Past Events

‘I don’t Paint to Live, I Live to Paint’,   Willem de Kooning The course is all about really letting go and painting from the heart and not the mind; reacting rather than analysing  –  with particular reference to de Kooning who has been a major influence on Paul’s work.  Students will have the opportunity to develop their own experimental approach under Paul’s inspiring guidance.  We will begin with a simple still-life and work on different ways to respond to and…

9.15 am – 4.0 pm Using inks, gouache wax resist, collage and many other techniques. Alison will lead a second workshop where students can release their inhibitions working and responding to the landscape in the open air.  She will give an introduction to analysing and composing the landscape and demonstrate a range of techniques in many media including inks, wax resist, bleach, and collage.  She will generously share her repertoire of techniques including her dynamic approach to using inks.   Students…

9.15 am - 4.0 pm. This course is about the balance between naturalism and realism as seen in the work of the Scottish painter, Joan Eardley (1921 - 1963).  The class will paint large expressive oil landscapes outside on boards making the most of the light and weather and capturing the turning season. Composition, colour and structure will be analysed and students will receive tuition on preparing and selecting their palettes.  Experimentation is key, and the use of mixed media…

9.15 am - 4.0 pm.  Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979) is the most famous modernist Sussex painter, who lived just a few miles away from the gallery. This will be an exciting course, in which you will look at his abstracted vision of the landscape, and his garden and flower paintings. Ideally you will paint in the open air, but if the weather is inclement, in the studio, working from flower still lives and looking out into the landscape. Over our two…

9.15 am - 4.0 pm. Forget about any hang-ups you might have about drawing! This two-day course, led by artist Victoria Threlfall, is all about engaging in the process of drawing rather than becoming overly concerned with results.  You will learn new ways of approaching a subject and experiment with different types of mark-making and materials. The course consists of fast-paced warm up studies, innovative exercises designed to engage your senses, and longer periods of intense observation.  Each day will…

10 - 11 March, 9.15 am – 4.0 pm daily.   Join us for a two day painting course in the gallery with renowned Scottish artist and sculptor Leonie Gibbs. www.leoniegibbs.co.uk. This is an adventure into the world of colour, looking at four artists who have most inspired Leonie.  Over two days, Leonie will guide students through the techniques of oil painting, liberating inhibitions to produce creative and exciting results.  The focus will be on  learning to scupt  with paint, putting one…

17 - 18 March 9.15- 4.0 pm daily As Diebenkorn said, “It is not a matter of painting life. It is a matter of giving life to a painting.” After some useful warming up exercises, you will make arbitrary marks with oil and/or acrylic paint, and then see how to respond to these initial marks. In this way, you will be learning how to FIND your paintings, rather than MAKE them. It will be an exciting journey into the unknown…

23/24 April 9.15 am to 4.0 pm.   Using time honoured simple techniques for truly striking results, this workshop will give you all the skills you need to achieve stunning table top prints - from composing your design, to carving and printing your block. The course will begin with an introduction to the various types of printmaking.  Followed by carving a sampler and taking a print, to learn carving techniques, mark making and the mistakes and pitfalls to avoid!  Celia will…

Turner famously wrote  ‘It is only when we are no longer fearful that we begin to create.’ 9.15 - 4 pm - suitable for all levels  Arguably the greatest watercolorist of all time Turner has inspired generations of artists with his revolutionary techniques which turned conventional 19th-century painting on its head. He considered his watercolours to be sketches and allowed himself limitless freedom in their execution. The main focus of the course will be on landscape painting as well as…