Plein Air Footsteps – Painting Lois Dodd’s Landscapes with Elizabeth O’Reilly

@ Elizabeth O’Reilly Late Fall, Leslie’s Garden Photo courtesy of Caldbeck Gallery This class takes place over three consecutive days; Monday, September 14th – Wednesday, September 16th. Course Description: Paint where Lois Dodd found inspiration for more than seventy years in this immersive, hands-on plein air workshop set in the landscapes that shaped her work. During this class, you’ll have the chance to paint on-site in the familiar environs of Lois Dodd’s studio and gardens in Cushing, Maine, where she’s spent summers painting for seventy years. Using her studio as a base, we will paint in the garden with the hackmatack tree, the infamous green shed, the laundry line, the windows of Eliot’s shack, and the nearby forest. We will step into her shoes and discover where she found inspiration for so many decades. In addition, we’ll paint along Hathorn Point Road, another perennial motif for her that leads to the Olsen house and the nearby dock. This plein air workshop will be conducted primarily in oil paint in the Cushing environs. Students will learn to organize and lay out a palette, set up an easel, choose a composition, and create a painting. A sketchbook will be used to explore the landscape through line and shape, design, light and dark values, warm and cool color relationships, and abstract structure. Specific projects related to composition, color, and other formal issues will be assigned while referring to the landscapes from the exhibition for compositional ideas. Starting with small, quick studies and limited color palettes, students will build toward longer one-day paintings. An important component will be learning how to sketch and take notes to hone observational skills for painting away from the site. Daily group critiques, one-on-one instruction, and demonstrations are integral to the workshop, and student participation in critiques is expected and essential. The class will culminate in a reception, film director Q& A, and a screening of Artists in Residence, an award-winning documentary highlighting Lois Dodd, Eleanor Magid, and Louise Kruger and offering an intimate look into their independent and creative lives. Class Details: The class will run Monday through Wednesday at onsite locations relating to Lois Dodd. Each course participant will receive a special commemorative Farnsworth gift to celebrate the course. Admission to the museum will be included all three days for painters. A ticket to the film screening, welcome reception, and concluding Q&A session with the film director in the evening will conclude this special Maine experience. You can find the materials list and daily schedule here. Lodging, meals and all transportation are the responsibility of each course participant. Instructor: Elizabeth O’Reilly received her BEd from The National University of Ireland and an MFA from Brooklyn College. She has participated in residencies at the Ballinglen Foundation, Ireland; the UCROSS Foundation, Wyoming; and the Ragdale Foundation, Illinois. O’Reilly has received numerous awards including a Pollock Krasner Foundation grant, a Charles G. Shaw award for painting and a grant from the Peter S. Reed Foundation. She taught an outdoor landscape class at The New School for Social Research for many years and has taught extensively at colleges in New York City, including Parsons School of Design, Brooklyn College, and Pratt Institute. She also taught watercolor and collage at The National Academy School. She currently teaches at The New York School of the Arts in New York City, and out of her studio in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn. O’Reilly shows at the George Billis Gallery in Chelsea, New York and had a solo show in 2022. She showed at the Caldbeck gallery in Rockland, in the summer of 2020 with Lois Dodd. Her work has been reviewed in Art In America, The New York Sun and Art News. A documentary on her work, Ealaiontoir Thar Saile (An Artist Abroad) was shown on network TV in Ireland. O’Reilly’s work is found in many corporate and public collections, including the State Department, Washington D.C.; The Office of Public Works, Ireland; the Memphis Brooks Museum in Memphis, Tennessee; and the Ogunquit Museum in Maine. Note: Some previous experience is best. Cost: $445; $395 members Add to calendar Google Calendar iCalendar Outlook 365 Outlook Live