WITH ELIZABETH O'REILLY

Thursday, May 29-Sunday, June 1, 2025

Two meetings per day: 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time

NOW ONLINE

Using one object of your choice, you’ll receive 100 prompts for ways to paint it in watercolor or the water-based medium of your choice. Some prompts will be slow and thoughtful, some will be fast and furious, and some will stretch your color choices. Your object could be a pineapple, an artichoke, or a witch hat — anything that will engage you over several days. Other possibilities: painting your object in a good or bad mood, with a blindfold on, or on a large scale. To expand your options, acrylics, pastels, and collage may be used in addition to watercolor. The goals of the workshop will be to break out of old habits, increase your proficiency, and have fun doing it! Meetings will be held on Zoom and work responding to the prompts will be done between meetings. The work will be posted on the Padlet for discussion at the afternoon meeting.

WITH SUSAN LICHTMAN

September 3 - 6, 2025

Wednesday-Saturday

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND. When composing a drawing or painting it is common practice to work from the “general to the specific.” We often start with a strong design and then add detail to the parts. But it is possible to reverse this procedure: we can start with a detail and then work out from there, creating a large structure that emanates from the small starting point. This detail might be a little thing seen or an alluring shape - a shadow or negative space. By starting with a part, we can embark on a journey where our habits of composition and focus are upended. By delaying a claim to a finished design, we might organically find composition which is delightfully surprising and an authentic account of an intimate visual experience.

In this workshop we will work on large sheets of paper with twigs, pens and brushes dipped in ink, and ink washes. Drawing from direct observation of a complex studio set-up or the landscape, we will make webs of shapes and rich compositions of light and shadow. Be prepared to improvise: to embrace accidents and get into “good trouble” with this painterly creative process. Lunch will be provided each day. On Saturday, the final day of the workshop, Susan will invite participants to a luncheon at her studio and garden.

WITH NANCY McCARTHY

Eight meetings every other week

Fridays 1 - 4:30 p.m.

September 12

September 26

October 10

October 24

November 7

November 21

December 5

December 19

There are 3 main objectives in this ONLINE class:

• To identify aspects of your work that are distinct and personal, and to explore ways of developing and fortifying those aspects.

• To determine areas of your work that are weak and/or diminish your work and finding ways to improve those areas.  

• To establish a consistent, disciplined painting practice.

The goal of creating more personal and powerful paintings will be addressed by considering the following issues: content, composition/format, color, surface as well as materials and craft. We will explore the aspects of painting that interest each student most, including experimentation with materials and conceptual and technical approaches to painting or more traditional work from observation. Classes consist of discussion, image presentations and critique. Each student will develop a set of written goals as well as a painting schedule. Students must be present and are encouraged to participate in all discussion and critiques. Students will post new work, preliminary drawings, and work in progress on the Padlet each week for discussion. Additionally, students are required to research and identify their relatives, 3 artists whose work shares common elements with their own work or the work they aspire to do. Those who want more structure and/or direction will be given assignments tailored to their particular needs. Group discussion of student work along with looking at contemporary and historical painting will enhance the class. Meetings will be held on Zoom and work will be shared on Padlet, the online platform.

WITH TIM KENNEDY AND EVE MANSDORF

October 3-7, 2025

Friday - Tuesday

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND.

Although the photographic snapshot, phone camera view has become a ubiquitous part of today’s culture, it is not the actual way we perceive and see. In truth, our eyes rapidly scan the world in fragments in order to construct perceived reality and elicit our sensation of space. Our perception of a coherent world is literally stitched together from partial impressions.

As artists and painters, how can we question our habitual assumptions to see the world anew, particularly as we strive to create images of landscape? As part of this process we will work with various perceptual schemas such as willing ourselves to see our surroundings as a series of flattened shapes, imposing a grid over our view or extending our vision to include an unnaturally wide or tall perceived field. This workshop will concentrate on the project of making an extended painting from multiple panels using different points of view. It will be an investigation into the process of composing and the idea of continually de-stabilizing and re-stabilizing a painting that shifts in width or height (or both) as it progresses. In the end a painting that consists of multiple panels and multiple viewpoints will be developed.

