Nature will be our starting point, but rather than copying what we see, we will look for the underlying structure, rhythm, color relationships, and emotional character of our subject. Guided exercises and demonstrations will help participants simplify complex natural forms, take creative risks, and move beyond predictable solutions. We will explore how colored grounds and expressive underpainting can establish mood; how Notan and value patterns can strengthen impact; and how cropping, repetition, and variation can generate compelling new compositions. The emphasis is on exploration, discovery, and building a process that can continue long after the retreat. Students gain a clearer understanding of how to move from observation into abstraction; and practical strategies for beginning, revising, evaluating, and extending their work into a cohesive series.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Debora Stewart
Cost: $2,500
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389

Who is this workshop for? If you are a beginner, you’ll be given the opportunity to learn composition, color mixing, mark making and more, all in a welcoming environment. If you are an advanced artist, Jodie will help you create your most honest work through understanding the personal energy you bring to your art, embracing your personal mark making and how you choose color combinations in a more intuitive way. Either way, this workshop will help you and your art advance to a new level in a judgement-free, joy-filled zone.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Jodie King
Cost: $3,500
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389

Join us for inspiring demonstrations, lectures, encouragement, and practice. You’ll learn how to coax hints of reality from an abstract background, how to control values and colors for emotional emphasis, and how to suggest rather than delineate. We will work intuitively, responding to what emerges, with less censorship and greater freedom. There will be daily demonstrations of various techniques for layering acrylic paint and paper. Students will produce two paintings per day, and we’ll discuss them using descriptive language to expand our individual creative voice. By adopting an attitude of “play”, this workshop will promote greater innovation and receptivity to the small voice of intuition and imagination. With a body of several paintings, we’ll pursue editing solutions for a final product.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Joan Fullerton
Cost: $2,500
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389