OLD LYME — Lyme Academy of Fine Arts hosts four comprehensive painting workshops in April, May and June.
These workshops offer students an opportunity to work closely with nationally-renowned guest artists for a concentrated and intensive period of time. Students will gain technical experience and insight into the diverse perspectives and methodologies of figurative and representational art.
The workshops are as follows:
April 22-24.: Painting the Still Life
May 16-20 and May 23-27, Mon-Fri: Principles of Landscape Painting
May 20-22: Sustained Observation
June 1-15: Rose Painting
‘Painting the Still Life’ will be led by Todd Casey and runs Friday through Sunday, April 22-24. Register at this link.
Guided instruction held in the inspiring studios of the Lyme Academy will address composition, drawing, light, color theory, form, depth, edges, and how to introduce narrative elements into a painting based on the direct and focused observation of selected objects.
“Casey’s work is both realistic and progressive, carefully observed and inherently narrative. Every painting has a tale to tell, brewed from a deep well of introspective thought,” says co-artistic director, Jordan Sokol, who curates the guest artists hired to conduct the comprehensive art workshops at the Academy.
‘Principles of Landscape Painting’ is an intensive two-week workshop running Monday through Friday for two weeks, May 16-20 and May 23-27.
This workshop is presented by Patrick Okrasinski, a former student of Artistic Directors Jordan Sokol and Amaya Gurpide. Artists will visit multiple local plein air venues of historical significance in Old Lyme, while learning the foundations of successful plein air landscape painting in a picturesque setting.
Guided instruction will address theories of value, mass, composition, representing light and color, optical effects encountered outdoors, perspective, and more.
Edmond Praybe will lead ‘Sustained Observation’, a three-day still life workshop, May 20-22.
Known for his focus on the convergence of perception and abstraction, Praybe will discuss the role of change and time when painting. He will guide students in how to set up a still life, to look for color and value relationships, and to examine the abstract structure that can be created paintings.
The fourth painting workshop ‘Rose Painting’ will be presented by internationally-recognized, award-winning botanical painter Kathleen Speranza, June 1-15.
Sperenza’s paintings are known for exploring the visual language of space, light, color and form as it relates to specific subjects from nature. This workshop is intended for experienced painters, who wish to study the complex geometry and exquisite subtle colors of garden roses.
The course will include an indirect method of painting and the introduction of a specific limited palette.
Detailed registration information and workshop costs can be located on the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts website at www.lymeacademy.edu.
Founded in 1976 by the sculptor Elisabeth Gordon Chandler, the Academy was created as an institution dedicated to a traditional, skills-based education.
In 2021, Lyme Academy, a non-profit educational organization, returned to its founding roots to offer foundational skills in the fine arts; providing a curriculum which combines rigorous studio instruction in drawing and painting with anatomy, sculpture, and the history of art.
The Academy affirms its legacy and commitment to the community of Old Lyme by providing a vibrant schedule of lectures, exhibitions, workshops, and part-time programs.
Located midway between Boston and New York, Old Lyme, Conn. has been a site of artistic congregation for over a century, becoming the heart of the Lyme Art Colony and the Home of American Impressionism.
Learn more by visiting www.lymeacademy.edu.