We will explore these methods and others in a five day in-person workshop at Black Pond.

Lunch will be provided each day.

Top image by Eve Mansdorf

Bottom image by Tim Kennedy

WITH ROTEM AMIZUR

Thursday, October 30-Sunday November 2, 2025

10 a.m.-4 p.m. eastern time

10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday

IN-PERSON WORKSHOP AT BLACK POND. Collage gives one the opportunity to paint without fear. It turns looking and composing into a playful game, where shapes of color are easily cut and moved. We will start by painting paper; participants will create their own color palette. Throughout the workshop we will investigate color families, rhyming shapes, and echoes in painting.

We will focus on the connection between the model and her surroundings, first through art history and then through looking and experiencing life in front of us. When painting something alive like the model, suddenly the wall, the chair, the flowers, everything around her becomes alive and part of the composition. By prioritizing that connection, and applying observation and invention, surprising harmonies will occur. Lunch will be provided.

WITH PAULA HEISEN

Saturdays

November 15

November 22

November 29 (skip: Thanksgiving week)

December 6

December 13

December 20

2025

1 - 4:30 p.m. eastern time

ONLINE WORKSHOP. This course aims to redefine how we think about the still life. Instead of “nature morte,” we will seek “nature vivant.” We’ll consider the rich tradition of still life painting, in which the fruits of the orchard, the field, the sea and the forest were heaped on tabletops. Think: Cezanne’s apples, van Gogh’s flowers, Ensor’s fish and Chardin’s rabbits. But we’ll look beyond that tradition to find new ways to bring the dynamism of nature into the studio.

What excites a painter walking through a landscape? A distant horizon, a valley that stretches to an abrupt mountain range, the vista of the sea, the closeness of trees in a forest? How to redirect the urgency of that experience into a enclosed studio? We will explore various strategies I’ve developed in my own work to bring the outside in. These include the use of windows, mirrors, lighting, objects and fabric to create visual metaphors for our personal sense of the landscape.

You’ll use your own landscape paintings and drawings, memories, photos, or reproductions of your favorite landscape artist to guide your approach. Then, we’ll work through preparatory drawings and color studies towards a finished painting. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of an emotional connection to the still life set-up. All elements of what makes a painting – point of view, composition, color and value ideas, mark-making, paint application – will be discussed in relation to this connection. Color, the structure of a color palette, and paint mixing will address the subject of all perceptual painting: color as light.

Meetings will be held on Zoom and work will be shared on Padlet, an online platform.

WITH DAVID HORNUNG

June 9-13, 2027

Five days

Wednesday - Sunday

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND. In this relaxed and supportive five-day workshop, we make small scale acrylic paintings that explore an improvisational approach to abstraction. The emphasis is on experimentation and workflow with special focus on the interplay between intention and chance in the creative process. We use various tools and both additive and subtractive processes to generate surprising visual events that can be developed into compelling abstract compositions. Studio work is complemented by slide shows and discussions that examine both historical and contemporary abstract painting. Painters at all levels of experience are welcome to participate. Workshop fee include lunches. Please bring the supplies on the materials list below.

WITH NANCY McCARTHY

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

Eight meetings every other week

Thursdays

March 20

April 3

April 17

May 1

May 15

May 29

June 12

June 26

2025

1-4:30 p.m. eastern time

There are 3 main objectives in this ONLINE class:

• To identify aspects of your work that are distinct and personal, and to explore ways of developing and fortifying those aspects.

• To determine areas of your work that are weak and/or diminish your work and finding ways to improve those areas.  

• To establish a consistent, disciplined painting practice.

