Abstraction through Observation
Jun
18
to Jun 22

Abstraction through Observation

REGUSTRATION PAGE HERE: https://canvas.snowfarm.org/classes/3015

June 19-22, 2025

Snowfarm, Williamsburg, MA

All Ages

$645

Discover painting processes that combine realism and abstraction en plein air using acrylic ink on Snow Farm's beautiful campus. Students will utilize both black and pigmented inks to introduce dynamism in composition building, confidence in mark and gesture, and keen awareness of value structure and shape. All exercises are designed to facilitate structured ways to enter an abstract painting language with intention and ease. Each morning will begin with a demonstration and guided approach, each afternoon is reserved for open studio time with individualized guidance. This workshop inherently covers the best practices of plein air painting set-up and supplies. Each day ends with a voluntary informal critique. There is no supply fee; a $60 kit fee is payable to the instructor at the beginning of class. All levels welcome.

*June 18 is the arrival day for this session. Workshop instruction starts on June 19 and ends June 22.

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Jul
20
9:00 AM09:00

Landscape & Color @ Dandelion Spring Farm, ME

REGISTER HERE

Saturday July 20, 2024

Dandelion Spring Farm, Bowdoinham, Maine

Landscape & Color explores abstraction, color, and mark through the lens of landscape painting. This workshop will briefly look at the traditional elements and principles of landscape painting, and use these tools to inform and create compelling abstract work of art. This workshop is designed to provide the structure necessary to enter an abstract painting language with intention and ease, while still providing space for freedom and intuition. Landscape & Color is designed to help the artist better understand composition, value, color, and most importantly, how to become a looser and more expressive painter.

Providing a farm to table experience in between creating, provides nourishment in so many ways. At Dandelion Spring Farm we believe that by engaging all of our senses through sharing nutritious food, we are setting a table for conversations about larger cultural and environmental issues related to our communities. We look forward to welcoming you to our working farm as a grounding point to nurture your creativity.

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May
22
to May 24

Abstract Landscape Painting @ Sedona Arts Center

REGISTER HERE

May 22-24, 2024

9am-3pm with 1 hour lunch break daily

Sedona Arts Center, Sedona, AZ

Workshop Description: There is a sweet spot of overlap between the traditions of abstraction and contemporary landscape painting where mark-making and the implications of planar structure combine with color and light to create a magical realm of newly discovered space.

This workshop will help you transform Sedona’s beautiful scenery into loose and expressive abstract landscape paintings. Amanda’s approach to abstraction is both structured and intuitive, meant to give attendees the tools and confidence to take risks and make informed decisions on the canvas, both in the workshop and long after the class. Each morning the workshop will open with warm-up exercises, and each afternoon will be used as open studio time with ample individual attention. All artists can expect to leave the workshop with several color studies, a series of miniature abstracts, and 1-2 larger abstract landscape paintings; all led by demonstration.

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Oct
7
to Oct 9

Plein Air in Abstraction @ Snow Farm, MA

Dates: Oct 7 - Oct 9, 2023

Location: Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program, 5 Clary Rd, Williamsburg, MA

REGISTER HERE

Spend each morning creating plein air studies in the beautiful Snow Farm landscape, and each afternoon, use these works as the input for abstract painting. Explore the marriage of these processes, the sweet spot between realism and abstraction, tradition and experimentation, structure and intuition, direct observation and imagination, inside and outside. Working in oil paint, instruction will help the artist better understand traditional means of composition, value and color, and facilitate ways to enter an abstract painting language with intention and ease. Some painting experience required.

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Jul
15
9:00 AM09:00

Landscape & Color @ Dandelion Farm, ME (Farm to Table Lunch!)

REGISTER HERE

Landscape & Color explores abstraction, color, and mark through the lens of landscape painting at Dandelion Spring Farm. This workshop will briefly look at the traditional elements and principles of landscape painting, and use these tools to inform and create compelling abstract works of art. This workshop is designed to provide the structure necessary to enter an abstract painting language with intention and ease, while still providing space for freedom and intuition. Landscape & Color is designed to help the artist better understand composition, value, color, and most importantly, how to become a looser and more expressive painter.

What to expect: The morning will be spent exploring a few sequential exercises both onsite and in the studio. There will be a one hour lunch with vegetables and herbs sourced from the farm. The afternoon will be painting plein air, outside. Amanda will demonstrate all exercises before artists embark on their own work. Artists will leave the class with preparatory composition and value studies and a miniature series of color study paintings.

