Our September 2013 Painting Holiday -Photos and Update

 We had yet again a great bunch of people joining us on our September painting holiday and were delighted to have another full house! As well as welcoming many new faces it was especially nice to see some familiar ones and thank you to Rosie and Hunter who had recommended us to friends - hope we lived up to expectations!
 

Rock and the Camel Estuary was our first location on the North coast . A favourite place, where we had taken our first group to, back in April 2011. The weather was glorious and made for an ideal painting morning with the ever changing lines of the golden sandbanks and the transparent blues and greens of the Camel river against the back drop of the green hills speckled with lemon and pink flowers.
 

It was then onto the Longcross hotel, for a delicious lunch before heading off for an afternoon of painting and sketching at the beautiful national heritage spot of Port Quinn. Many of the group were fascinated by the intense colours and formations of the natural rocks and stones while others chose to explore the dramatic wild rugged cliff tops.
 

  

 

On day two, we were in for a few surprises when we visited Charlestown , as they were in the middle of filming a Norwegian children's pirate movie, Captain Sabbertooth. Once Ashley's teaching got under way, even the film crew were interested in Ashley's tutorial and it was the first time we had encountered Charlestown with the odd palm tree thrown in for good measure! It still retained it's charm and character and there was some interesting work emerging. Once again a BIG thank-you to The Pier House Hotel for our hearty lunch, who never fail to look after us.
 

Our next stop was Polruan. It almost wouldn't be the same without a rain shower and although we were tempted to make a detour to the pub, it cleared up enough for everyone to enjoy the walk and viewpoints to the 12th century Blockhouse ruin and the climb to the top of St Saviour's Hill  for a panorama of the coastline.
 

As always, Ashley then stepped it up a gear once in the studio over the next 2 days . Colour was big on the agenda and the group warmed up with a variety of colour exercises. As well as having fun - the canvases used would later be transformed into paintings inspired from the coastal landscape from our 2 days out on location.

 Ashley continued to challenge the group encouraging them to try out new techniques using different objects to make marks. It was great to see people working in a variety of ways. Some on the floor, others splattering, dripping or spreading paint. By the end of the last day there was some really nice pieces of work made and most people had paintings that were quite different to anything they had done before.







Steve Walsh's Painting

Barbara Heseltine's Painting



Rosemary Graham's Painting's



Birgit Ackroyd's Painting

Avenda Burnell Walsh's Painting

 
 
 


  


By Friday evening we were really ready to enjoy our celebratory evening at Asquith's restaurant in Lostwithiel, (After a quick pit stop to the 13th century Globe Inn) . Thank-you Graham and Sally,  the service and food was amazing once again and it was a fantastic end to a wonderful week of painting with lots of hard work, fun and great company. Thank-you all for signing up to 'Freedom in Painting in the Cornish Coastal Landscape'. We do hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did and that we might see you again soon!

Denise & Ashley

  We now have our dates for 2014:  12th - 17th May & 22nd - 27th September 2014.   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    
 

Our April 2013 Painting Holiday - Photos and Update

 

We really were a very multi-national group this time, with guests coming from Germany, France, Singapore and South Africa , along with our UK participants, some who were brave enough to return again! The sun came out for our first day on location, after the dreary, cold winter weather we had all been experiencing  and Port Isaac came alive amongst the backdrop of yellow gorse and beautiful Spring flowers.

 After the morning session at Port Isaac, it was time for a well earned, delicious lunch at the Port William Inn,  Trebarwith Strand. Situated over looking the cliff tops, it was an ideal location to relax and take in the view. Thank-you Larry, Sue and the team for looking after us so well. The group were not disappointed with the dramatic coastal landscape - one of our special places.

 

Having taken in the north coast on Day 2 we were heading for a very contrasting Cornwall on the south coast. Our day began at Charlestown, a place that has inspired a whole series of paintings for Ashley. Here we looked at the lines and curves of the unusual arrow shaped harbour against the natural landscape. A welcome, substantial lunch followed at the Pier House Hotel before it was on to our next destination- a ferry  trip to Polruan.

Most of us took up the challenge of climbing to the summit,  the effort was rewarded with a breath taking, panoramic view over Fowey and the open sea. It was pretty gusty up there but some of the group, were determined to paint regardless (Woon and Sue you were very brave!)

Our next 2 days were very different, as Ashley pointed out in his introduction to the studio 'this was where the holiday ended and the real work began!' The studio was now about to become the place of invention and Ashley introduced the group to his way of working, away from the subject matter, allowing for a whole range of possibilities to begin.  

The focus was colour and everyone participated in a variety of exercises. Ashley continued to challenge the group during the next 2 days, taking them out of their comfort zone- after all they had signed up for 'Freedom in Painting'. The work produced was very exciting, colour dominated and there were plenty of surprises. 

 

Kathy's Painting

Sara's Painting

Regine's Painting

The Friday evening wouldn't be the same without our finale dinner, where we could all let our hair down after an exhausting - but exhilerating week. After a quick swifty at The Globe Inn , we dined in Cornwall's Silver Award winning restaurant for 2012, Asquiths in the historic village of Lostwithiel . It was a true fine dining experience, I'm sure the rest of the group will agree the food and service were second to none.

Thank-you Graham and Sally for a wonderful evening and a special thank-you must go out to our guest Christian, who entertained us with his guitar and charming French  songs. 

Both Ashley and I would like to say a BIG thank-you to you all for signing up, we loved being with you and sharing some of our special places. I hope Ashley didn't work you too hard and that you enjoyed it all, just as much as we did and that we might see you again soon, keep in touch!

Denise & Ashley

If you would like to join or find out more about our next holiday:

 

23 - 28 September 2013

 

Contact denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk or call Denise on 01208 77656 

Hurry- we only have 2 places left!!