Freedom in Painting in Polruan with Ashley Hanson

7th -10th September 2016

The view of Polruan -  just above the Village Hall

 4 Day Course £250, 10 Places Only

We are delighted to introduce this new Freedom in Painting course set in the magical coastal village of Polruan, on the south coast of Cornwall. Your tutor Ashley Hanson is an acclaimed colourist and landscape artist and a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists. Our studio and base for the 4 days is the Village Hall ideally situated, overlooking the Fowey River, with an outside terrace providing a wonderful option to paint outside. There are also glorious panoramic views to the open sea behind. 

The Village Hall Studio

Course Information

The first morning will be spent getting to know Polruan. Ashley will take the group to a number of favourite viewpoints where artists will be encouraged to make studies, collecting information and ideas for paintings back in the studio. Over the 4 days there will be further drawing/painting sessions in Polruan and it's surrounds, including visits to Fowey across the river,(weather permitting).

View from sea level

Elizabeth sketching Polruan

With a combination of group exercises, demonstrations and discussions, Ashley will help artists develop and build on their paintings, finding their own personal interpretation of Polruan. Colour, mark-making, space and composition are all areas that will be explored and by working in a small group, Ashley will be able to offer plenty of one to one tuition. 

Ashley with Hazel Crawford

Cathy's Jeppesen's Polruan painting in progress

Kate Watkins painting - Private Collection of Bridget Hills

Juliet Neill Hall's painting of Polruan

As with some of our other courses, Ashley will also be working on his own painting and using this as a teaching tool to demonstrate many of his tips and techniques. At the end of the 4 days the group will get the chance to discuss all the work made in a group critique. 

Fowey River 1 - Ashley Hanson

This course is suitable for painters of all abilities who wish to enhance their creativity.

Ashley looks forward to sharing his wide knowledge and passion for colour and oils/acrylics with the group.

Polruan

Your Tutor

Ashley has over 30 years experience as a professional artist. This combined with his teaching as a Visiting Lecturer at Canterbury Christchurch University and the National Academy of Art, Bergen , Norway ensures the teaching you will receive throughout the course will be of the highest standard. In addition he has run many popular and successful workshops of his own around the UK.

Ashley's paintings have been shown nationally and internationally. His work has been selected for thr Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Discerning Eye and the National Open art Exhibition. Last year he was short listed for the Connect2Colour Art Prize at Lacey Contemporary Galley in London and he has been a recipient of the Boise Travel Scholarship form the Slade School of Art and is a former prizewinner of the Hunting Art Prizes.

Accommodation

You can find a variety of accommodation options, including bed and breakfast, self-catering and camping in Polruan, see the village website here for further details. Alternatively Coldharbour Farm, in Bodmin (approx 40 minute drive) offers comfortable, affordable accommodation.

To Book

Email denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk or call 01208 77656. A £70 deposit is required at time of booking and the balance is due 8 weeks prior  to the start of the course.

You can view a write up of some of our previous painting holidays and courses here:

September 2015, May 2015

For a further insight into Ashley's art see www.ashleyhanson.co.uk and the blog http://ashleyhansonart.blogspot.co.uk

Our Freedom in Painting courses continue to challenge artists of all abilities with many artists returning year after year. Participants often finding they continue to benefit from the tuition and experience long after the course.

Testimonials

Read here for Nicola McLean's write up of our September 2014 Painting Holiday in Discover Art Magazine

A big thank you to Ashley and Denise for a brilliant expereince. Painting with a group of lovely people and guided by someone with so much passion - who could ask for more? Looking forward to doing it again next year.
Hazel Crawford May 2015

I was quite anxious about whether I would be out of my depth but despite the very different experience levels Ashley made us all feel positive.
Philippa Langton May 2015

Thanks to you both for a wonderful painting holiday. It was so well organised and we were made very welcome. It was wonderful to see parts of the beautiful Cornish area and try to combine the feeling of what we saw in our work. I feel inspired by the course and what Ashley has imparted. 
Philippa Hutton May 2015

I arrived with no experience of abstraction. I leave with a new aspect and tool for my painting. It works!
Margarita Hanlon September 2015

Just Released - Our Painting Holidays in Cornwall - 2015

5 Day Painting Holidays in Cornwall

11 - 16 May & 21 - 26 September

We are celebrating our 5th successful year of running our 'Freedom in Painting' holidays in Cornwall this year, and as a way of sharing our celebrations with you, we are offering everyone a £30 discount - if you book by 28th February. So if you've ever thought about coming along - this is definitely the year to do it!

