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- Ashley Hanson
Another great course in Porthleven, held in the fabulous Old Lifeboat House studio at the head of the harbour. Porthleven never fails to inspire: all our artists - including one from Australia! - found their 'Freedom in Painting' in their inventive responses to the landscape, channelling their skills, intuition and curiosity into their work.
As always, the course began on Saturday with an inspirational visit to St.Ives - visiting the Tate, Anima Mundi, the Penwith Gallery, New Craftsman Gallery and Heather McAlplne at the Crypt Gallery - followed by a group mark-making exercise, back at the studio, looking at structure and movement with a palette of blue and yellow.
Group-exercise: structure and movement
On Sunday morning we had a drawing session around the harbour, seeing it from multiple viewpoints, a series of rapid sketches, looking for the essential and ideas for painting.
After lunch, I demonstrated the exciting journey of translating drawings and ideas intio paint and colur.. As part of my teaching, I work on a new 'Porthleven' painting for the exhibition. The demonstration was the beginning of 'Porthleven 79 (The Eyes)', a painting that was blue then yellow then back to blue!
Then the artists took the plunge and began to find their own personal visions of Porthleven. Over the next few days, there were further demonstrations and talks and an abundance of one-to-one tutorials. There was a great work-ethic and a generous atmosphere in the studio - a place for eavesdropping and sharing ideas, the group bonding further on our traditional Artists Dinner at Kota-Kai.
Unique to art courses in Cornwall, we finish the course with a 1-day exhinition. On Wednesday afternoon, we cleared the studio and hung the exhibition, always a thrilling moment. As you can see from the gallery below, the bravery and the hard work paid off, each artist with a distinctive voice. We welcomed over 80 visitors on Exhibition Day, curious to know what we had been up to over the week! It's always sad when a course ends, but friendships are made and I'm sure we'll keep in touch and meet again. Hats off to the artists!
Exhibition Day - the studio becomes a gallery!
ARTISTS GALLERY
ARTISTS COMMENTS
'Another amazing week! Thank-you for your endless patience and wonderful advice' CHRISTINA HARRISON
'Thank-you to you both for creating such a fun, informative and incredible painting space for me to evolve as a new painter!' ZOE SWAN
'Thank-you so much for a special week' JENNY LAW
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- Ashley Hanson
THURS 26 JUNE
I recently collected three 'Penzance' paintings from a gallery. I was very happy to see two of them again but I had niggling doubts about 'Penzance 3' (see below) which, to my 2025 eyes, seemed both too raw and too complicated and lacking in the clarity of colour and design of the other paintings in the 'Penzance' series. I'm very happy with the reworked painting above, undoubtebly stronger with greater flow and intensity and balance of colour.
With the change in orientation and the removal of 'image', the focus has now shifted to the glowing curved central line, sloping to the right corner, that holds up the startling pinks of the house shaped inner-harbour. It now truly belongs to the series.
in progress
ORIGINAL: 'Penzance 3' 2010
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SUN 15 JUNE
Back in the studio, I brought in new lighter punchier yellows, now golden and glowing, with the middle section between the piers more distinct. Also simplified the top - less decorative now - with the harbour-line now jammed against the canvas edge, framing an expanse of beautiful emptiness... Enjoying the incidents of purple and the multi-relationships beween piers, both horizontally (reality) and dynamically, with the reds and the heavy line.
Calm. There is a gentle breeze, blue curtain or sea? Or both? The idea behind the painting captured. We're done.
I don't do boats! Love the presence of the pink (boat) - now with a slightly curved mast, whch seems to do something unexpected and interesting.
FRI 13 JUNE,
The last 'Porthleven' painting to be reworked (below, left). To paraphrase Tom Waits in 'Frank's Wild Years' - 'Never could stand that pink'. Or the dull shape of the harbour. With taking out the pink and expanding the yellow, the piers became stronger but the harbour-shape remained dull and static (middle). A much more elegant shape now (right), with the harbour stretched and a procession upwards of boats and piers that echoes the verticality of the tall canvas.
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SAT 7 JUNE
Over the past few months, I've been looking again at all the paintings in the 'Porthleven' series, and reworking the ones that are hidden away, that I don't exhibit or show to galleries or submit to competitions. 'Porthleven 28' and 'Porthleven 52' are two i've recently reworked, paintings I left too early.
I'm much happier now with 'Porthleven 28', opening up the space, and simplyfying the painting. Now there's a delicious tension between the strong curve on the left and the squared off 'frame' on the right, formed by the white horizontal and the purple brushmarks rising vertically across the yellow. The sharp yellow edge is now more ambiguous and intriguing, both in front of and behind the surrounding paint.
I now know not to trust first thoughts. My ideal today is much simpler, purer: making choices and eliminating the superflous to reveal the essential. In the new version of 28 the thin central curve is exquisite and critical.
'Returning to 'Porthleven 52', a new clarity of design and colour re-establishes the narrative of the magical and dynamic relationship between the clock and the disc of the moon. 'My painting is finished when I rejoin the first emotion that sparked it' Matisse
I rather like this clocktower! In the new version, rather than being alien to the painting, the pink is integral, the left edge mirroring the profile of the clocktower and the white and linear triangles at the bottom of the painting. I've always loved the heavy blue-black drawing in this painting, even stronger now.
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- Ashley Hanson
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