EMILY BALL AT SEAWHITE | CONTEMPORARY DRAWING AND PAINTING COURSES |
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INSPIRED BY NATURE | Courses with Joe Packer and Simon Carter this September
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| Images: Joe Packer and Simon Carter working in their studios |
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Dear Visitor Working from nature provides an endless source of inspiration for many artists and here at the Seawhite Studio some of our most popular courses have nature at their heart. In this newsletter we’re shining a spotlight on two courses coming up in September which invite you to engage with the natural world and explore new ways of transforming the experience of being out in nature into dynamic paintings.
CONSTRUCTING A LANDSCAPE PAINTING is a three day course led by Joe Packer that uses the shapes and forms of a woodland setting as a starting point to create a series of large paintings using collage, experimental mark making, glazing, and paint transfer methods.
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“Joe was very good at showing the different stages so when you were doing what he asked, you had no stress of whether it was right or wrong, just a process.” ~ Bridget Gladwin, |
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After the success of last year’s course, Simon Carter is back in September, delivering his wonderful beach-based course once again. A DAY ON THE BEACH is a four-day practical course that will take you from making successful studies on location through to creating dynamic and fresh paintings back in the studio. |
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“Simon is a lovely person and a great teacher. He was responsive to everyone’s questions during the week, and patient. His guidance was clear and I really appreciated him sharing his experience and practice - a generous artist.” ~ Catherine Wiggett, Course participant A Day on the Beach 2024 |
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Read on to find out more about each of these courses, or click on the buttons below to head straight to our website and secure your place: |
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CONSTRUCTING A LANDSCAPE PAINTING
with Joe Packer 8-10 September 2025, £300 |
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Do you love working from nature? Does the idea of drawing in the woods appeal to you? Would you like to use that experience and the studies you make to explore some new techniques and approaches to landscape painting? Then Joe Packer’s September course might be just the thing for you.
Joe’s deep fasciation with the natural world informs not only his work but the courses he delivers at the Seawhite Studio. Observing the structure and spatial qualities of natural forms and exploring their spatial qualities are key parts of his courses. He has so much to offer in terms of experience and expertise, and has an uncanny knack for structuring courses so that ideas and approaches are built up, helping students to not only develop richly nuanced work, but also develop their confidence in their creative abilities. |
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“We will explore the idea of a painting being something that can both evoke the feel, or atmosphere of a place without trying to depict it in a literal way, whilst also trying to make something that functions as a self-contained thing in its own right. The idea of its existence justified by its own internal ‘visual poetry'.” ~ Joe
CONSTRUCTING A LANDSCAPE PAINTING begins with participants working in an outside space (weather permitting), a nearby wood on the first day. You will gather visual material, working first in black and white, and then progressing to colour. Making a series of quick drawings and paintings on paper, recording interesting forms, light and shadows, perhaps getting in quite close and intimate with the woodland undergrowth rather than recording the overall vista. This accumulated visual information will then be used as the starting materials and basis with which to embark on the larger paintings back at the studio on days two and three:
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| Images: students working during last year's Constructing a Landscape Painting with Joe Packer |
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“You will use these drawings and paintings as both a resource to work from and as materials that may be directly employed as part of your larger paintings in a collage capacity. You will be experimenting with a whole variety of painting processes, including collage, experimental mark making, glazing, and paint transfer methods.” ~ Joe |
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| Image: Student's work from last year's course with Joe Packer |
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During the days two and three of the course you will ‘construct’ up to three large (A1+) paintings on heavy duty paper, using quick drawings and paintings made from nature as a your visual resource. Key to the course’s aims is to look at ways in which painting/collage methods can be used to make something that constructs a space or spaces within a painting, capturing an essence of a place rather than creating an illusionistic ‘view, of it. The two or three large paintings will be worked on simultaneously in order to avoid the idea of ‘a final finished piece’ to ensure experimentation is not hindered by preciousness in the later stages. The tools and techniques that Joe will share with you on this course could provide you with new ideas that could feed subsequent work for months to come.
