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
From January 2023, 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. 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.
‘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
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 19 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
at Queens Park Art Centre, Aylesbury
Painter Joan Mitchell and singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, both pioneering women artists ‘being free’, share an extraordinary facility to project their emotions and experiences into their art - landscapes of the heart and mind and memory.
‘Joan & Joni’ is a 2-day ‘Freedom in Painting’ workshop with the main focus on expressive mark-making. By looking/listening/responding to the work of these two great artists we aim to spark our own emotional and visual responses, leading to a different way into painting.
Your research will be enjoyable! Over the next few weeks, I ask artists to listen again to the music of Joni Mitchell – we all have our favourites - and make studies/drawings to bring to the workshop. What do you see, what colours, marks and emotions are evoked? What do you feel? Express the rhythms, shapes, spaces from the music into your studies. (Please note, we won’t be playing music in the workshop, so its important that you make your studies in advance).
During the workshop, with further inspiration from the ‘remembered’ landscapes of Joan Mitchell where ‘ Emotion, nature and physical expression collide’, we will develop the studies into paintings.
In the tradition of Chinese painting, and Joan Mitchell’s ‘Poem’ pieces, artists have the option to include lyrics/words in their paintings.
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.
Joan and Joni Mitchell, pioneering women artists ‘being free’, share an extraordinary facility to project their emotions and experiences into their art, landscapes of the heart and mind and memory.
In this 2-day online painting workshop, we aim to connect the expressive mark-making of Joan Mitchell to the music and lyrics of Joni Mitchell. Working from another genre, from another artform, can bring exciting possibilities to painting. Your research will be enjoyable. Listen, again, to Joni, we all have our favourites. What do you feel, what do you see, what colours, marks and emotions are evoked? Exprees the rhythms, shapes, spaces from the music into painting ..
In the tradition of Chinese painting, and Joan Mitchell’s ‘Poem’ pieces, artists have the option to include lyrics/words in their paintings.
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 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 21 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 2022 courses
Click HERE for review and gallery from the May 2022 Porthleven 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 5 October, 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 2022 Porthleven courses
Click HERE for review and gallery from the May 2022 Porthleven course
at Paxford Village Hall
A 2-day workshop exploring the possibilities of 'NARRATIVE' in painting.
Narrative art is art that tells a story: something happening, happened or about to happen…
Figures invariably create a narrative but so can an empty room or chair, an open door, something hidden or disguised…‘narrative’ can be autobiographical, magical, historical, psychological, ‘narrative’ can be sourced in an alternate narrative: books, music, film…‘Narrative’ can also be the conversation or relationship between different elements in a painting…
Click HERE for gallery and Blog from the February 'TREE' Workshop in Aylesbury