Teaching, workshops & mentoring
I’m taking a break from teaching at the moment to recharge and focus on making new work while recovering from illness.
Thanks for your patience and enthusiasm. If you’re on the mailing list, you’ll be first to hear news about my workshops and one-to-one mentoring.
Meanwhile, here’s a taster album from my signature art courses, including:
Observation to Abstraction | Fast and Loose
Blooming Abstract | The Painted Garden
Colour Nuance | Abstract Colour | Mindful Mark-Making
Thirty Works on a Thursday | Body of Work Project
Expressive Life Drawing | Gestural Landscape
Scroll photos from my Oxford studio, Waterperry Gardens (Oxfordshire), Darley House (Derbyshire), Potato Town (Chipping Norton), Arts en Provence (France), Lund Studios (N. Yorkshire), and Oxford Summer School (life drawing).
Artists drawing trees and pond
Student paintings of River Thame and trees in summer
Compositions from drawings on tracing paper
Student’s abstract colour paintings of red landscapes and trees
Participant’s abstract golden landscapes on studio table
Experimental abstract paintings from the same landscape by same artist
Students artwork - abstract colour
Seated woman artist drawing River Thame in summer
Abstract drawings and paintings from flower borders
Monochrome torn paper collage compositions
Topiary and flowers against the sky in ‘The Silent Garden’
Abstract studies of rose gazebo in watercolour
Two artists sketching under wisteria-covered pergola
Student’s abstract studies of gazebo
Two artists silhouetted against sunlit garden
Tree and river drawing
Watercolour painting of stone archway amid trees and strong shadows
Participant’s studies of urban buildings with strong perspective
Small watercolour sketches arranged on table in ‘30 Works on a Thursday’ workshop
Tonal value architecture studies
Artists drawing the amphitheatre
Participants chatting in studio
Landscape and foliage
Lycesteria and abstracting from a leafy stem
Large scale still life flowers, plants and foliage set up for ‘Blooming Abstract’
Dramatic abstract paintings of blue and yellow flowers in ‘Blooming Abstract’
Stylised watercolour painting of leaves and pink flowers
Gladioli and magnolia
Floral negative space studies
Studio group at work with large scale still life during ‘Blooming Abstract’ workshop
‘Blooming Abstract’ watercolour of still life flowers on gold table
Student abstract floral design on yellow background in ‘Observation to Abstraction’
Georgian facade seen from the garden
Participant’s studies of Georgian architecture in ‘Body of Work’
Artists working in sunny studio
Student’s expressive landscape paintings from the garden
Three artists drawing balustrade and trees in Joseph Paxton garden
Student contemporary landscape painting with ginkgo biloba leaves
Artist standing on chair to assess work in studio
Drawing the River Derwent ten minutes walk from the house
Student’s river side watercolour painting and drawing
Early morning sunlight on foxgoves peonies and balustrade in Joseph Paxton garden at Darley House
Artists drawing garden flower bed
Display of students’ drawing and painting
Group review of framed finished paintings in studio
Advanced exercises for abstract colour on studio table
Still life material with orange flowers and wooden mannequin for ‘Observation to Abstraction’
Still life floral and tonal subject matter in ‘Observation to Abstraction’
Participant’s wet-in-wet watercolour of still life with flowers in ‘Obsrrvation to Abstraction’ workshop
‘Observation to Abstraction’ framed abstract magenta still life paintings
Table top still life flowers and vessels for ‘Observation to Abstraction’
Participants working from still life with dark background in ‘Observation to Abstraction’ workshop
Wet in wet and loose watercolour paintings
Tonal still life watercolour with white flowers and black negative space in ‘Observation to Abstraction’
Artists setting out to paint landscape on Shotover Hill
Watercolour landscape with building and dark sky
Participant’s abstract landscape at Rock Edge Nature Reserve
Different degrees of abstraction
Framed watercolour paintings for the final review in ‘Observation to Abstraction’
Abstract watercolour paintings arranged in a grid from Shotover Hill landscape course
Participant’s monochrome painting of potted plants on patio
Still life and landscape, different degrees of abstraction
‘Observation to Abstraction’ artists
Wet-in-wet watercolour exercises in ‘Observation to Abstraction’ workshop
Drawing with sticks and abstract landscape
Colour wheel and charcoal landscape drawing on table with plant
Students chatting in art room
Landscapes on shelf
Landscape course people hidden in tall grass
Artists with display of paintings
Abstract colour landscape workshop
Kneeling and sitting poses in charcoal
Participants loosening up by using long sticks to draw model
Ink life drawing on two sheets of paper taped together
Charcoal life drawing of crawling figure
Participants working from life model
Life drawing with charcoal taped to stick
Participant’s series of still life watercolour paintings and drawing
Artists at work with still life starting points
Dramatic dark tonal value still life collages and painting
Smudgy charcoal still life drawings
Vase of pear blossom by studio door
Wet-in-wet watercolour flower paintings
Poppy seed heads en masse in garden
Participant’s bright colour abstract collages
Field work, Great Tew
Participant’s minimal abstract watercolour landscapes
Summer gardens painting class
Artist at work sitting on grass
Working in series in abstract watercolour workshop
Participants gathering near cars for painting excursion in the Luberon
Artists painting at ochre mines in the Luberon
Final exhibition with students in studio
“Ground-breaking. Original, ingenious instruction and exercises. The experimentation with ways of loosening up in Observation to Abstraction is inspiring and fun.”
“During the Body of Work course it made a real difference to be able to focus on a subject that fascinated me. I was gripped. The course changed my whole approach and has built my confidence no end. ”