April Freedom in Painting Course in Porthleven , Cornwall

The Life Boat Art Studio - Porthleven

The artists had a fantastic week, (weather included) and this year our exhibition days coincided with the Porthleven Food and Music Festival bringing many more visitors to the town and the studio to view the work. Most of the artists had worked with Ashley before but as always he came up with some new challenges and surprises and the end result was some really exciting work! Porthleven is an extraordinary place with its iconic clock tower, double harbour and beaches and its ever changing light, weather and tides - it never fails to inspire.

Far left -the Lifeboat Art Studio , The Ship Inn, in the foreground 

The artists gathered at the studio Sunday afternoon to set up their space, followed by an introductory talk where Ashley discussed the aims and principles of the course.A perfect opportunity for the group to meet each other before visiting the Ship Inn (which became known as the unofficial office!) for a bite and a pint.

Jane Crane's drawing

The first morning was spent drawing around the harbour from a variety of viewpoints, collecting information and finding inspiration and ideas. After lunch the artists returned to the studio and took part in a series of drawing and colour exercises before Ashley let them loose on their paintings.

Helen  Painting 'Plein Air'

Bruce drawing outside the studio

Day two was structured in a similar way but then the studio became the focus as the artists pushed their paintings further. Ashley was on hand to give individual mentoring and there was lots of opportunities for groups discussions and critiques which the artists found invaluable.Once again everyone enjoyed seeing Ashley develop his own painting, giving an insight into his working process, demonstrating tips and techniques along the way. With the exhibition looming the artists were totally committed, often working into the early evening before retiring to the office for some well earned food, drink and laughter!

Ashley with Mitzi 

Studio Shot

This year the group benefited from an additional half day on Friday morning to finish their paintings and a full day exhibition on the Saturday. Friday afternoon was spent transforming the studio into a gallery in preparation for the Preview on Friday evening and what a transformation! Colour and strong line filed the room, the paintings complimented by the drawings and studies. It looked amazing. Ashley's working painting 'Porthleven 20' was also exhibited but he is still not sure if it has been resolved..., what do you think?

Bruce Campbell's Painting

Helen Herbert's Painting

Ashley Hanson's Painting

John Robson's Painting

Jane Crane's Painting

Mitzi Delnevo's Painting

A BIG thank-you to the Porthleven Food and Music Festival for supporting us and helping to spread the word about the exhibition via the website , Facebook and Twitter and it was great to meet you.

Friday night Preview

Gallery Ready for Opening

Dinner at Amelies

After the Preview we celebrated the week's achievements, together with  the younger Hansons at Amelies Restaurant , thank-you to Paul James (who was one of the performing chef's at the Food Festival) for a lovely dinner.

Before the opening on Saturday, Ashley brought the artists together for a final critique of the work. The exhibition was very well received and the artists enjoyed their many conversations with visitors to the show. 


As well as the increased numbers to the exhibition an added bonus was that all the group got to see and participate in the festival during the weekend.

Well done to everyone, the quality of work produced in just one week was exceptional. From your comments , we are so glad you enjoyed it and hope you are not left too exhausted! As soon as we have the dates in place for next year, we will let you know!

Ashley was interviewed by the Porthleven Food & Drink Festival organisers. Here he  speaks about the Art Exhibition, the artists work made during the week and their commitment to the course and their art practice. 

Our October Porthleven 'Freedom in Painting' course for this year is now fully booked but if you are interested in joining us next year or finding out more about our courses and holidays see www.ashleyhanson.co.uk or would like to join our mailing list email Denise here.

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.

Freedom in Painting in Porthleven - October Course

Life Boat Studio in the Foreground

Our first course held at Porthleven's Life Boat Art Studio was a great success. Ashley encouraged  a discipline of drawing and sketching around the harbour each day, which became a great source of reference for the paintings made back in the studio. With the weather better than we ever expected, the light and conditions were perfect for painting and the group made the most of the amazing view  from the studio, located directly on the harbours edge.

Our small group of 8 experienced artists were all looking to build on their existing knowledge and further their development as artists. Everyone benefited from the opportunity to focus on their work in a productive environment and over the 4 days  Ashley was able to spend constructive time with each of them, looking at their work and drawing from his experience to help push their painting further.

The artists were spurred on knowing there was an exhibition of their work on the last day and they all rose to the challenge .

Jane McClement's Sketchbook

Jane McClement's Painting

As well as the paintings, the artists sketch books were on display and visitors were intrigued to see how the drawings had developed.

Chris Salmon's Drawing



Chris Salmon's Paintings

Sara Bor's Painting

Jan Bunyan's Paintings









  

Well done to everyone, the exhibition was excellent and very well received.  It was great to see and meet some of the local artists working in Porthleven, including Marie-Claire Hamon and Jan Phethean.

Jane Crane's Painting



Rebecca Child's Painting



Helen Herbert's Paintings

Thank-you to everyone who came along to our Exhibition and to all for coming on 'Freedom in Painting in Porthleven, the work produced in just 4 days was quite remarkable, you should all be very proud !

Open Day Exhibition