Simply Still Life

Course dates: April 1^st - 4^th  2025 (Tuesday to Friday)

Suitable for all levels, including beginners.

Inspired by the 'Matisse in his Studio’ exhibition, we will be creating simple still life set ups in the studio, bringing a sense of domestic space, though props, objects, fabrics and furniture. The way objects inhabit a space can be so evocative, suggesting something that has, or is about to happen, a half drunk cup, an open book. Still life has also been used by artists as a simple, manageable subject with which to play with much more universal themes, the play of light on forms, the effect of colour and pattern in a composition.

You will make a series of colour studies and paintings from group still life set-ups, paying special attention to fabrics and objects with sumptuous colour, pattern, texture. These different approaches will help you get to know the subject, and can then be applied to start a painting, giving you several ways in. You will start 2 or 3 paintings, and have time to work on them to some kind of resolution. Other artists that will provide inspiration are Morandi, Soutine, Braque, Winifred Nicholson, Gwen John, Bonnard and Tricia Gillman.

See the Course Details for more information.