sharing Our September Tasmania Painting Retreat
Sharing our Tasmanian painting retreat with you, it has been a week of travel to peaceful places of nature and renewal, of comfort, fun, good food and friends old and new… not to mention, the painting… What could be better I ask you?! Back by public demand, we decided to run this second painting retreat for 2024, and it has just been the most wonderful of experiences. An honour to return to this place, space and learning week with such wonderful people, i wanted to reflect back on our time together and share it with you here.
In the new year we ran our first workshop, amongst the very first to christen Artables new retreat digs, a 100 year old refurbished pub in the north east corner of Tasmania. With Gillians magic touch, she has transformed this space to a wonderful venue, accommodation, garden and studio space that weaves together the rustic old and comfort and convenience of the new to create a fabulous creative base, full of atmosphere, charm and comfort. The fact that it is still a fully functioning country Australian pub, doesnt go unappreciated either!
Warm welcomes greet us at the airport before being swept away into the countryside of rural, remote Tasmania, and you feel almost instantly, its restorative energy blanketing you back to balance. Its a wonderful balance of feeling far from the haste, nestled in the lap of its lulling tranquility, yet close to everything you need – being just a little over an hour from the ‘big smoke’ of Launceston. Here, the drive ducks in and out of farmland and the wilds and is an adventure in itself. This time the rains have been, turning dry ochre landscapes of our stay earlier in the year, to vivid green, spotted with a patchwork of rich brown earth and electric lemon yellow of the canola fields which was especially spectacular against the intense light cutting through grey skies. Its stunning country… And so, the process of putting ‘life stuff’ aside, including my own begins, and its such a treat 💚
Settling in to the pub, our new digs and creative haven for the week, we find ourselves beside the wood fire, hot toddies in hand. A large vase of weeping camellias rest on the oversize coffee table, surrounded by piles of art books, flickering candles and a platter of nibbles. Making our acquaintances with people and place, we settle in to our rooms and meet for a lovely dinner together. Our first morning kicked off, grabbing a window of good weather to visit the mirror lake nearby, in search of eastern yellow robins, platypus and treasures from the bush. Most of all, its to start the process of exhaling and connecting and this spot is just the remedy.
Over the week, we pop out to plenty of beautiful places nearby, from the mirror lakes to the ancient green tree fern forest, the Little Blue Lake (a favourite of mine for sure) and the sapphire river, which runs nearby, textural and quiet, the paddocks that surround it scattered with bulbs in flower, escaped from homes and gardens, and multiplied over the years. Theres plenty to explore here, if the rolling hillsides and dramatic landscapes on the drive in and back home arent enough!
With our fieldwork treasures in hand, we return to the fires and studio space to start the workshop off with an afternoon of graphite drawing, exploring nests as our focus. Throughout the week we captured the Eastern Yellow Robin nesting, eggs, feathers and botanicals in our painting challenges, covering plenty of different watercolour techniques and approaches to painting and illustrating our subjects along the way. Its not just about finding my way, its very much about finding your way, and theres so much to consider and enjoy in the bending of the endless pathways to yourself.
Rest is also such a part of the process to balance. So many come to me just needing rest, and the retreats are about far more than class. Being social, taking time out for yourself, enjoying delicious food, often farm to plate here, a glass or two of your favourite wine perhaps, resting… here, with the studio on site, you can come and go as you need. Certainly, we had the remnants of winter at our doorstep this retreat, but we also had the beauty of the gardens in early spring, and theres nothing like the cold to trigger inspiration in the gardens! Camellias, bulbs, azaleas, magnolias, flushes of abundant blossom – even the first of the wisteria flowers were emerging. The colder weather returned us to one last bite of its snugness and gifts before returning home once again.
It was such a wonderful week being back in Tassie, working with you all, creating new friendships, connections, ideas and memories along our way. I hope the art and learning will continue to develop with you, as the memories of this experience surely will! Thank you all for being there with me. I look forward to meeting you again. Of course, if youd like to join us for 2025’s painting retreat, the dates have just been confirmed and wed love to share the next adventure with you.
If you cant make it to this one, why not check out my ‘Painting Workshop Calendar’ to see what else is on offer, or perhaps youd like to jump in to some online painting tutorials with me over on Patreon. Thanks everyone and happy painting!
