Courses 2011

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        Read testimonials            "Thanks for everything. I enjoyed every moment of my stay in Camaiore. It was so good to disconnect from the every day problems and feel free."

"...the great strength of making artwork is that you are making essentially emotional time machines. You're making an object of meditation that will communicate with people in 10,000 years time were it to survive..." Mark Quinn (sculptor)

in A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus (BBC Radio 4, After the Ice Age, episode 2 of 20 last broadcast on  Fri, 12 Mar 2010)

Oil Painting course

Tutor: Martyn Vanderjagt

A painting course with oils and ink drawing seen as two separate mediums.
This course offers you a unique opportunity to get to know Camaiore and its surroundings; a quiet, charming and historic place.
The light and natural colours of Tuscany, the warm stone buildings and terracotta roofs blending into the peaceful landscape dotted with olive trees, has been font of inspiration to painters for centuries.
You will be able to draw inspiration from the landscape, the medieval buildings, the picturesque churches, the hidden courtyards, a quiet sunlit moment in an olive grove, people in the village, the nature surrounding us or the majestic mountains, for a series of paintings and drawings telling the story of your particular stay in and around this place steeped in history.
Our days will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions each of 3 hours duration. Taking advantage of the shade and the moving shadows, we will work on various pieces, each at different times of the day, putting on paper and canvas the particular subject we choose to highlight from the wide choice at our disposition.
You can choose either to work directly in front of your subject producing "instant" paintings or drawings, or make studies to elaborate on in the privacy of the studio.

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Clay: Hand building  

Tutor: Sarah Baker

Course on request:

We will put into practice the ancient and traditional coiling method of constructing with clay, which can be applied to making either pots or sculpture. The technique can be used to create a multitude of very individual and varied shapes and objects. The method is useful when applied to making sculpture as it avoids the need for an armature and can make unecessary hollowing out the sculpture before firing.
Our aim  will be to master this technique, and explore it’s potential for creating strong, hollow, structures that do not require an internal armature.
All materials and tools will be provided, and a selection of coloured slips will be made available to colour, patinate and complete your work.

Finished work, which will be fired after the course, can be sent to you anywhere in the world by courier.

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Skyscapes and glazing techniques

Tutor: Sarah Hocombe

This course will concentrate on painting the sky, with some landscape elements, at different times of day and night.

You will learn how to use glazes (translucent layers of paint) to create luminous, subtle effects of light in your paintings.

We will explore the palette and painting methods suitable for painting dazzling blue summer skies and the colours and dramatic rays of light at sunset, as well as the more subtle effects of dawn, dusk and moonlight.

Depending on the weather we  will go out and paint in a variety of settings as well as in the studio. We will primarily use oil and acrylic paints, combined with glaze mediums, but will also explore the use of water-colour and inks.

The course is suitable for beginners, as well as more experienced artists who want to explore the use of glaze mediums, or find skies a challenge!

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Painting in tempera

Learn the traditional technique of painting in egg tempera, as used in  Renaissance workshops.

A two day intensive course created for school groups visiting Italy.

A slide show and talk on the history of the technique and the painting traditions that lead up to the Renaissance introduces students to the technique. Students will make a small painting based on a detail of a  famous egg tempera painting, such as The Maestà by Duccio di Buoninsegna. They will experience the preparation of the wood panels, gesso, and application of gold leaf , as well as mixing and using egg tempera colours.

A short slide show will also be given to illustrate the use of the technique in contemporary art.

Following the course the students will visit the painting they have studied.

All materials and equipment are included in the course fee.

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Drawing

Painting

and

Sculpture

with Stefano Breschi 

Through teaching over many years, I have learnt that to know how to listen is one of the most important qualities for a teacher to have, an important precursor to sharing knowledge in the form of a lesson, discussion, or group activity.

So this year I have decided to simply propose willingness to adapt to the people that come, rather than a specific course, only limiting activity to either 3D or 2D work in particular periods.

My varied technical capabilities and knowledge, this place, my studio, the capacity to adapt to different situations, curiosity for everything new, plus a creative attitude towards the resolving of problems, are some of the ingredients that I can place at the disposition of students to create a “course” to measure: a way of working adapted to each individual's needs and the period of time that they have at their disposition.

Through lessons, specific exercises and practice, partecipants can choose to be guided through any of the following arguments:

Painting and drawing

Sculpture

Drawing:

Learning to see (with the right side of the brain),

Hand/eye co-ordination.

The mark, the method of drawing.

Perspective, the importance of making errors.

Tone, shading, composition.

Painting in: acrylic, oil or fresco.

A painterly way of seeing.

Colour (the techniques).

Primary, secondary and complementary colours.

Expression with colour.

With people who are already experienced painters we can discuss:

The representation of self.

Perception and representation of the truth and/or representation of a personal reality.

The development or recognition of a personal language, through marks, colour and symbols.

The importance of artistic development.

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Clay:

Modelling: bas-relief and 3d sculpture.

Coiling: pots, forms e sculpture.

Constructing a sculpture with an armature, various methods.