The goal of creating more personal and powerful paintings will be addressed by considering the following issues: content, composition/format, color, surface as well as materials and craft. We will explore the aspects of painting that interest each student most, including experimentation with materials and conceptual and technical approaches to painting or more traditional work from observation. Classes consist of discussion, image presentations and critique. Each student will develop a set of written goals as well as a painting schedule. Students must be present and are encouraged to participate in all discussion and critiques. Students will post new work, preliminary drawings, and work in progress on the Padlet each week for discussion. Additionally, students are required to research and identify their relatives, 3 artists whose work shares common elements with their own work or the work they aspire to do. Those who want more structure and/or direction will be given assignments tailored to their particular needs. Group discussion of student work along with looking at contemporary and historical painting will enhance the class. Meetings will be held on Zoom and work will be shared on Padlet, the online platform.

WITH CATHERINE KEHOE



THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL



(a second section has been added)

EIGHT MEETINGS

Wednesdays

April 2

April 9

April 16

April 23

April 30

May 7

May 14

May 21

2025

11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Eastern time

ONLINE WORKSHOP. For the first half of the workshop, portraits from art history will be the point of departure for study of pictorial structure, with a focus on the head. We will touch upon the universal proportions of the head; a simple, intuitive drawing method will be introduced to help with drawing accuracy. Mediums will include graphite, charcoal, collage, gouache, acrylic and/or oil paint or materials you have on hand. Each participant will choose and examine one or two images from art history and generate permutations through exercises that lead to simplification and abstraction. This rigorous and wide-ranging analysis of images from our painting ancestors will feed our own work and imaginations as we engage with images that speak to us still. In the second half of the workshop, you will take the experience from multiple exercises and turn your attention to the head in the mirror. The head we see every day is a meaningful, personal, and convenient subject for a painting. This segment takes a reductive approach to painting the head, seeking how little information is enough. Using paint, we will investigate whether translating the head into a few accurate shapes of color and value can create a truer likeness than a detailed description can. We will meet on Zoom and share work on the Padlet platform.

Portraits from Observed to Imagined 



WITH ELIZABETH REAGH



THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL



TUESDAYS

April 15

April 22

April 29

May 6

May 13

2025

1 - 4:30 p.m. eastern time

A five-week ONLINE portrait-painting workshop in which quick observational sketches will be the starting point for portrait paintings. The beauty of the 2 - 5 minute drawing is that the artist is forced to make quick decisions — resulting in an expressive record of the essence of the sitter and a window into the artist’s response. The drawings provide just enough information to apply to a painting, without allowing for copying — translation is the name of the game here.  

We will explore the use of color, composition, imagination and intuition in creating characters who may or may not resemble the original sketch. This class will rely entirely on direct observation and imagination. 

WITH RICK FOX

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

May 16, 17, and 18, 2025

10 a.m.-4 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND

Working from observation, we will spend three days translating the head through various exercises using pencil, charcoal, sculpture, and paint. This workshop will emphasize understanding the head through perception and the physicality of the mediums. Spontaneous invention will be encouraged.

Price includes lunches and model.

WITH DAVID HORNUNG



THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

June 12-16, 2025

Five days

Thursday - Monday

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND. In this relaxed and supportive five-day workshop, we make small scale acrylic paintings that explore an improvisational approach to abstraction. The emphasis is on experimentation and workflow with special focus on the interplay between intention and chance in the creative process. We use various tools and both additive and subtractive processes to generate surprising visual events that can be developed into compelling abstract compositions. Studio work is complemented by slide shows and discussions that examine both historical and contemporary abstract painting. Painters at all levels of experience are welcome to participate. Workshop fee include lunches and some provided supplies. Please bring the other supplies on the materials list below.



A still-life workshop

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL



WITH CATHERINE KEHOE

Five meetings

Wednesdays

June 18

June 25

July 1 WE MEET ON TUESDAY THIS WEEK

July 9

July 16

July 16

2025

1 — 4:30 p.m. eastern time

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Still life can be anything. Within this wide-open genre, we will focus on some fundamental painting principles. Participants will build and light their own inventive and personal setups, and have a week between meetings to explore a series of exercises. Time lends depth to the painted image and frees us to pare down to the essential.