Providing a farm to table experience in between creating provides nourishment in so many ways. At Dandelion Spring Farm we believe that by engaging all of our senses through sharing nutritious food, we are setting a table for conversations about larger cultural and environmental issues related to our communities. We look forward to welcoming you to our working farm as a grounding point to nurture all of our skill sets and community.

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Nov
12
9:00 AM09:00

Landscape, Color & Abstraction @ The Ipswich Museum

REGISTER HERE

Workshop: Landscape, Color & Abstraction

Location: The Ipswich Museum, Ipswich, MA

Date: Saturday November 12, 2022

Time: 9am-3pm (break 12-1pm)

Landscape & Color explores abstraction, color and mark through the lens of landscape painting. This workshop will briefly look at the traditional elements and principles of landscape painting, and use these tools to inform and create compelling abstract work of art. This workshop is designed to provide the structure necessary to enter an abstract painting language with intention and ease, while still providing space for freedom and intuition. Landscape & Color is designed to help the artist better understand composition, value, color, and most importantly, how to become a looser and more expressive painter.

What to expect:  The morning will be spent exploring a few sequential exercises and the afternoon will be an open studio format. Amanda will demonstrate all exercises before artists embark on their own work. Artists will leave the class with preparatory composition and value studies and 3-5 color study paintings.

All supplies are provided by the instructor.

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Aug
18
to Aug 19

Impressionistic Landscape Painting @ Rocky Neck Art Colony

  • Google Calendar ICS

Introduction to Impressionistic Landscape Painting

Class dates/times: August 18 - August 19th; 11am - 4pm daily (45 minute lunch break daily)

Location: 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA (Cultural Center on Rocky Neck Art Colony)

There is a sweet spot of overlap between the realm of abstraction and realism where expressionist mark making creates the essence of the landscape. This workshop will help you uncover new methodologies to bring expression, and a touch of abstraction, to your landscape paintings. Here you will discover how mark-making can create color and light, and convey the essence of the subject matter without extraneous details.

Instructor Amanda Hawkins takes an approach to abstraction is both structured and intuitive, meant to give attendees the tools and confidence to take risks and make informed decisions on the canvas, both in the workshop and long after the class. Each morning the workshop will open with warm-up exercises, and each afternoon will be used as open studio time with ample individual attention.

All artists can expect to leave the workshop with preparatory drawings, a small series of abstract landscape paintings, and 1-2 expressionistic landscape paintings.

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/introduction-to-impressionistic-landscape-painting-tickets-369873009127?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

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Jun
14
10:00 AM10:00

Plein Air Painting in & around Cambridge, MA

REGISTER HERE via the Cambridge Art Association

Location: Cambridge Botanical Gardens, Cambridge, MA

Dates:

  • Tuesday May 24, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday May 31, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 7, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 14, 10am-1pm

Held at various outdoor locations in and around Cambridge, this workshop uses the landscape as a way to enter the language of abstraction and the world of plein air painting. Each guided plein air session will use the surrounding landscape of the New England springtime as inspiration to explore relevant topics such as expressive mark-making, composition, color relationships, and value differentiation.

The class will begin with several drawing exercises to assist artists in locating a composition, loosening up, and identifying value structure. Artist will then begin to engage their canvas using direct painting techniques. Each artist will aim to create a painting in the alla prima technique (wet into wet), with the goal being to finish the painting by the end of the painting session.

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Jun
7
10:00 AM10:00

Plein Air Painting in & around Cambridge, MA

REGISTER HERE via the Cambridge Art Association

Location: Cambridge Botanical Gardens, Cambridge, MA

Dates:

  • Tuesday May 24, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday May 31, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 7, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 14, 10am-1pm

Held at various outdoor locations in and around Cambridge, this workshop uses the landscape as a way to enter the language of abstraction and the world of plein air painting. Each guided plein air session will use the surrounding landscape of the New England springtime as inspiration to explore relevant topics such as expressive mark-making, composition, color relationships, and value differentiation.

The class will begin with several drawing exercises to assist artists in locating a composition, loosening up, and identifying value structure. Artist will then begin to engage their canvas using direct painting techniques. Each artist will aim to create a painting in the alla prima technique (wet into wet), with the goal being to finish the painting by the end of the painting session.

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May
31
10:00 AM10:00

Plein Air Painting in & around Cambridge, MA

REGISTER HERE via the Cambridge Art Association

Location: Cambridge Botanical Gardens, Cambridge, MA

Dates:

  • Tuesday May 24, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday May 31, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 7, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 14, 10am-1pm

Held at various outdoor locations in and around Cambridge, this workshop uses the landscape as a way to enter the language of abstraction and the world of plein air painting. Each guided plein air session will use the surrounding landscape of the New England springtime as inspiration to explore relevant topics such as expressive mark-making, composition, color relationships, and value differentiation.

