Summer School 2024 - Summer in the Garden at Highdown

July 1^st - 5^th 2024 (Monday – Friday) 9:30am to 4.30pm.

This 5 day painting course takes its inspiration from the beautiful Highdown Garden near Worthing, a unique chalk garden on the Downs. This garden is both beautiful and remarkable. In the unlikely setting of a chalk pit the founders of the garden sourced plants from all over the world that would thrive in this habitat. It is a garden full of delights; mature trees and plants, winding pathways that lead to open spaces where you can sit and drink immersed in the sites sights, sounds and smells. These long summer days, following the summer solstice, are the perfect time to celebrate the colour and abundance of nature. The first 2 days of the course are spent in the garden making lots of studies capturing the experience of this peaceful and inspiring place. The rest of the week is spent at the Seawhite studio where ambitious and expressive paintings will be created using these studies and our memories of the place. Click on the link to have a virtual tour of the garden. https://highdowngardens.co.uk/your-visit/virtual-tour.

Accessing the garden is easy. It is a short walk on flat ground from the carpark. All the paths in the garden are easy to navigate. There are benches dotted everywhere so that you can pause to sit and soak up the atmosphere and draw in comfort. Above the gardens is Highdown Hill; the gateway to the South Downs National Park.

Adjacent to the garden is a cafe, for light snacks, lunch and refreshments. As well as a pub, restaurant and hotel for those travelling from further afield, who might want to stay overnight or enjoy an evening meal and a sunset walk on the Downs. Further info on accommodation link here Highdown Hotel https://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/highdown.

See Course Details for further information

Inspiration

Pierre Bonnard, Patrick Heron
Geoffroy Pithon, Anne Griffiths
Hurvin Anderson, Joan Snyder
Joan Mitchell, Joe Packer
Miranda Bolton, Adrian Berg
Tricia Gillman, Emma Biggs
Ivon Hitchens, Elisabeth Cummings
Claude Monet

Feedback

"The approach to take marks out in nature, to really FEEL the wind, the atmosphere, the sand…I really felt like being able to transform my feelings into drawings! Thank you so much for showing me ways how to get into my paintings and for supporting me in trusting my feelings and intuition"

Corrine Beutler