Twelve artists shared an adventure in loose painting recently. Under the guidance of Cynthia Gatien, they explored an inspiring approach to a creative floral process with bold colours & brushstrokes. Floral Phantasmagoria: freeing-up your acrylic painting style with flowers & fantasy was our first workshop since late 2019, held at The Priest’s Mill Art Centre (PMAC). There was an added boost to creativity being surround by the artworks on display at PMAC – a great venue.

We started with the challenge of a square canvas, practiced loose paint application & incorporated whimsy using adventurous, contrasting colours with expressive brush strokes (occasionally finger strokes, too.) In case folks didn’t have enough bright colours, Cynthia generously shared her palette.

One of Cynthia’s tips: squeeze out plenty of paint: the volume will keep it from drying out too quickly.

Here two finished Gatien works flank the demo (top right) Cynthia created in just a few minutes.

Then folks crowded round as Cynthia demonstrated next steps.

But this was very much a hands-on experience. Much of the workshop Cynthia circled the work area giving one-on-one advice to painters while using technical terms like smoosh and gloopy! Yes, we laughed. A lot!

By lunchtime, three hours into the six-hour event, work was looking pretty good! Folks were engaged throughout. Occasionally concentrating silently . . .

By the end, folks had works that were pretty satisfying if not completely finished.

Photos by Bobi Leutschaft Poitras, Cynthia Gatien, Yvonne Callaway

What should we offer for our next workshop(s)? Send your thoughts &/or suggestions to cagac.ca@gmail.com