Freedom in Painting - October Course, Porthleven, Cornwall

Porthleven with studio on the left - Photo courtesy of Heather Rachel

Our second 'Freedom in Painting' course in Porthleven was once again a great success and although the weather was unpredictable, it added to the drama of the location with the fantastic light, surging seas and extreme high tides. We were delighted to welcome back 5 of our artists, who were all brave enough to return to another Ashley Hanson lead course!

After setting up the studio on Sunday, Ashley gave a talk about the aims of the course and the programme for the week ahead, before the group retired to The Ship Inn next door for the all important pint!

The next morning was spent drawing the harbour from a variety of view points as a way of getting to know Porthleven and find inspiration and ideas for painting. It was then back to the studio where the first painting session began with a group colour exercise. 

Ashley with his painting - courtesy of Heather Rachel

This year the group really enjoyed the benefit of seeing Ashley working on his own painting during the week,  as a way of demonstrating tips and techniques and how he approached the transformation of drawing into painting. Ashley made sneaky visits to the studio in the evenings and early mornings and when they arrived the group could see the dramatic changes that took place. (To see the blog about Ashley's painting 'Porthleven 19' click here )

Heather working hard

Jane Crane, Mitzi, Ashley & Jane McClement working in the studio

Ashley discussing Jane McClement's work

It was fantastic having Porthleven on the doorstep as a point of reference. Some people chose to work both around the harbour and in the studio, whilst others preferred to pursue their strong ideas in the studio. Each day the artists received individual mentoring and and there was also time for plenty of group discussions about the work.With the exhibition day on Friday looming, the group worked on their paintings with intensity and focus, often until the early evening.But there was still time for a bit of fun and frivolity in the evenings, although the group didn't do so well in the Ship Inn pub quiz- there wasn't a single question about art!

The studio - before- courtesy of Heather 

The studio -  after- courtesy of Heather

Friday morning was spent transforming the studio into a gallery space, followed by an invaluable group critique. The end result was a really impressive exhibition that the artists should be proud of, each found their own Porthleven and the work was really strong, colourful, full of personality and ideas.

During the Open House - photo courtesy of Heather

Joy Viegas' Painting

Jane Crane's Painting

Mitzi Delnevo's Painting

Heather Rachel's Painting

Jane McClement's Painting

Helen Herbert's Painting

We all celebrated the week's achievements with a great evening at the Seadrift Restaurant in Porthleven, joined by the junior Hanson's who kept the group thoroughly entertained!

Friday Evening Celebration at the SeaDrift

Well done to everyone and thank-you for coming along, we are already looking forward to next year. 

We are delighted to announce we will be running 2 Porthleven courses next year, in the Spring and Autumn. The course will be run over 6 days, giving artists an extra 1/2 day painting, a Friday evening PV and an all day exhibition on the Saturday.

Dates for next year are:

Sun 19th - Sat 25th April & Sun 4th - Saturday 10th October 2015.

Contact Denise , if you would like to find out more about next year's courses.

'Porthleven 19'

'Porthleven 19'      100x70cms



My latest painting was made during the recent workshop in Porthleven. It was a demonstration painting but I had some sneaky late night and early morning sessions. The week was fantastic, with storms and surging seas, a full moon and extreme high tides.  The fishing fleet stayed behind the barrier all week. There was a magical relationship between the white disc of the moon and the white face of the clock in the tower, which I may have to paint.  I'm very fond of this piece- it's good to be painting again.

 

 

 

Photos & Update on our September Painting Holiday in Cornwall

Port Isaac- Day 1

We were delighted to be welcoming our artists from all over the UK to our September 'Freedom in Painting Holiday in Cornwall,' including John and his wife Jenny from Kent, (who rebooked after coming on our May holiday earlier this year) and Nicola our prize winner of the Great Art Postcard challenge, from as far a field as Scotland near John O' Groats!

For any artist Cornwall is inspirational whatever the weather but we were fortunate again to have
fabulous weather, helping to enrich the week's experience for everyone.

Day 1 - The North Coast

Beryl in Port Isaac

 Port Isaac our morning location was spectacular. Ashley took the group to a number of different viewpoints where everyone was encouraged to make quick sketches before finding their own special place to work from. The difficulty was, how to capture the vastness of this wonderful landscape? Quite a challenge for any artist! 