Terracotta:

Materials, techniques, and firing. Realization of large scale pieces.

Mould making:

Moulds in plaster and silicon for reproducing original works or copies.

Casting from moulds, in resin, cement or plaster.

Method of lost wax bronze casting:

The working and modelling of wax, the systems used to prepare the model for casting, the mould making and the bronze casting.

The creation of sculpture in bronze (in collaboration with a professional foundry). Working cast metal: cleaning, chiselling, patina.

Sculpture:

Carving stone, methods, tools.

Creation of sculptures in stone or similar, using hand tools.

Installations:

Concepts of space and place. Land art and temporary installations.

Oil painting ◊  Skyscapes and Glazes ◊ Painting-Italian Colour ◊  Sculpture Workshops ◊ Clay Handbuilding ◊ Painting Workshops ◊ Fresco ◊ Egg tempera

Painting

Italian colour

Tutor: Sue Kennington

This year Sue Kennington is proposing to run a 2 week workshop aimed at students that wish to develop their colour sense while focusing on  their surroundings in the extraordinary Tuscan light. Students will be encouraged to to describe the  landscape using colour, looking at value, hue and chromatics.

During the workshop you will  be given a general basic grounding/refresher in using colour as a means of describing light and space through practical exercises specifically designed to develop your ability to use tone, colour harmony, and composition. Sue will also give explanations and ideas as to how these elements can be applied in order to develop your work in particular.

There will be a number of short illustrated talks to focus your observational skills and then you will be free either to work in the studio or to go out into the landscape and put these ideas into practice using source material/sketches that you find visually inspiring.

The projects will cover both observational skills and the expression/imagination, and by the close of the course you should have developed a small body of work, that will give you plenty of possibilities to explore in future work.

The course is open to all level of students.

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Oil painting ◊  Skyscapes and Glazes ◊ Painting-Italian Colour ◊  Sculpture Workshops ◊ Clay Handbuilding ◊ Painting Workshops ◊ Fresco ◊ Egg tempera

Fresco Painting

Tutor: Alberto Felici

This short  fresco course is a two and a half day course. Two days are dedicated to the practical part and half a day to a guided visit to a fresco undergoing restoration. The program is directed at both artists and students interested in art history with a minimum experience of general painting techniques. The objective is for students to leave the course with enough knowledge and reference material to be able to use the fresco technique for their own contemporary applications as well as to give a clear idea of what a fresco represented in it’s own time and how it was made, along with an insight of Italian culture. 

The course begins with an multimedial step by step demonstration of the process used to make a fresco.  After short explaination of how the technique works chemically , and the importance of understanding the properties of the different types of pigment used for this method of painting, students will start to make their own fresco. Choosing from images provided by us, they will begin by making a 30 x 15 cm copy of a detail of a work that they will then visit following the practical part of the course.

Once they have tried the traditional method, and time allowing, students may produce their own original painting.

The practical nature of the course allows students to experience the simplicity of the technique, and acquire manuality,  whilst leading to an understanding of the great technical skill of many Rennaissence artists.

All materials are provided and included in the course.

A booklet with a glossary of terms, and step by step description of the process of painting in fresco, will be given to each student to take away.

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Oil painting ◊  Skyscapes and Glazes ◊ Painting-Italian Colour ◊  Sculpture Workshops ◊ Clay Handbuilding ◊ Painting Workshops ◊ Fresco ◊ Egg tempera

Course timetable

for one or two week courses

The 14 day programme includes a 11 day course plus 2 days to allow for trips to places such as Florence, Pisa or Lucca, the marble quarries of Carrara, or simply a walk in the montains or a day on the beach. Each group can decide how many and which days it prefers to use for trips, and where they would like to go, individually or as a group.

The average day includes 2 sessions with a tutor, in the morning from 10.00 to 13.00 then after lunch  from 15.00  to 18.00.

day 1: Afternoon arrival at hotel, group dinner in Camaiore in the evening.

day 2 to - day 7 course and visit to place of interest. Group dinner. End of first week.

day 8: to day 14 course and visit to places of interest

day 14 show  of finished work/ group dinner. End of course.

day 15: departure in morning.

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Oil painting ◊  Skyscapes and Glazes ◊ Painting-Italian Colour ◊  Sculpture Workshops ◊ Clay Handbuilding ◊ Painting Workshops ◊ Fresco ◊ Egg tempera

Woodworking

in

Tuscany

Tutor: Balthasar Gallati

A 5-day wood working course using solid woods.

This course, aimed at adults (beginners), will be taught by a professional cabinet maker in his workshop on the outskirts of Camaiore.

The participants will receive an overview of materials, safe working practice with hand tools and their possible uses, maintenance and sharpening of tools, sawing, dressing and joints.

The main woodworking machines and their uses will be explained.

It is expected that each participant will have produced a small piece of furniture, in solid wood by the end of the course.

Length of course: 5 days, including one day excursion to local crafts studios

Cost: 800 Euro

max 6 persons

German, French, Italian and English spoken

Lunch in local restaurants with typical dishes.

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