A Season of Colour, Connection and Creativity:
our Queensland painting Workshop Adventures
As I sit down to reflect on the past 2 weeks back here at home once more, I feel incredibly grateful for the experiences, connections, and creativity that have come from my most recent series of painting workshops in beautiful Queensland. It’s been a full, fun and inspiring time, flying north for a creative and perfectly warming winters break to hold four unique painting events. Bienarté was our fantastic host, welcoming us to their fabulous Brisbane and Sunshine Coast studios once more.
Each workshop brought its painting focus to explore, taking a huge deep dive into all the challenges related to our subjects together. Teaching and learning so many relevant and practical skills to my students along the way, its quite something to watch my students steady and grow as they do. While each topic and group was different, what united them all was the deep enthusiasm and openness of my students to learn, for which I am always so grateful and constantly inspired. Travelling from near and far, we come to immerse ourselves in this beautiful craft we all love so much, and it was such a lovely, positive experience.
🌿 The Heart of the Workshops
These workshops weren’t just about painting; they were about pausing, reconnecting, and reawakening that creative curiosity we so often lose touch with in the busyness of life. Whether it was someone’s first brush with watercolour or a returning student continuing their path, there was a shared sense of purpose and willingness to be vulnerable, to learn, and to grow. That spirit remains the beating heart of why I continue to teach, so thank you to everyone who joined me this tour!
This year our workshops offered a different subject focus, from managing the delicate tangle of a grevillea botanical study, to creating some vivid, lively and striking birdlife, allowing us to dive deeply into technique, creating substance and life to our subjects, and wonderful refinement in our paintings. But beyond the brushwork, there were plenty of moments of sharing, caring and laughter, lots of learning, and some much needed quiet, creative focus that made each day memorable.
🎨 The People Behind the Paintings
One of the most rewarding parts of these workshops is always the people. I know it takes courage to walk into a room full of strangers and commit to a creative challenge like this, but every group brought such immediate warmth and encouragement for one another, spreading the love, wings and positivity well beyond the task at hand. There were stories shared, problem-solving together, collectively lamenting over tricky feathers or leaf veins, riding the wonderful collective sigh of uncertainty to satisfaction in those light bulb moments and final layers bringing each painting to life. I watched students surprise themselves, support each other, and step more and more confidently into their own creative identities, and I love that! Faces old and new, I stand by my belief that I definitely have the BEST students ✨
✨ Our painting workshop focusses
Truth be known, it really doesnt matter what we focus on in these workshop events. My lessons are very much about technique and solid learning that will move you towards improved outcomes, and ultimately, independent painting. Its an exploration of subject, medium and self, bringing these aspects to clarity as best I can. That said, we did jump into some brilliant subjects this tour, most of which came in response to my students requests or suggestions. You can read more on these workshops and see what coming up next of course, but lets take a look at each in a nutshell here too.
DUCK – Our first event was 3 days exploring a Duck Portrait as our focus. Working with larger areas, improved wash application, developing delicate feathered textures, vibrant colours and intensity in our duck green head. Altering the balance a little, we applied this practice to our beautiful yellow beaks before shifting gears again to explore refinement techniques for this study. There was plenty of challenge of course, but also plenty of growth, thats for sure! A wonderful challenge, our ducks came to a close, leading us in to our second workshop for a completely different story indeed. (original reference thanks to Mel Diotte)
BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION – GREVILLEA – Our second event booked out in a jiffy, so we ran an additional botanical painting lesson at the last minute to cater to the additional interest…. and it was great! First up was the Grevillea, a challenging subject indeed but so typical of so many flowers. Deconstructing the ‘tangle’ of a flower like this, we removed most of the anxiety around taking on this, or a challenge like this in watercolour to create some especially beautiful paintings. And just like that…. my students could! And they did. Of course I knew they could, but I am still so proud.
BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION – STURT’S DESERT PEA – In this event we continued on botanical illustration but our subject presented us with a significant change of pace and mix of techniques for perfectly complete exposure to the craft and watercolour medium. New lessons learned, new areas of improvement were cemented and we saw another wonderful collection of results over the 2 days together. Those who stayed on across these events saw more an more lightbulb moments in the learning and their work indeed.
SMALL BIRD ILLUSTRATION – RAINBOW BEE-EATER – Now we shifted base to Bienartés Sunshine Coast studio to enjoy a final 3 day workshop, tackling one of the most challenging, but gorgeous bird subjects imaginable, in the Rainbow Bee-Eater. My goodness, what a creation! But where to start they said….? I cant do that… they said… then they totally did do it, and so very beautifully too! Like I said, my students are the best and this last group were just awesome. Riding the wave to the end, wrapping up with some big smiles all round for their efforts. They just did so very well, happily spreading their wings into our new shared addiction with me. (original reference with thanks to Pete Evans)
🖌️ Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, weve now locked in our dates for 2026 and were offering 4 new events in the same format, exploring 4 fabulous new painting subjects in realistic watercolour. Were going to start the tour off with a 3 day ‘Botanical Painting’ workshop, followed by my favourite, ‘Small Birds Illustration’, which will possibly run through as an extension or coupling option from the botanical event before it. Our ‘Frog’ workshop from last year was very popular, so were bringing this topic to the new area, and were offering a return to a ‘Bee Illustration’ due to popular demand/requests too. So if those sound like a good match for you, Id sure love to help you along with the opportunity.
Come to one workshop, come to all as many do, the choice is yours with as much flexibility on offer as possible. I am already looking forward to seeing you all again! You can check out my Workshop Calendar here any time, or see everything you need across the board at your fingertips here
On a side note, I stayed in Bienartés gorgeous accommodation on my stay and can highly recommend it! Its a beautiful, comfortable and cozy place, so if youre keen to stay for an event, definitely check that out in the Landsborough area 👍
Soooo, as I unpack my brushes and reflect on the faces and artworks still fresh in my mind, I return home feeling wonderful, satisfied and grateful for you all. These workshops are a reminder of why I do what I do, not just to paint, but to connect, to encourage, and to share the joy and challenge of the creative process. To everyone who joined me on this journey, thank you. For showing up, for diving in, for trusting me with your learning, and for making each event so rich and memorable.
If you’re curious about joining a future workshop, I’d love to welcome you along too. Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned painter, there’s always room to grow! Until then, keep painting, and never underestimate what your hands and heart are capable of ✨
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Thats right, you can join my Patreon Community to learn more now too. Its a mutually positive learning community where I will offer a natural history painting lesson (large and small) every month to keep you learning. I also share news there first, reference you can paint from, behind the scenes information, and greater insights into my own work. Its new, but growing and the more it grows, the better I can make it for you. I look forward to meeting you there!
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