Art Courses
About Freedom in Painting
Find your freedom - painting courses in Cornwall, Aylesbury and Kent.
The concept of ‘Freedom in Painting’ is that as artists, rather than being in awe of the subject, to move our practice forward, we need to invent, challenge and surprise ourselves and transform the subject into something that is ours, utilizing all our knowledge and skills in the pursuit of an idea.
Our NEW Loyalty Programme
If you attend four courses or workshops (including online workshops) - with at least one being a course in Cornwall, you will be eligible for a Limited Edition (50) Signed Giclee. This scheme was introduced in 2023 and is a rolling programme. You can find out more HERE.
To contact Ashley Hanson, please email or call 01208 77656 or 07534 043845.
at Online ZOOM Workshop
Using the ZOOM online platform, we aim to replicate the format and ambitions of our popular Freedom in Painting workshops. Suitable for artists with some experience. You will need a space to work and a reasonable internet connection and a laptop or tablet.
“I have all my subjects to hand, I go and look at them. I take notes. Then I go home. And before I start painting I reflect, I dream.”
Pierre Bonnard was a master of colour, capturing transience and beauty in the domestic interior. Rather than working directly from the subject he preferred to work from small drawings that allowed space for the imagination, freeing his heightened and intensified colour and radical compositions from straightforward description.The motif of the window, appears in many of his most iconic paintings, flooding his interiors with the light and colour from outside.
These works, will be the springboard on our 2-day online workshop, where we look at his methods, colour and brushwork before developing our own studies into vibrant paintings.
THURSDAY - The workshop will begin with an introductory talk & slideshow followed by a demonstration and group exercise. The rest of the time will be spent on individual working, with plenty of one to one tuition with Ashley during the two days.
FRIDAY - There will a second demonstration and group exercise on Thursday morning, followed by individual working. As always we will end the session with an invaluable Group Critique to start at 3.30pm.
See HERE for gallery and report from the online 'De Stael' workshop...
See HERE for gallery and report from the online 'Joan & Joni (Mitchell)' workshops...
at The Old Lifeboat House
The unspoilt fishing-village of Porthleven, with its' iconic clock- tower and unique double-harbour, is the setting and inspiration for this 6-day painting course in Cornwall. Our studio is the Old Lifeboat House, dramatically positioned at the head of the harbour. Uniquely on our courses, artists will be working towards a one-day exhibition on the Thursday 25 September, open to the public. This is an opportunity for artists with some experience to work in a small group – maximum seven - in a wonderful location that has inspired many of Ashley's own paintings.
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2023 Porthleven courses
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2024 Porthleven courses
at The Old Lifeboat House
The unspoilt fishing-village of Porthleven, with its' iconic clock- tower and unique double-harbour, is the setting and inspiration for this 6-day painting course in Cornwall. Our studio is the Old Lifeboat House, dramatically positioned at the head of the harbour. This is an opportunity for artists with some experience to work in a small group – maximum seven - in a wonderful location that has inspired many of Ashley's own paintings.
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2023 Porthleven courses
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2024 Porthleven courses
at The Old Lifeboat House
The unspoilt fishing-village of Porthleven, with its' iconic clock- tower and unique double-harbour, is the setting and inspiration for this 6-day painting course in Cornwall. Our studio is the Old Lifeboat House, dramatically positioned at the head of the harbour. Uniquely on our courses, artists will be working towards a one-day exhibition on the Thursday 22 May, open to the public. This is an opportunity for artists with some experience to work in a small group – maximum seven - in a wonderful location that has inspired many of Ashley's own paintings.
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2023 Porthleven courses
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2024 Porthleven courses
at Port Isaac Village Hall
Port Isaac is a traditional fishing village set amidst rugged and magnificent scenery on Cornwall's North coast, with narrow winding streets lined with whitewashed cottages that head down to the harbour. Truly inspirational: a rich variety of viewpoints and subject matter, an intoxicating mix of the natural and the man-made coastal landscape.
