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The Old Lifeboat House Studio, Porthleven...
Once again, the recent Autumn courses in Porthleven were a great success with our artists producing a fabulous body of work, reponding to the beauty and complexity of the Porthleven landscape. This year we had artists joining us from Paris and Mauritius and on the second week we welcomed the Mays Farm Studio group from Wallingford, Oxfordshire. One of our artists, Jane Crane, took advantage of a cancellation to take part on both courses!
The courses began with visits to galleries in St. Ives including the Terry Frost exhibition at Belgrave St. Ives and the Rothko and Beatriz Milhazes exhibition at Tate St. Ives which gave us inspiration for the group exercise on our return to the studio. My demonstration painting for the exercise, inspired by Rothko's reds in the last room at the Tate, became 'Porthleven 75 (The Last Room)' during the week.
Group Exercise: paintings inspired by Rothko and Beatriz Milhazes. L-R; Jane Crane, Hazel Crawford, Erica Shipley
On Sunday morning we drew extensively around the harbour, a series of rapid sketches, both to get to know Porthleven from all viewpoints and to provide ideas and information for paintings. After lunch, back at the studio, after a talk and demonstration, the artists were encouraged begin their paintings, referencing their drawings, experiences, memory, art history...
Over the next few days, the artists developed their paintings with continuous individual tuition. There were also further demonstations, group critiques, and additional references to art history, seeing other artists' jouneys, how they developed and innovated.
Artists and their exhibition...
Working indirectly from the subject, from memory, from drawings, can release the imagination and encourage innovation. This is the ethos behind 'Freedom in Painting' - a belief that as artists we cannot stand still with our work, we are eternally restless, curious, craving surprise...On the couses we hope to create a fertile, creative environment, where artists are encouraged to embrace challenges in their painting, to take risks, to play, to experiment, to create something new, to understand their painting and do whatever it takes to make it stronger. And be bold with colour!
The finale of the first course was a one-day exhition, where we welcomed a record 178 visitors to the studio!
Work & play...Denise and Trevor waving not drowning...
The Old Lifeboat House in Porthleven is perfect studio, located at the head of the harbour. Imagine - painting to the sound of the sea, with ever-changing light, weather, tides...A great place place for cold water swimming too if you are brave enough!
Sarah Burton's paintings...
As you can see from the galleries below - only a selection of the works - our committed artists produced a fantastic collection of paintings, with many achieving a breakthrough in their practice.
Hats off to the artists!!
(there is also an extensive gallery of larger images on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/ashleyhansonart
GALLERIES
Clocktowers...'Porthleven 75 (The Last Room/Icon)' and view from the studio
ARTISTS COMMENTS:
'I found Ashley's individual comments very helpful - I particularly enjoyed the structure of painting an individual subject' Trevor Powell
'I found the course very helpful in steering me in the desired direction of moving from realistic painting towards abstraction. I feel I have gained more freedom in my choices as an artist' Vesna Vujicic-Lucassy
'Ashley's presentation was very good and the gallery visits followed by experimental work was great' Diane Oldfield
'I always find a course with Ashley helps me move my art forwards.' Hazel Crawford
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- Ashley Hanson
SAT 17 AUG
In the spirit of the novel, the four sets of initials PA DQ WW MW are placed in the street grid of Manhattan, creating their own rhythm in the painting. Other refinements this morning included a new pink and a hovering dark-red brushstroke in the top row and a new small teal block - the Hotel Harmony - positioned between 99th and 100th St at the bottom of the painting. Love the reds - a reference to Quinn's red notebook.
Colour-blocks or city-blocks? Working with facts from fiction to create a painting...
The pairs of initials make visual the multi-layers of identity in 'City of Glass'. Author Paul Auster creates a character Daniel Quinn, a writer of detective-stories. Fictitious author Daniel Quinn writes under a pseudonym, William Wilson, who in turn 'creates' a fictional-detective Max Work. In the novel, of course, Daniel Quinn becomes a detective, inhabiting the skin of Max Work. There is also a character called 'Paul Auster', an author...
This is my tribute to Paul Auster, who sadly passed away earlier this year. His strange, fabulous, enigmatic tnovel 'The New York Trilogy' inspired this painting and the 63 others in the 'City of Glass' series.
Thank-you, Paul
(7)
FRI 17 AUG p.m.
Inching closer, bringing in light and space through colour, the painting less patchwork now (7). Enjoying the residues of the dark-blue shape and the conversation between the verticals (avenues) and horizontals (streets) - searching for the ideal - the snake of Broadway the maverick element. A decision to make: should the 4 sets of initials be stacked in an orderley column, be a horizontal sequence or be placed randomly around the canvas?
(6)
FRI 17 AUG a.m.
