The workshop was busy and very productive though we all wished that we could stay and paint longer. 10 painters joined me from both sides of Canada for a jam-packed week of painting and excursions. We visited (and financially supported) a terrific market, painted on the beach, and laughed over great food and drinks every evening. 
We tackled the big three: still life, landscape and portrait/figure; applying the same method to each of them. While my method was new to many of the painters, they all became proficient in it by the end of the retreat and I hope it will be something that enhances their own practises in the future. As with every workshop, there were painting lessons that I learned from the students that I'll be thinking about and incorporating in my work.Our focus was on composition and big shapes so every painting started as a small, simple thumbnail in 3 values The paintings that grew out of those thumbnails fleshed out those big values into a variety of warm and cool colours, but we kept the color choices simple by using limited palettes throughout. It was an approach that resulted in a lot of successful, strong paintings throughout the week.
I had a great adventure and I can't wait to hit the studio today.
Happy painting!