Click HERE for review and gallery from the 2024 Port Isaac course
Click HERE for review and gallery from the 2023 Port Isaac course
at Online
Using the ZOOM online platform, we aim to replicate the format and ambitions of our popular Freedom in Painting workshops. Suitable for artists with some experience. You will need a space to work and a reasonable internet connection and a laptop or tablet.
'For me, abstract painting and figurative painting are not opposites. A painting should be both abstract and figurative.’ Nicolas de Stael 1952
With his distinctive language and mastery of colour, Nicolas de Stael was a leading figure in postwar European Abstraction. Echoing Richard Diebenkorn in the US, he returned to representation in the early 50's, producing dazzling, subjective lyrical abstractions from the classical trilogy of still-life, the figure and landscape.
Springboarding from the paintings of de Stael, and working from drawings of landscape or still-life, participating artists will explore abstraction/reduction, mark-making, composition and expressive colour.
WEDNESDAY- The workshop will begin with an introductory talk & slideshow followed by a demonstration and group exercise. The rest of the time will be spent on individual working, with plenty of one to one tuition with Ashley during the two days.
THURSDAY - There will a second demonstration and group exercise on Thursday morning, followed by individual working. As always we will end the session with an invaluable Group Critique to start at 3.30pm.
See HERE for gallery and report from the online 'Blue' workshop...
See HERE for gallery amd report from the online 'Tree' workshop...
at Online ZOOM Workshop
Using the ZOOM online platform, we aim to replicate the format and ambitions of our popular Freedom in Painting workshops. Suitable for artists with some experience. You will need a space to work and a reasonable internet connection and a laptop or tablet.
‘STORM!!!’ – a 2-day online painting workshop exploring the expressive, emotional, and symbolic possibilities of raging wind, heavy cloud, driving rain and boiling sea…
In the spirit of William Turner, Emil Nolde & Joan Eardley, this workshop is an opportunity to explore drama and dynamism in your markmaking, palette and composition, paintings you can feel as well as see…
See HERE for Gallery and report from the 'BLUE' online Workshop
See HERE for Gallery and report from the 'TREE' online Workshop
See HERE for Gallery and report from 'MATISSE & NOTRE-DAME' online Workshop
at Port Isaac Village Hall
Port Isaac is a traditional fishing village set amidst rugged and magnificent scenery on Cornwall's North coast, with narrow winding streets lined with whitewashed cottages that head down to the harbour. Truly inspirational: a rich variety of viewpoints and subject matter, an intoxicating mix of the natural and the man-made coastal landscape.
Click HERE for review and gallery from the 2023 Port Isaac course
Click HERE for review and gallery from the 2022 Port Isaac course
at The Old Lifeboat House
The unspoilt fishing-village of Porthleven, with its' iconic clock- tower and unique double-harbour, is the setting and inspiration for this 6-day painting course in Cornwall. Our studio is the Old Lifeboat House, dramatically positioned at the head of the harbour. Uniquely on our courses, artists will be working towards a one-day exhibition on the Thursday 16 May, open to the public. This is an opportunity for artists with some experience to work in a small group – maximum seven - in a wonderful location that has inspired many of Ashley's own paintings.
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2023 Porthleven courses
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2022 Porthleven courses
at The Old Lifeboat House
The unspoilt fishing-village of Porthleven, with its' iconic clock- tower and unique double-harbour, is the setting and inspiration for this 6-day painting course in Cornwall. Our studio is the Old Lifeboat House, dramatically positioned at the head of the harbour. Uniquely on our courses, artists will be working towards a one-day exhibition on the Thursday 12 September, open to the public. This is an opportunity for artists with some experience to work in a small group – maximum seven - in a wonderful location that has inspired many of Ashley's own paintings.
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2023 Porthleven courses
Click HERE for review and gallery from the Autumn 2022 Porthleven courses
