What to expect on an art workshop
Some people enjoy painting in a traditional way, and others feel the need to experiment and try new techniques as part of the creative process. These art workshops are meant to allow students to take their work wherever it may lead them.
As a result it’s a little difficult to be too prescriptive and to say what types of images we will produce, but that is part of the excitement of this type of course, and we work on a combination of drawing, painting, printmaking and collage.
(As with all our courses, all materials are provided and, unless you want to bring anything you particularly enjoy using, it’s all here for you in the studio.)
To give you an idea of what to expect, the week is broken down something like this;
Day one – Saturday
Guests arrive on the Saturday afternoon at various times, and we provide a free pick-up service from our local railway station in Chiusi, from which there are excellent and easy rail links from all over Italy. We are always happy to send you details of how to get here and your probable train connections from airports etc.
Having settled into your accommodation at the house during the afternoon, early on in the evening there is a welcome pre-dinner drink for the group to meet up and get to know each other. We then have dinner in the studio and the evening is free for you to relax before the first working day.
Day two – Sunday
We begin work on Sunday after breakfast in the studio. I generally like to start with a series of drawing and painting exercises, partly to get everyone warmed up, and also to begin to see what emerges from the group. We start simple.
During the day, the work incorporates more and more elements (line, tone, form, colour etc.) as we build towards our first painting later on in the afternoon, interrupted only by tea and coffee breaks and to enjoy lunch and dinner together.
Day three – Monday
On Monday we go as a group to our local Tuscan town, Chiusi, where the Etruscan nomadic tribes first settled here around 1000 years BC. It’s a charming town, not ‘touristy’, but with a wonderful cathedral, the National museum of Etruscan art and plenty of other things to see. There is also a great little restaurant for pizza and pasta where we will have our lunch. We use Mondays to gather information, take photographs, learn about the area and begin to see what might emerge during the week. We draw, sketch and try out some simple paintings during the afternoon.
Day four – Tuesday
Tuesday is our first full studio day and we use the material gathered to begin work together. I start by explaining how the studio works, what materials we have for you to use and where everything is. We work pretty much all day, breaking for coffee and a light, fresh lunch under the pergola. At various points during the day we can go out into the landscape on the estate which surrounds the house for a further opportunity to paint outside.
I try to keep to my studio hours as the teacher, (3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon), but students are free to dip in and out during the day, and if you would like to go for a swim (in season) or for a walk or a run, or just get away for a while, you are more than welcome. The courses are for you to enjoy as you wish.
Day five – Wednesday
Wednesday is set aside for a trip to one of the major towns in our part of the world. This could be Florence, Rome, Cortona, Perugia, Assisi etc. but recently I have been taking students to Arezzo – a beautiful, elegant town just South of Florence in the heart of Tuscany which has some wonderful things to see, not least a Renaissance masterpiece by Piero della Francesca, The Legend of the True Cross.
It is a break from the studio and a very full day and, having had lunch there and gathered more reference material, photographs etc. we get back to the house for dinner together either in the studio or outside on the pergola.
Days six and seven – Thursday and Friday
We get back to working in the Studio for the final two days. This is a chance to try out new techniques, push yourselves (and each other), and see your work through to a level of finish. We stop only when everyone is ready to stop and then lay out all the work on the huge studio table to look at what has been completed. It’s hard not to be impressed by the amount produced during each course in what is a relatively short space of time, but always very gratifying to see the improvements in everyone’s work.
At the end of an informal critique on Friday, we go out as a group together to celebrate and to relax after what can be an exhausting week. We go to dinner in a beautiful town, Castiglione del Lago, which juts into the wonderful Lago Trasimeno, the largest lake on the Italian peninsular. The restaurant, very popular with locals and tourists, has a large atmospheric outside courtyard where we enjoy our meal.
Day eight - Saturday
This is the final day of the course and, once I have packed up your paintings carefully for you, guests will be taken back to Chiusi station for various train connections to airports or wherever they may be going on to in Italy. This is the bit where we all say goodbye, swap email addresses and promise to come again next year.
Days nine and ten (only for the 10 day courses!)
On our new 10 day courses, we use Saturday to continue building on the work already produced. This little bit of extra time can make a huge difference as the group is now firmly established and everyone has their own stylistic direction to follow. I am on hand in the studio all day, working with you all as individuals, and keeping the creative juices flowing! At the end of day nine, we go to a restaurant to enjoy our end-of-course dinner together.
The final day is, therefore, the Monday. We will go to Florence, Italy’s wondrous Renaissance city.
I will give you a tour of some of the highlights as we wander round, stopping at various museums and churches along the way.
A normal tour might include the monastery at San Marco, Castagno’s Last Supper at Sant’Appollonia, the Ospedale degli Innocenti, Brunelleschi’s magnificent Dome, the enormous Piazza della Signoria, along the Arno to the Ponte Vecchio, a superb Ghirlandaio Adoration of the Shepherds at Santa Trinita and the finest Gothic church in Italy, Santa Maria Novella, which boasts Masaccio’s Trinity, the first truly Renaissance fresco!
At lunchtime, we'll stop for a quick bite to eat, before resuming our tour around the city.
It’s a busy day, but truly a feast for the eyes.