Our holidays are a wonderful opportunity to spend 2 days working in 4 stunning locations on Cornwall's north and south coast followed by 2 full days developing the paintings and ideas in our village studio, high on Bodmin Moor.

Prices from £420 include:

• 5 nights accommodation
• 4 full days tuition
• 1 to 1 tuition
• Group critiques
• All lunches
• Ferry trip to Polruan (Sep Hol)
• Celebratory last night evening meal 

There are lots of accommodation options available depending on your budget and requirements -  you can hire a cottage on your own, share a cottage with friends or make new friends sharing a cottage. You can even book the holiday as a course only for £360 or come along as a non-participant at a special rate.

In collaboration with Great Art and Discover Art magazine, we offered a free place on our September holiday  in a competition last year and the winner Nicola McLean was asked by Discover Art magazine to write about her experiences with us. You can read Nicola's write up here.

You can be assured of the highest level of teaching throughout the course. Ashley has a wealth of experience both as an artist and tutor. He has been a Visiting Lecturer at Canterbury Christchurch University and the National Academy of Art, Bergen, Norway and has shown at many galleries nationally and internationally including selection for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the National Open art Competition and the Discerning Eye. Ashley has recently been elected a member of the Newlyn Arts Society.

We feel very privileged to have made so many great friends on our holidays along the way, with many of them returning year after year. We often here how Ashley's tutoring continues to inspire and benefit artists long after the course.

I had some really good feedback from the new work I produced after my course last year - have really tried to introduce Ashley's brighter colour palette to my paintings.
Debbie Zoutewelle 2014

My course with Ashley has moved my art work in a different direction. I have happy memories of my Cornwall week.
Fiona Robertson 2014

I'm impatient to have time to explore working now loosely on landscapes - Ashley's workshop has potentially set me on a new road artistically.
Nicola McLean 2014

I always love to see how your work is shaping, and the pics from each course you run. When I can , I'd love to come back again, as your ways are so inspiring and I can see how they are there in my work now, methodology and language.
Phil Longhurst 2014

Penzance 4 - Ashley Hanson

To Book

To find out more about this year's holidays and prices see here or email denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk

Remember - don't leave it too late! Book before 28th February and get a £30 discount.

You can find lots more information about Ashley's art practice at www.ashleyhanson.co.uk
For write ups on previous holidays, courses, art and exhibitions see also http://ashleyhansonart.blogspot.co.uk.

Thanks to artist Heather Rachel Johnston for the use of selective photos.

Freedom in Painting in Porthleven with Ashley Hanson

Sun 19 - Sat 25 April & Sun 4 - Sat 10 October 2015

 5 Day Course & Saturday Exhibition Day, Cost £350

This course is a unique opportunity to work in a small group with acclaimed colourist and landscape artist Ashley Hanson in the Lifeboat Art Studio in Porthleven, Cornwall, dramatically positioned on the edge of the harbour facing the open sea. Ashley has recently been elected a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists.

Porthleven 17 - Ashley Hanson

Ashley has a very special connection with Porthleven; the paintings of Peter Lanyon (in particular 'Porthleven' made in 1951) have had a major influence on his work and this unspoilt fishing town, with it's double harbour and iconic clock tower was the inspiration for Ashley's first series of paintings about Cornwall.

Artist Sara Bor Painting in Porthleven

Working in the studio

"Image, structure, movement, all the ingredients are here to make paintings. This workshop is an opportunity for artists to explore and respond to its richness, rawness and complexity. It's a special place for me, - so far there are 19 paintings in the series and each time I visit there are ideas for more".

During the workshop Ashley will inspire and encourage participating artists to produce their own personal interpretation of Porthleven, adding to its rich tradition.