The exercises include:

• Mapping the relationships between objects and the rectangle, using a specific drawing method.

• Exploring different limited palettes to discover the nature of a few paint colors at a time, in terms of opacity, transparency, and relative tinting strength.

• Shape will be central to our approach. Reducing the motif to10-15 shapes will place the focus on color mixing and accurate value structure.

The emphasis will be on observation. Metaphor or personal meaning will come in through the back door. Suggested medium: oil paint

We will meet on Zoom and share work on Padlet, an online platform.

WITH CATHERINE DRABKIN

Thursday-Sunday

August 7-10, 2025

10 a.m.-4 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND

Why do people across cultures love music? Is there an equivalent in painting and can we use it to find inspiration each day in the studio?

Our senses find and take pleasure in patterns: waves breaking on the shore, every form of dance, a wooden fence, or an architectural facade. From the rug on the floor, and the treads of our shoes, to the dishes on the table and the panes of glass in a window, we are surrounded by visual music. 

In this workshop you will explore how rhythm infuses the natural world and our constructed world with beauty. Through observation of an expansive, evolving still life in our spacious studio, we will play with color shapes to create lively paintings that transform reality into an individual, unique statement that reveals how you see and how your imagination can be transformative. Dive into the search and celebration of visual rhythm using color to develop your skills with form and light to create and communicate with our class and beyond.

Gouache will be a primary material, but oil or acrylic paint are also wonderful. We will come away from the experience with an exciting body of work to build on, and new ways to harvest our innate pleasures. All levels are welcome. Lunches will be provided.

WITH CATHERINE KEHOE



THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL



Tuesdays

October 14 - November 11, 2025

1-4:30 p.m. eastern time

(a second section has been added)

ONLINE WORKSHOP: Still life can be anything. Within this wide-open genre, we will focus on some fundamental painting principles. Participants will build and light their own inventive and personal setups, and have a week between meetings to explore a series of exercises. Time lends depth to the painted image and frees us to pare down to the essential.

The exercises include:

• Mapping the relationships between objects and the rectangle, using a specific drawing method.

• Exploring different limited palettes to discover the nature of a few paint colors at a time, in terms of opacity, transparency, and relative tinting strength.

• Shape will be central to our approach. Reducing the motif to10-15 shapes will place the focus on color mixing and accurate value structure.

The emphasis will be on observation. Metaphor or personal meaning will come in through the back door. Suggested medium: oil paint

We will meet on Zoom and share work on Padlet, an online platform.

WITH MAUREEN NATHAN AND NANCY GRUSKIN

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL



FIVE MEETINGS

Wednesdays

October 15 - November 12, 2025

11 a.m.-2 p.m. eastern time

To play is to yield oneself to a kind of magic, and to give a lie to the inconvenient world of fact. — Eileen Agar



ONLINE: Much can be learned from exploring one theme through a variety of 2D and 3D processes. Prior to the start of this online workshop, participants will select a painting from the history of art. This painting will serve as the springboard for drawings, prints, collages, and sculptures. Maureen will lead a variety of drawing exercises that will expand the artists’ alphabet of marks and reinforce the drawing vocabulary unique to each artist. She will also introduce intaglio and relief printmaking using recycled materials with water-based inks. Artists will explore paper cut-outs and the medium of collage with Nancy and shift their focus to 3D processes with the construction of paper, cardboard, and papier-mâché sculptures. Our aim in this workshop will be to generate unexpected and compelling outcomes in relation to our source material. The emphasis will be on play and experimentation.



Maureen and Nancy will be participants in this workshop, as well as instructors. We will use Zoom to meet as a group and all work will be shared on Padlet. Slide presentations and demos will supplement both instructors’ exercises. A small craft press or access to an etching press is required for the printmaking exercises.