Love the horizontal-block on the bottom edge - Cobalt Blue and Lavender - and the slightly angled line of 100th St lifting the eye upwards but going backwards with the large dark Phthalo Blue shape which crowds the space...(6)
(5)
TUES 30 JULY
I think we're getting close. The painting more playful now with new blocks of contrasting colour setting off the reds, Hoffmanesque 'push/pull. Found a new curve on the left-side. Painting in my sleep last night, just following my thoughts and instincts, coloru-intensity, scale and placement critical (5). Yesterday's green triangle seemed to create a visual stop: repainting on orange and reducing the green to a line and softening the triangle is much more satisfying. Where to put DQ, WW and MW?
(4)
MON 29 JULY
Scaled up the grid to make the triangle more prominent (3). Establishing the curve of Broadway. The grey seems to do something interesting...(4)
(3)
SUN 28 JULY
After the reds comes the grid of Manhattan (2), centered on the curve of Broadway on the Upper West Side and to incude W107th St, where Daniel Quinn has his apartment and the block between 99th and 100th, the location of the Hotel Harmony. Excited by the small triangle of Straus Park, which I'd never noticed before, on which I can balance W107th St.
The painting has no light.
(2)
SAT 27 JULY
An idea came to me to re-visit this painting and add the initials PA and make it my tribute to Paul Auster, who sadly passed away earlier this year. I always felt this painting was too scrappy and I withheld it from exhibition, the idea of the sets of initials stronger than the execution, looking more like a garden than New York!.Seven years later, in honour of Paul Auster, I feel obliged to make this one of my strongest paintings. Let's mix some new reds...
(1)
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TUES 16 JULY
On a roll with returning to a painting with fresh eyes. We all have paintings that are hidden, that are never entered into competitions or put in exhibition or even on the wall. This was one of mine. looking again. I always thought that the sea was little bit flat and mechanical: with the changes it's much more lively, chaotic and painterly with a new yellow in the top-left, with subtle vertical brushstrokes. Love it - might put into The Discerning Eye if it dries in time.
The four yellows of the title
1 2
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13 JULY 2024
Transformation: a too-heavy red replaced by dazzling blues, a redrawn harbour and adjustments elsewhere and the emergence of a beautiful painting...
October 2022
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- Ashley Hanson
In early May, we welcomed a group of 9 artists to our 'Freedom in Painting' course in Port Isaac. As you can see from the galleries, our artists were truly inspired by the Cornish coast. We met up in blazing sunshine in Trebarwith Strand for the morning drawing session, the artists capturing the drama and movement of the onrushing tide, with brooding presence of Gull Rock offshore. The loose theme for the course was 'Repetition' and the artists were asked to look for repetitions in the landscape, giving them something new to think about in their drawings and paintings.
Sketching at Trebarwith Strand & Antonia Glynne-Jones' sketchbook with Gull Rock...
After an excellent well-earned lunch in the Port William Inn up on the cliff, we headed off to Bude our second location, a very different landscape with its meeting of sea,river and canal and wide sandy beaches. We were of course, getting to know the landscape through drawing, and looking for ideas for paintings and the Sea Pool in Bude, below, became a popular subject.
Sea Pool, Bude
The following morning we set up the studio in the wonderful Port Isaac Village Hall and began with a quick group exercise before heading out to explore and draw around the harbour in Port Isaac, again with the idea of repetition in mind. If you look for it, you will find it everywhere...
Port Isaac
Back at the studio after lunch, I gave a talk about the use of repetition in art history and in a few of my paintings that I brought along. After another group exercise, it was time to begin translating the ideas and drawings/studies into paintings and I began my rounds as a tutor, discussing ideas and the paintings, offering encouragement!
In the studio...
Over the next few days, it was great to see the beautiful colours and marks being made and the paintings emerge. A rare time for most of us of pure, uninterrupted time for painting, where of course, you can go far. They were a fantastic hard-working group, willing to push their painting into unfamiliar territory. We had a few laughs aswell and a very enjoyable evening out together at The Old Chapel. As always, on Sunday afternoon, we finished with an extensive Group Critique, sharing views on each others paintings and enjoying them too. Hats off to the artists!
Artists dinner
ARTISTS COMMENTS:
'Really great course.Enjoyed every minute. really good tuition' BARRY KELLINGTON
'I really like the format where we go out and draw and then paint from our drawings. Ashley is always extremely helpful back in the studio, discussing where we want the work to go, providing great feedback and encouragement' ERICA SHIPLEY
'All brilliant! Thanks to Ashley for pushing me to new limits of abstraction.' MARION OWEN
'Loved the initial drawing exercise searching for triangles - and the walkabout with Ashley - giving my eyes a spring clean. Loved Ashley's emphasis on how to make a painting interesting as opposed to literal with the emphasis always on authenticity of experience and a sense of place. Appreciated all the personal guidance that Ashley gave throughout' ANNA BADAR