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2-Day Workshop | Plein Air Landscape Painting with Gillian Bedford


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Saturday, October 2 and Sunday, October 3, 2021

1:00 to 4:00 pm

$75 per person. Ages 16 and up. No experience required.

SuppliesParticipants are responsible for bringing their own supplies (see supply list). 

Glencairn Museum will provide easels and chairs for participants.

LocationThe Retreat (just below Glencairn), is located down an unpaved gravel road. After checking in with Visitor Services at Glencairn Museum’s main entrance, a shuttle will be available from the main entrance for those who do not wish to walk to the site (approximately a 5 minute walk). 

Learn how to paint confidently outdoors in this 2-day workshop. Guided by accomplished landscape artist Gillian Bedford, explore painting water, trees, and fields in the idyllic setting of the Glencairn Retreat grounds (cloister if there is rain). Day one uses abstract, lyrical, or realistic styles to learn and practice techniques on watercolor paper or canvas. Day two uses a 16" x 20" canvas for a landscape painting full of life and fresh brushstrokes. To begin the workshop, Gillian will introduce the work of George Inness, a significant 19th-century American landscape painter. Influenced by the old masters, he began his career as a realistic landscape artist. After reading the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, Inness’ landscapes began to reflect philosophical and spiritual concepts. There will be a chance to view an original example of his work currently displayed in Glencairn Museum.

Gillian Bedford received a BFA in painting, magna cum laude, from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. Painting was not Bedford’s first choice of medium; after exploring photography, jewelry, and ceramics, she found her true home in painting. Bedford loves the feeling of putting paint on canvas and the ability to use large amounts of color. She spent most of her life in Philadelphia but recently moved to Bemidji, MN. She loves the beauty of the people and the land and finds much to celebrate and paint there.