The opportunity to escape the office to spend five days creating art in a sun-filled studio next to long white beaches, with one of my favourite artists, Boston’s Liz Haywood-Sullivan, ticked every box.What I hadn’t planned on was the unexpected surprises that unfolded along the way, turning it into a life-changing experience of fun, food and friendship.Throwing eight strangers together in a big house is not a new idea to reality TV fans – but in our house we had a studio all to ourselves, an incredible art teacher and a retreat organiser who spoiled us and customised our stay to suit our daily whims. I found myself wondering ‘how long has this been going on?’ and ‘why didn’t I do this sooner’?
Renowned pastel artist, and former President of the International Association of Pastel Societies, Liz Haywood-Sullivan, spent five days at Artable Studio’s pastel art immersive workshop with a group of students in Kingscliff Australia. As well as conducting both Plein Air and studio workshops, Liz was extremely generous with her time and advice outside of painting time. She kindly agreed to the following Q and A after a day visiting the Tweed Regional Gallery and painting outdoors.
Artable is currently looking for 2 new creative souls to join our team this year, these are contact positions that are perfect for those of you that may have taken time out to grow your family, or are looking for a little bit of extra cash on the side. Both positions will easily fit around other commitments as we believe firmly in living the best life that you can and finding the income to do it!
It is often said that good tool choices make a great crafts person. As with all other media that axiom is as true when learning how to draw with coloured pencils. The choice of the right tool, in this case your pencils of choice, the paper you will use can have a tremendous impact on the end results of your efforts.Coloured Pencils are probably the medium I struggled the a great deal when I started out as information were few and the Internet hadn't a lot of information at that time. And yet, it became the medium I used predominantly within the 15 years I worked as a commercial illustrator before I turned to teaching. That is why I emphasise in instructing my students on the tools available for this trade and provide information they need to make sound decisions when choosing the right pencils for their individual master pieces.
What if I told you there was a place that artists had pilgrimaged to for over 100 years to paint and that everywhere you walk you see someone with their easel out painting.What if I told you that there was a place where lobster was the main food source and that they produce their own home brew on the island called 'Lobster Ale" where you sit on a little wooden deck and drinking your samples.What if I told you that there was a place where there were no bitumen roads and the few accommodation utes there to carry lobster pots (and occasional tourist luggage) gave way to artists painting (only 75 people permanently live on the island)What if I told you there was a place with real fairy houses in the forest.....then what if I told you that you could join me and visit this place?When I was first invited to paint on Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine in the USA, I had no idea how remote a place this would be or the journey to get there. I ummm'd and ahh'd for some time before agreeing to go, worrying about the distance, whether it was worth my time, that there were closer, better places to go....the list was long.Once I got there I wanted to kick myself that I had hesitated.
More… about Chilling with Liz Haywood-Sullivan (USA Pastel Artist)
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More… about Colour Pencils - the importance of making the right choice by Martina Pook
