CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS FOR PAINTERS:

WINTER 2025/2026

LANDSCAPE PAINTING and THE SENSE OF SPACE

6 weeks online,

10am-12:30 (Pacific Time), Thursday mornings, weekly, beginning in January:

January 8, 15, 22, 29, Feb 5 and Feb 12

One of my primary interests in landscape painting has always been the sense of space, of depth, and also, of the SCALE of that space, the vastness of earth and sky as it reflects and illustrates our corresponding smallness. 

In this 6 week online landscape painting studio course, we will explore this most foundational and yet elusive aspect of painting outdoor spaces.  We will work with drawing, painting, photography to explore our ideas, and of course, the places and spaces that inspire us.

Each class will include a slide lecture of paintings and other images by artists contemporary and historical, as well as a live demo, in class work time, and weekly discussion and critique of student work and exercises.  The last session, 6 of 6, will be devoted primarily to in depth critique of each participants work and feedback and group discussion .

Classes are recorded, and there is a 24/7 online forum for the class, making access to our discussion ongoing, convenient, and responsive.  A great boon for those of you in radically varying time zones. 

Please note, these classes happen in Pacific Time. Enroll at the link below!

www.eventbrite.com/e/landscape-painting-and-the-sense-of-space-tickets-1967788238593?aff=oddtdtcreator

Informal winter paint-outs/drop in workshops Winter 2025/26:

Informal winter paint-outs/drop in workshops

Class description:

4 hours of painting on location, I will paint along with students, and give feedback and advice throughout the day.  

Any media are welcome, no materials are provided—bring whatever you want to work with.  

My advice:  pack layers, bring many primed or prepped surfaces to paint on, different proportions—long rectangles, ordinary ones, squares

Bring a thermos of hot coffee, or tea, some gloves, and your desire to spend a few hours drinking deeply from the local feast of light, atmosphere and color-by studying it in paint.  Emphasis will be on sensitivity, color, abstraction, and clarity of sensation.

*all locations will be within 30 min of Occidental.  All West County.

Each session is limited to 5 painters to keep conversation fluid and discussion and critique, advice as personal as possible…

Winter Mornings:  8:30-12:30 — email for location —Friday Dec 5, Thursday Dec 11, Weds 1/7, weds 1/14, weds 1/21, weds feb 11 and weds feb 25

$200 per artist per session.  

Or, a pack of 3 sessions credit prepaid is available for $500 —contact me directly to reserve a space, emails with locations will go out the day before each session to paid participants.

Payment directly via cash Venmo (@gage-open-77) or Zelle (gage.opdenbrouw@gmail.com) ! —just write me to enroll!

CRITIQUE GROUP WINTER 25/26

ONLINE, 6 sessions, meets every 2 weeks

Fridays, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm pacific, all classes recorded

December 12, January 9, January 23, Feb 6, February 20, March 6

No one can teach you to paint, but the right teachers, and the right peers can shave years off your development.

For years now, I have had the pleasure and privilege of hosting and facilitating small groups of artists for critique and discussion of their work.  At present, these groups meet twice a year, and I am pleased to announce a new session is coming up.

One of the hardest tasks the artist has before them is clear and critical reflection upon his or her own work, as well as the challenge of maintaining and renewing fresh eyes.  Dialogue with other practitioners of the art form helps an awful lot in both clarifying one’s ideas, and in keeping morale up and working with intensity and dedication.  This is what we aim to provide in this group by showing up for one another.  Community and discussion with other serious painters.  No agenda other than what you are engaged with in your studio practice and thinking.  Groups are diverse in terms of participating artists and their aesthetics, and id be happy to put you in touch with past participants for testimonials.

We meet once every two weeks for six sessions, each one 2.5 hrs including a short break.   

All classes are recorded, downloaded recordings available to participants within 24 hrs of class. 

The class includes a 24/7 online forum for sharing one’s work and requesting feedback from the rest of the group, even if you’re awake in the middle of the night or in another time zone.

During this class period, we will review and discuss work by each participating artist.  We make every effort to be thoughtful, responsive, honest, articulate, kind, and critical in a constructive way. 

Pianist Thelonious Monk famously quipped that “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture”, and I think that is just as true for painting and drawing, and yet if we find the right folks to converse with, we can at the very least clarify our own ideas, and perhaps take in new ones that are nourishing and drive us to continue growing.  

enroll at the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/critique-group-winter-2025-tickets-1968195356293?aff=oddtdtcreator