This is a 10 night Course run in collaboration with the St Ives School of Painting with tutor Gary Long.
This is a beautiful time of year to capture the spring time Italian landscape as well as explore the ancient architecture of the town. Students will have opportunities to explore these varied subjects incorporating the natural landscape with Italian life and architecture. As well as taking advantage of the views from the centre's terraces, time will be spent out in the area around Casole d’Elsa. Using sketch books initially to locate and draw areas of interest, students will make annotations on colour and light source. This will be followed up with painting back in the studio using gouache, initially to explore ways of depicting the subject intuitively before moving on to oils. All materials are provided as part of the course.
The course runs from 22nd May - 1st June and includes 6 days of tuition, time for self-study in the studio and experiencing the Italian lifestyle. Taught days will usually run 9:30 - 12:30 am, break for lunch and teaching again 3:30 - 5:30 pm. The studios will be open to students to use throughout the day and evening.
Gary Long is a figurative painter whose work explores varied subjects including the coast, sea, sky, weather and the impressions they leave. He is also fascinated with the figure, teaching life class at University College Falmouth for many years and now sharing his expertise with students at the St Ives School of Painting. After studying at Birmingham and then Manchester College of Art he worked as a successful illustrator on numerous national and international accounts in publishing and advertising.& He is an artist member of the Society of Illustrators in New York and regularly exhibits his paintings nationally.
Gary Long is an excellent tutor – very much enjoyed my time.
It gave me techniques and inspiration I needed to start to paint in oils. Nadia
Absolutely inspiring and I could really see changes through the days.
Lovely, fun, but I also learned.
Great teacher very willing to share ideas and explain techniques. Good colour guidance too.
A very pleasant, calm and creative atmosphere created by Gary on the course. Kristin
Friendly and talented tutor.
Gary was very generous with his work and style – excellent demos.
Very inspiring tutor – really knew subject and how to teach.
I got a huge amount out of the course – it was great to have the chance to paint after a gap of seven years.
Conversations I had with Gary have sent me home bubbling with excitement and enthusiasm to develop my work and take it in new directions. Les
Up until 2020 when all our courses had to be cancelled due to the pandemic we ran painting courses and Choral singing. Here is the 2020 line up - all of which sadly had to be cancelled. Most of the courses were regular annual events. We do hope to be able to resume courses once all the risks of Covid are behind us. We are proud to have worked in partnership with some great institutions and outstanding tutors and hope to remain in contact for the future.
10 - 20 May 2020 Liz Hough (10 nights) St Ives in Tuscany - "Spirit of Tuscany" "Had the best painting holiday I've ever done, and I've done a few! Loved Liz - she's a gentle inspiring and an amazing tutor." |
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22 May - 1 June 2020 (10 nights) St Ives in Tuscany "Very inspiring tutor – really knew subject and how to teach." A beautiful time of year to capture the Italian landscape - course includes some figure painting. |
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Julia Adams Life and Landscape 15 - 23 June 8 nights "It was wonderful in every way! Julia was on fab form, very helpful - I learned a lot" E.R. (UK) |
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25 June - 2 July (7 nights) Untutored workshop including Life sessions with Model Deb Pearson Painting or sculpture holiday without tuition. Enjoy working independently on your own projects in the company of other artists. Sessions with the life model scheduled. |
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4 - 12 July (8 nights) Locating a Personal Practice in Landscape Royal West Academy Course with Stewart Geddes "I feel I have moved on strides with Stewart's teaching and love and knowledge of art. The perfect holiday!" |
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15 - 25 July (10 nights) Andy Pankhurst Summer Landscape Painting at Verrocchio. "Andy guides and draws out his students unique vision calmly, deftly, and with understanding. He is an exceptional teacher" |
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Thurs 27 July - Weds 5 Aug 2020 (9 nights) Hampstead School of Art in Tuscany Sculpture with Patricia Barker and Painting with Francis Martin. Two courses in parallel with these two popular tutors from the vibrant HSoA
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CIRPS has been cancelled but a VIRTUAL CIRPS is planned. For more info....
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17 - 27 Aug 2020 (10 nights) St Ives in Tuscany - "Spirit of Tuscany" "Had the best painting holiday I've ever done, and I've done a few! Loved Liz - she's a gentle inspiring and an amazing tutor." |
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31 Aug - 10 Sept 2020 (10 nights) Bella Green "Creative Space in Tuscany" "Bella is an absolutely first rate teacher and imparts a wealth of information. Cannot believe Bella’s energy levels and commitment to her students - the best in every respect" |
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12 - 22 Sept 2020 (10 nights) Bella Green "Making Colour Work" "Bella makes every day refreshing and entertaining. I never realised how much I could learn in one course, even learning the secret of what makes certain paintings stand out from the rest." |
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Ada Grüebler Tribò Small Group from Swizerland, self catering, occupying Centro only 4th - 11th October 2020 |
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Arrival is normally 4:30 pm at Pisa Airport to meet the transfer and departure is normally 9:30 am from Casole, back to Pisa by 11:00 am |
This inspirational course will get you truly immersed in the spirit of Tuscany. Absorb the evocative Sienese colours and explore an expressive and vibrant approach to capturing landscape and place in your painting.