“This class really changed things for me and my painting practice. Going large was freeing and the big collage elements really kicked off painting in a clear an exciting way.” ~ Catherine Moylan |
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| Image: Painting by Catherine Moylan |
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To see more of Joe’s work, check out his Instagram feed : @joe_packer_
To find out more about the course and to book your place, please click on the button below: |
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Click on the image below to watch a short film in which Joe further introduces the themes of CONSTRUCTING A LANDSCAPE PAINTING: |
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A DAY ON THE BEACH with Simon Carter 15-18 September 2025, £400 |
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“Working both outside and then in the studio was for just the right amount of time. I always look forward to the conversation around art, and sharing studio space for the energy.I think Simon is very good at measuring what people need and I’d be surprised if anyone felt ‘out of their depth'." ~ Emma Purches York
Simon Carter’s own painting practice is deeply connected to the coast. He makes countless studies out in the landscape - on the seawalls, quays and marshes of the Essex coast - before returning to his studio to find ways of maintaining the raw freshness of those drawings in his studio paintings. As a generous and enthusiastic tutor, he offers engaging discussions and exciting demonstrations that encourages students to be bold and confident with their approach to painting. Here’s how his forthcoming course A DAY ON THE BEACH breaks down:
On day one you’ll meet Simon and the rest of the participants at Goring Beach (just along from Worthing) in West Sussex and spend the day making studies, with guidance from Simon. |
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| Image: Student working on Worthing Beach (Simon Carter) |
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“I really enjoyed the first drawing day, and found loads of interest in the shapes of the rocks on the beach. Moving to paint was the challenge I was expecting. Simon’s approach in starting by drawing with the paint and keeping colours limited was helpful. It was great to see how everyone approached the theme and how different all the work was.” ~ Catherine Wiggett
On day two, you’ll set up your work station at the Seawhite Studio and start to interpret the studies you made at the beach: developing strategies for unpacking drawings and understanding what it is about them that works; cutting into them and building new drawings.
“Whether your usual drawings are loose notes in a sketchbook or are more complete and considered, it is often difficult to see how to use the drawings we make. Our initial drawings often have a life and spark that can easily be extinguished in the studio processes.” ~ Simon |
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| Image: Students' work, A Day on the Beach with Simon Carter 2024 |
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On day three and four you’ll pull everything together: drawing with paint to maintain the freshness of the initial drawings and experimenting with new strategies that will open up new ground beyond the course. |
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| Image: the studio during last year's A Day on the Beach with Simon Carter |
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To see more of Simon’s work, check out his Instagram feed : @simoncarter11
For more information and to book your place, please click on the button below: |
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TAKING IT FURTHER Join us for another creative adventure |
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If working from nature excites you and you’d like to experience drawing and painting on location before either Joe or Simon’s course, then why not take a look at this year's Summer Schools, led by Emily Ball & Katie Sollohub? Based around the theme of ‘Summer in the Garden’ you can choose from an online version of the course or an in-person location/studio based one: |
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SUMMER SCHOOL LIVE ONLINE
with Emily ball & Katie Sollohub
23 - 26 June (Mon - Thurs) | £250
Sitting in the garden at the height of summer is heaven, and this ONLINE course is a celebration of the abundance of the summer garden.During the live online sessions Emily and Katie will show you how to unpack your studies and create expressive paintings that bring back the glorious riot of colours, patterns, mood and memories of being in the garden.
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SUMMER SCHOOL 2025: SUMMER IN THE GARDEN AT HIGHDOWN
with Emily Ball & Katie Sollohub
30 June - 4 July (Mon - Fri) | £550
This five-day painting course takes its inspiration from the beautiful Highdown Garden near Worthing. It is a garden full of delights; mature trees and plants, winding pathways that lead to open glades. The first two days of the course are spent in the garden making lots of studies whilst the rest of the week is spent at the Seawhite studio where ambitious and expressive paintings will be created using your studies and your memories of the place.
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If you enjoy Joe’s approach to painting, take a look at his pre-recorded courses that he has devised exclusively for us. These short course can be downloaded and are packed with ideas, tips and exercises that you can do at a time and place of your choosing. |
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Constructing a Landscape Painting Pre-Recorded with Joe Packer £120
Joe has devised an online version of Constructing a Landscape Painting for you to undertake in a setting of your choice.
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Organic Structures Pre-Recorded with Joe Packer £130
Organic Structures is a three day pre-recorded course in which you will make a minimum of two large scale collages - using a variety of techniques – that are informed by research and resource drawings and paintings of flora and fauna.
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Similarly, If you’d like to spend more time painting with Simon, then we urge you to explore his collection of pre-recorded courses as well. Just like Joe’s, they are a treasure trove of themes, ideas and inspiration that could provide the catalyst for future work. |
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Experiments in Watercolour Pre-Recorded with Simon Carter £120
Experiments in Watercolour is a three day practical course that aims to take a fresh look at the medium of watercolour and how it might be used in an expressive, experimental and contemporary way.
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The Geography of Paint Pre-Recorded with Simon Carter £130
The Geography of Paint is a three day practical painting course that provides ideas and guidance on how to maintain the ease and energy of initial drawings when creating landscape paintings.
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