The class will begin with several drawing exercises to assist artists in locating a composition, loosening up, and identifying value structure. Artist will then begin to engage their canvas using direct painting techniques. Each artist will aim to create a painting in the alla prima technique (wet into wet), with the goal being to finish the painting by the end of the painting session.

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May
25
to May 27

Introduction to Plein Air

  • Google Calendar ICS

REGISTER HERE

Location: deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA

Date/ Time: Wednesday May 25 - Friday May 27, 11am-4pm

This 3-day workshop will introduce the working methods of drawing and painting outside, en plein air, in the landscape. Artists will learn about the equipment, such as easels, palettes, and other helpful tools to support their artmaking outside in a comfortable manner, in addition to artistic techniques to aid in the process of drawing and painting outside. All artists will feel empowered and confident in their methods and techniques of working en plein air by the close of the class.

This course is open to artists of all experience levels using wet or dry media, specifically acrylic paint, oil paint, water soluble oil paint, pencil and/or charcoal. Please bring the materials you wish to work with. Can you expect to create 1-2 works of art per day based on your media, canvas size and how fast you typically work. Each day will consist of demonstrations, open studio time with ample one-to-one guidance, and some time for group critique and discussion. We will break for lunch between 12:30-1:30 each day.

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May
24
10:00 AM10:00

Plein Air Painting in & around Cambridge, MA

REGISTER HERE via the Cambridge Art Association

Location: Cambridge Botanical Gardens, Cambridge, MA

Dates:

  • Tuesday May 24, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday May 31, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 7, 10am-1pm

  • Tuesday June 14, 10am-1pm

Held at various outdoor locations in and around Cambridge, this workshop uses the landscape as a way to enter the language of abstraction and the world of plein air painting. Each guided plein air session will use the surrounding landscape of the New England springtime as inspiration to explore relevant topics such as expressive mark-making, composition, color relationships, and value differentiation.

The class will begin with several drawing exercises to assist artists in locating a composition, loosening up, and identifying value structure. Artist will then begin to engage their canvas using direct painting techniques. Each artist will aim to create a painting in the alla prima technique (wet into wet), with the goal being to finish the painting by the end of the painting session.

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Mar
3
10:00 AM10:00

Drawing In and Around the Old Paint Factory

REGISTER HERE

Don't miss this opportunity to draw in the historic Paint Factory, on the grounds of Ocean Alliance on Rocky Neck.

Pick your subject: massive old machinery, weathered brick industrial buildings. And, that gorgeous view of Gloucester Harbor.

Leading us with be artist Amanda Hawkins. Bring Pencil, pastel, charcoal or water-based media for class. (No oils or acrylics.) Bring your own easel. Note, to get to the meeting space upstairs, there are 17 steps up a narrow flight of stairs.

For questions or more information, write to RNAC.workshops@gmail.com

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Feb
12
9:00 AM09:00

Landscape Painting: Color & Abstraction

REGISTER HERE

Location: Ipswich Museum, Ipswich, MA

Landscape & Color explores abstraction, color and mark through the lens of landscape painting. This workshop will briefly look at the traditional elements and principles of landscape painting, and use these tools to inform and create compelling abstract work of art. This workshop is designed to provide the structure necessary to enter an abstract painting language with intention and ease, while still providing space for freedom and intuition. Landscape & Color is designed to help the artist better understand composition, value, color, and most importantly, how to become a looser and more expressive painter. What to expect: The morning will be spent exploring a few sequential exercises and the afternoon will be an open studio format. Amanda will demonstrate all exercises before artists embark on their own work. Artists will leave the class with preparatory composition and value studies and 3-5 color study paintings.

Supplies provided by instructor for $70 fee.

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Jan
21
10:00 AM10:00

Landscape & Color

REGISTER HERE

Location: Cultural Center, Rocky Neck Art Colony, Gloucester, MA

Landscape & Color explores abstraction, color and mark through the lens of landscape painting. This workshop will briefly look at the traditional elements and principles of landscape painting, and use these tools to inform and create compelling abstract work of art. This workshop is designed to provide the structure necessary to enter an abstract painting language with intention and ease, while still providing space for freedom and intuition.

Landscape & Color is designed to help the artist better understand composition, value, color, and most importantly, how to become a looser and more expressive painter.

What to expect: The morning will be spent exploring a few sequential exercises and the afternoon will be an open studio format. Amanda will demonstrate all exercises before artists embark on their own work. Artists will leave the class with preparatory composition and value studies and a miniature series of color study paintings.

View Event →