Workshop

Study landscape painting in Provence with Maggie Siner

Maggie Siner is an exceptional painter and teacher with a rare ability to communicate verbally about the visual world. Her high energy, structured approach, sincere generosity, pursuit of excellence and love of craft bring artists into direct contact with the deeper issues of painting. Her erudition, intimate relationship with the local landscape, living dialogue with art history and personal sensitivity as a painter open up a world of knowledge for the serious painter.

During this total immersion painting course students will work from direct observation on a range of motifs; from high plateaus overlooking patchwork valleys of lavender, vineyards and olive orchards, to ancient perched villages cascading with red tile roofs, cobblestone streets; from dramatic cliffs and limestone quarries, to Roman ruins and modern cafes. We paint at different times of day and in varying weather conditions. Each of the many beautiful motifs offers a new approach to the study of color and light, form and space. In this way we get at the real challenges of landscape painting; simplifying the near and far of space, understanding the changing aspects of color and light, creating atmospheric truth in a fleeting moment, finding the rhythms of nature and a personal response in brushwork, composition and materials. In sustained and concentrated contact with nature, we will be honing our visual perception and ability to extract the essentials from a stunningly complex world.

Siner has lived for many decades in this small area of the south of France. She is familiar with village life, local inhabitants, the peculiarities of local geography and weather conditions. Her intimate relationship to the land brings a special insider's view to your Provence experience.

Daylight hours are long. This gives a special opportunity to work hard, focus exclusively on painting and make great progress in our work. Except for the practical challenges of landscape painting itself (bugs, heat, sun) all our daily needs will be seen to by our lovely hosts so that students are free to concentrate and devote themselves entirely to a week of pure painting.