There will be tutored studio time to develop personal ideas using drawing, collage and acrylics to experiment and explore. Liz will show you techniques to loosen up your paintings and develop a personal response to the stunning landscape and townscape surrounding the art centre.
The course is led by artist tutor Liz Hough who has spent many years exploring and responding to the region through her own painting. The immersive creative experience will be a unique opportunity to soak up the Tuscan creative environment past and present and develop your own unique response.
Students will use mixed media involving drawing, collage and painting using acrylics. The focus will be on creating expressive and vibrant work that captures the essence of the local landscape. Altogether there will be six days of tuition included in the fee. Other days students can choose to work self directed in the huge studio or have time off to enjoy the surrounding area.
Taking inspiration from Cornwall’s charismatic scenery, Liz’s work is based on the landscape. Her abstract paintings feature in a continual flow of mixed and solo exhibitions throughout the UK and she has received several commissions, most recently in 2004, from St Michael’s Chapel, Cordigliano, Italy. Liz received her BA Honours in Fine Art at Manchester Polytechnic before going on to receive a Post-Graduate Diploma in Painting at the Royal Academy Schools. She has also studied at Academia di Belle Arti, Perugia, in Italy. A number of awards have acknowledged her paintings, including: the Vincent Harris Mural Decoration Prize in 1991, the Daler-Rowney Award for Artist under 30 in 1990, the Creswick Prize for Landscape Painting in Oils in 1990, and the Landseer Scholarship Prize for Compositional Studies in Oils in 1990. She sells her paintings in the Oliver Contemporary Gallery in London. See Liz's work on Insagram
Exceeded expectations - largely due to tutor. Professional and responsible attention.Very well prepared. Very enthusiastic. Sensitive critiques. Very friendly. Sue Glennie Smith
It exceeded my expectations: I learnt how to sketch by looking for essential shapes, lines; I grasped the merits of collage and layering and of varying scale and line. Wendy Kiff
Exceeded expectations. Really enjoyed course and got a lot from it. Learnt so much and lots of totally new ways of seeing things. Great! David B
Liz was calm and thoughtful, and has left me with lots to think about. Tamsyn Williams
Very expanding. Philip Shaddick
Had the best painting holiday I've ever done, and I've done a few! Loved Liz - she's a gentle inspiring and amazing tutor. She's intuitive and incredibly able. Do you get the idea I love her? On top of this she's a very caring. She got up at 6 to make sure I got my taxi! That's dedication. Mind you on the last night I did have rather a lot of apperros and mimosas, think that's what they called them, my memory of the evening's a touch vague. It was a good evening though - I think!
Re anything you could do better. All I can think of is could you move the gelateria next door to the art centre? Apart from that there's just a couple of really minor things like a towel rail or some hooks to hold the towels in Room 1.
I absolutely love Casole d'Elsa and the centro is charming in a sort of Heath Robinson homely way. I love all the books, the helpers, the views and as for the studio - the views, the views... I just don't have the words. It's such an inspirational space.
Then there's the food - Loredana - I've said her name in every variation possible. LD is an absolute star. Despite the heat in the kitchen she just smiled her beautiful smile all the way through.
Caro also just kept smiling and gave an aura of calm regardless of what was happening. I just felt she would have coped with absolutely anything. Then of course there's all the art to look at including Caro's work which I love. I honestly can't think of anything else I could have wanted that wasn't either there or on offer. If I think of anything I'll let you know.
Ah, 1 thing has just occurred to me. If the course runs again can I come again? Pretty please! L.T. again!
I just had such a good time. I did wonder if 11 nights away would be too much but what with the trip to Siena and then us all clubbing together to go to St Gimignano it was perfect. Days off and days painting - what more could I have asked for. Wonderful, and of course Casole d'Elsa is just brilliant. Big enough to have a choice of places to eat and drink. There's architecture, flowers, countryside in spades, a tutor who was a dream.
Do tell Loredana I just loved her cooking. I got the feeling it was the sort of food that could be served to family rather than the sort of thing you'd get in a hotel. It was fresh, tasty and just wonderful. Her lemon dessert is definitely heaven in a dish as far as I'm concerned. Liz Tredrea UK
I had an absolutely wonderful time on the holiday. Great Michelin-star food, fantastic room (thanks for giving me Duccio), beautiful setting and the centro was so characterful and unique. The staff were friendly and joined in with us so that was nice.It was the perfect time for me to go and I really needed something like this. My very good friend died in between booking the holiday and leaving for it, and this proved just the tonic I needed. Lots of laughs, great group of women and Liz's teaching was superb and challenging. Thank you!! S.H. USA