Abstracting the Landscape

A full day workshop: Abstracting the Landscape by Catriona Gibson

I discovered acrylic painting in 2020, during lockdown, when I completed an online course, ‘Find Your Joy’, created by Louise Fletcher, a Yorkshire based abstract artist.

She demonstrated playing with different colour combinations, to experiment with mark making, discover the power of contrasts, but most of all, to have fun playing with paint!

I also attended Boo Mallinson’s course, ‘Approaching Abstraction’ at St Ives School of Painting in April 2025.

I paint intuitively, creating layers, adding texture, then breaking the surface by scraping some paint away to reveal the previous colours. Sometimes, I add collage, acrylic ink, oil pastel or charcoal to add another dimension.

• When: Sunday 14th June
• Morning: 9:30 am – 4:30pm
• Where: Walkerburn Bowling Club, Walkerburn
• Places available: 12 (min 6)
• Cost: £50
• Materials provided: A4 sketch book, A3 canvas, wooden panel, pencils, charcoal, brushes, palette knives, acrylic paint, paint palette, masking tape

Approximate timings

9.30 – 9.50am: Registration and refreshments, choose your station
9.50 – 10am: Welcome & housekeeping
10 – 10.15: Demonstration of mark making using pencil and charcoal; Participants experiment with same
10.15 – 11am: Walk to the local wood and river to do a series of quick sketches using pencil and charcoal in A4 sketch book provided
11 – 11.20: Coffee break
11.20 – 11.30pm: Paint demonstration using B&W paint and mark making. 11.30 – 12.30 Begin abstracting 2/3 sketches using black and white paint and mark making
12.30 – 1pm: Lunch
1 – 1.15pm: Painting demonstration using limited colour palette with mark making using brushes, palette knives and other tools (supplied) Participants experiment with same.
1.15 – 4pm: Develop final abstract paintings on A3 canvas and wooden panel
4 – 4.15pm: Clearing and cleaning up
4.15 – 4.30pm: Sharing work and evaluation of the workshop
4.30pm: Workshop finishes