PV of Exhibition

The course will start with an introduction and an opportunity to meet the other artists on the Sunday afternoon, followed by four and a half intense working days in the studio and around the harbour. From Friday afternoon the group will transform the studio into an exhibition space, leading up to a Private View in the evening with the exhibition continuing through to Saturday, giving artists the opportunity to show and sell their work.

 

Course Information

 In order to get to know the subject and provide information and ideas for paintings the first morning will be spent drawing and making studies around the harbour, with opportunities for further drawing exercises during the week.

Ashley mentoring artist Jan Bunyan

On the course there will be a mixture of group exercises, demonstrations and discussion to help artists engage with their painting and take it somewhere new. Colour, mark-making, space and composition are all areas that will be explored during the week and by working in a small group there will be plenty of opportunity for one to one tuition with Ashley. He will also be working on his own Porthleven painting and using this as a teaching tool for demonstrating techniques and ideas. The group loved this last year and found it a great way to build on their existing knowledge and pick up tips.

There will be a group critique of all the work on Saturday morning prior to the exhibition opening.

Ashley's 'Porthleven 19'

Jane Crane's Painting & Study

The course is designed for painters who wish to enhance their creativity and look towards abstraction and beyond the representational. Ashley looks forward to sharing his wide knowledge and passion for colour, landscape and oil/acrylic painting with the group.

Sara Bor's Painting

Joy Viegas' Painting

Chris Salmon's Painting



Helen Herbert's Painting

Jane Crane's Painting

 Your Tutor - Ashley Hanson 

Ashley has over 30 year experience as a professional artist and this combined with his teaching as a Visiting Lecturer at Canterbury Christchurch University and the National Academy of Art, Bergen, Norway, ensures the tuition you will receive throughout the course will be at the highest level. In addition he has run many popular and successful workshops of his own around the UK.

Ashley's paintings have been shown nationally and internationally. His work has been selected for the Discerning Eye (2012 & 2014), the National Open Art Competition (2012), the Ludlow Open (2012 & 2013) and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2011). He was also joint prize winner of the 'Canvas & Cream Art Prize' in London in 2012. Ashley is a former recipient of a Boise Travel Scholarship from the Slade School of Art and a prizewinner in the Hunting Art Prizes.

 Accommodation

Above Beach Cottages have a good selection of cottages and can also arrange a Sunday to Sunday let on certain properties. Porthleven Holiday Cottages offer a 10% discount if you advise them you are booking this course. They also have some excellent bed and breakfast en-suite rooms in The Artist Loft and once again a 10 % discount is available to participants on the course . See also http://www.porthleven-online.com/ for alternative B&B's and accommodation available.

To Book

Email denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk or call 01208 77656. As we can only take up to a maximum of 8 artists on each course, bookings will be taken on a first come first service basis. Early booking is recommended to secure your place. A £70 deposit is required at the time of booking and full payment made 8 weeks prior to the start of the course.

View a write up on our Porthleven 2013 and Porthleven 2014 course here.

For a further insight into Ashley's art see www.ashleyhanson.co.uk

 

Ashley with Artist Petra Rohr-Rouendaal

Our Freedom in Painting holidays and courses continues to inspire and challenge artists of all levels of ability with many participants finding they continue to benefit from the tuition and experience long after the course.

Quoted from February 2013 edition of 'The Artist' magazine by editor Dr Sally Bulgin

"Ashley's concern as an artist and teacher, is to unleash the emotional response to the subject matter that enables the painter to take risks, discover a 'personal colour palette that excites', and to provide the fresh vision of Britain's natural beauty that places him within the long tradition set by the masters of the landscape genre"

Testimonials

Ashley is a very fine and energetic tutor- plenty of ideas. He sees things in our work that even we don't see! I have been much encouraged and inspired.

Joy Viegas - October 2014

Ashley always gives so much that one automatically works towards ones goals and stretching ones expectations. A half hour discussion about a pink spot is fundamental and portrays the integrity of the course.

Jane McClement - October 2014

The course lived up to my expectations and more. Since returning my work has moved on, Wonderful environment - wise criticism - excellent company.

Helen Herbert - October 2013