Erica & Antonia in Trebarwith Strand

By the time we reached our afternoon location, Trebarwith Strand, we were building up a good appetite. A hearty lunch at The Port William Inn, (overlooking the bay) followed and everyone couldn't wait to get started for the afternoon drawing  /painting session. Here, Ashley spent time with each artist individually, discussing their composition and helping them to use a different approach to looking and sketching/painting the landscape .

Light, shape, shade and colour were all taking shape on canvases and sketchbooks  - this was just the begining!

The Group in Charlestown

Day 2 - The South Coast 
Charlestown , our first stop and  a very special place for Ashley. The harbour has a dramatic presence and even though on previous visits with our group the heavens have opened, this time the sun shone (except for a fleeting shower) and Charlestown was both striking and tranquil. Ashley started the morning with a brief drawing demonstration followed by some group sketching exercises helping the artists to simplify their drawings, looking at shapes, lines and contours.

Kate in Charlestown

They then went on to sketch /paint individually whilst Ashley checked in with them, giving input  and encouragement. Lunch was at the trusted Pier House Hotel opposite the harbour and then it was time to head for Fowey where we caught the ferry to Polruan, our afternoon destination.






Once again everyone enjoyed the diversity of the location and the panoramic view from the top of Polruan Hill was definitely worth the climb. It was time to make sure everyone was fired up with plenty of studies to take with them into the studio for tomorrow!

Panorama at the top of Polruan Hill

Ashley Demonstrating

Day 3 - 4 In the Studio, situated at the top of Bodmin Moor 
Ashley began the first day with a variety of demonstrations and colour exercises, he then shook things up a bit with the introduction of words to highlight and demonstrate movement, mark-making and finding different ways to put paint down. 

Joy's Painting in Progress

Some exciting paintings started emerging but were they finished yet or where they just opening up the possibilities in painting? 

Erica's Painting in Progress

Nicola our PrizeWinner

Joy, Nicola, Erica & Antonia

The last studio day allowed the artists to focus on their own paintings with Ashley mentoring each person throughout the day. As well as demonstrations , there was time for discussion and listening to discover what each each artist hoped to achieve in their work and Ashley set out to direct and encourage. 

Beryl discussing work with Ashley

By the end of the two days the paintings really started to take shape with some really exciting, colourful work coming through and although the subject matter may have been the same, each artist produced something entirely different, finding their own unique style and pathway.

Joy's Painting

Antonia's Painting

Nicola's Painting

The last day in the studio concluded with an invaluable  critique about the work where the whole group looked constructively at each others paintings and contributed to the discussion.

John's Painting

Erica's Painting

Beryl's Painting

Francine's Painting

Kate's Painting

Thanks to The Old Inn, St Breward for looking after all again for lunch over the two days - it was perfect!

And of cause our week wouldn't be the same without our wonderful Friday evening meal at Asquiths Restaurant, Lostwithiel. (After a swift pint in the 13th century The Globe Inn). Thank-you Graham, Sally and staff, as always the food was top notch and your care and attention to detail, exceptional!

Friday Evening at Asquiths Restaurant

Thanks  to everyone for signing up to 'Freedom in Painting in Cornwall', you were a great group (yet again) and we hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we did and found the course both inspiring and beneficial. We look forward to seeing (and hearing ) about your future work and hope that we might see you again soon!

Denise & Ashley

Nicola won the Great Art postcard challenge with this entry. We hope you agree it was very well deserved. She also writes a blog and if you would like to read about her own experience with us on the painting holiday , you can read about it here.

We also have some exciting news from Kate Dove who was came on the holiday. She has been short listed for the Artist of the Year Award with the Artist & Illustrator magazine. Well done, Kate!




We now have our painting holiday dates for next year:

Mon 11th - Sat 16th May & Mon 21st - Sat 26th September 2015

If you are interested in finding out more or would like to be included on our mailing list for information on courses/holidays or exhibitions, contact denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk or call 01208 77656 .
See also www.ashleyhanson.co.uk for more information about Ashley's art practice, exhibitions & previous holidays etc.