BRINGING THE OUTSIDE IN

Saturdays

November 15
November 22
November 29 (skip: Thanksgiving week)
December 6
December 13
December 20 2025

1 – 4:30 p.m. eastern time

ONLINE WORKSHOP. This course aims to redefine how we think about the still life. Instead of “nature morte,” we will seek “nature vivant.” We’ll consider the rich tradition of still life painting, in which the fruits of the orchard, the field, the sea and the forest were heaped on tabletops. Think: Cezanne’s apples, van Gogh’s flowers, Ensor’s fish and Chardin’s rabbits. But we’ll look beyond that tradition to find new ways to bring the dynamism of nature into the studio.

What excites a painter walking through a landscape? A distant horizon, a valley that stretches to an abrupt mountain range, the vista of the sea, the closeness of trees in a forest? How to redirect the urgency of that experience into a enclosed studio? We will explore various strategies I’ve developed in my own work to bring the outside in. These include the use of windows, mirrors, lighting, objects and fabric to create visual metaphors for our personal sense of the landscape.

You’ll use your own landscape paintings and drawings, memories, photos, or reproductions of your favorite landscape artist to guide your approach. Then, we’ll work through preparatory drawings and color studies towards a finished painting. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of an emotional connection to the still life set-up. All elements of what makes a painting – point of view, composition, color and value ideas, mark-making, paint application – will be discussed in relation to this connection. Color, the structure of a color palette, and paint mixing will address the subject of all perceptual painting: color as light.

Meetings will be held on Zoom and work will be shared on Padlet, an online platform.