishes from us for the future and looking forward to seeing your next paintings of Porthleven. We are very proud of our painting courses in Cornwall and beyond - thank-you to the artists who chose to find their 'Freedom in Painting' with us (and for your help with 'Porthleven 67'!)
Celebratory dinner!
If you would like to find your 'Freedom in Painting' in Porthleven, we have places on on both our Autumn courses, 16 - 21 September & 30 Sept - 5 October. See COURSES
'Porthleven 67 (The In-Between)'
ARTISTS COMMENTS:
'The course was fantastic. I never had the confidence/ idea how to start with abstract painting and this course gave me that skill' ELLEN STUDER
'Unbelievable amount of support from Ashley. So very grateful for his time, conversations and solutions to visual problems. Its has been life changing. Thank-you form the bottom of my heart' MARGRIET VAN NIEUWBERG
'Ashley’s one on one time to discuss work and progress was invaluable. It was a lovely week and really re-ignited my desire to paint in new ways. I learnt a lot!' MARCELLA KATIC
'It broke boundaries and cultivated a desire to push further my practice. Explore more with oils and allow yourself to go big, be more expressive with use of materials' ANTONIA MILLER
'A lovely week with a very generous artist, great group of ladies, excellent resources, precious time. Thank-you. I think the small group allowed for greater time with Ashley on a one to one basis. Generosity with sharing ideas, materials and his extensive knowledge' SARAH CROOME