INVITED ARTISTS, THEIR WORKSHOPS & DEMONSTRATIONS
All workshops are €60 each
Jenny Aitken
Demos followed by Workshops:
Monday, 21st July, 10.30am, Johnstown Castle.
Thursday, 24th July, 2pm, Huntington Castle and Clonegal Village.
Jenny’s Website: https://jennyaitken.co.uk/
Jenny has a book on oil painting out with Search Press in spring 2024, and is a regular contributor to The Artist Magazine. She is also an online tutor, with a series of 25+ modules on painting in oils and acrylics. She also produces shorter painting videos on YouTube. Teaching painting is a passion – her main aim is for students to be encouraged, informed and creatively enthused.
Grahame Booth
Demos followed by Workshops:
Watercolour - Keeping it clean and simple. 1 Sunday, 20th July, 10.30am, Kilmore Quay.
Watercolour - Keeping it clean and simple. 2 Thursday, 24th July, 10.30am, Huntington Castle and Clonegal Village
Grahame’s Website: https://www.grahamebooth.com/
Format will be approximately 1 hour demo followed by personal advice to the participants.
Grahame Booth is one of Ireland’s best known watercolour painters and tutors. He has taught watercolour for some 35 years at workshops across the world from the USA to India and his paintings have won many national and international awards. He has written several books on watercolour techniques and has contributed to many others. A new book on plein air watercolour will be published in 2025. Grahame also writes regularly for The Artist magazine in the UK and he has a strong online presence including over 40,000 subscribers to his YouTube painting channel. He paints only in watercolour and aims to capture the feel and atmosphere of a subject, rather than concentrating on too much detail.
Valerie Craig
Demos followed by Workshops:
Building a Strong Foundation. Monday, 21st July, 2pm, Johnstown Castle.
Expressive Brushwork. Thursday, 24th July, 10.30am, Huntington Castle and Clonegal Village.
Valerie’s Website: https://www.valeriecraig.com/
Building a Strong Foundation Establishing a strong design is key to a successful painting. During her demo, we will consider what to omit or include in a scene, how to organize and simplify shapes, colour temperature, and ways to create a sense of atmosphere or mood. Painting expressively, taking risks, and the artist’s own response to the scene will be explored. Painters will have a chance to start their own work with some personal instruction. All mediums welcome but demo will be in oil.
Expressive Brushwork Interesting brushwork or mark making is the ‘icing on the cake’ and often what captures our imagination. In her demo, Valerie will briefly review principles of composition, then focus on ways to use a variety of tools, including brushes, palette knife, credit cards etc. We will discuss how varied paint textures can create a feeling of energy or quiet, movement, emotion, or space in a painting.
Attendees will have plenty of time to develop a painting and enjoy exploring various ways to lay on the paint with personal instruction. Suitable for oil and acrylic mediums.
Valerie Craig has drawn and painted nearly all of her life. Known for her impressionist approach to colour and light, Craig uses oil and watercolours to capture her subjects, including urban and rural landscapes, still-life, and sometimes figures in the landscape. Like most artists, Craig continues to be a student of art, always reaching for a higher level of excellence, while discovering and expressing her own voice.
Marc Dalessio
Workshops:
Plein air painting using the sight-size method.
Sunday, 20th July, 2pm, Kilmore Quay.
Tuesday, 22nd July, 2pm, Duncannon.
Marc’s Website: https://www.marcdalessio.com/
Marc Dalessio, born in 1972 in Los Angeles, California, is a naturalistic painter who has established himself as one of the foremost plein air landscape painters working today.
Marc’s artistic training began at the University of California at Santa Cruz where he majored in biology and fine art. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1992, he moved to Florence, Italy and trained as a portraitist for four years under Charles Cecil at his atelier. Charles H. Cecil Studios is a school of fine art that offers a thorough training in the traditional techniques of naturalistic drawing and painting. The school is directly descended from the teaching of Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon completion of his first year, Marc was awarded a full scholarship and, after finishing the full course, he became an advanced painting teacher at the school. Today he does yearly workshops in Europe and the US.
Currently based in the Gers region of southwestern France with his wife and fellow painter, Tina Orsolic Dalessio, Marc travels for much of the year painting landscapes. Past painting expeditions have included Morocco, Thailand, Myanmar, Fiji and South Africa. Marc is represented by galleries in England, France, the Netherlands and the United States and his work has sold at Christies in New York. His paintings are in private collections worldwide.
Desmond Downes
Demo based Workshops:
Sunday, 20th July, 10.30am, Kilmore Quay.
Wednesday, 23rd July, 2pm, Enniscorthy.
Desmond’s Website: https://desd.ie/about.html#/
Des has been working in the Animation industry for over 30 years as a Background/Layout Artist (Prince of Egypt, Spirit, Eldorado…) He has been painting en Pleinair for over 20yrs in Co. Mayo.
This will be a demo base workshop but sketching and painting along is welcome. He will cover Design and Composition, Simplifying your shapes. Blocking in. Colour, linear and atmospheric perspective, brushwork, technique and texture.
The workshop is suitable for all sill levels. Suggested check list (for oils but whatever you’re comfortable with): Paints: White. Red, Yellow & Blue (warm & cool of each) Artist grade Solvent and/or Medium (linseed oil etc.) Field Easel or Pochade box, Viewfinder Canvas or Gesso boards (variety of small sizes 8” X 10”ish is ideal) Sketch pad, Brushes & palette knives Paper towels, Rubbish bag.
Anastasia Dukhanina
Demos and Workshops:
Still life. "Capture the moment of everyday life" Monday, 2ist July, 10.30am, Johnstown Castle.
Landscape. "Mood of the day" Thursday, 24th July, 2pm, Huntington Castle and Clonegal Village.
Anastasia’s Website: https://anastasiadukhanina.com/
Currently lives and works in Ravieres, France. My paintings are in private collections in France, Switzerland, Germany, Danemark, Brésil, Korea, China, USA, Russia and Morocco.
EDUCATION 2003-2010 – Saint-Petersburg State Repin Academy of Fine Arts, Russia. Graduation with MFA in studio art/easel painting 1998-2002 – Saint-Petersburg Art College, Russia. Graduated as Interior designer 1990-98 – High School, simultaneously attended art school with specialized art classes in painting. Saint Petersburg, Russia Since 2018, member of La Maison des Artistes. Paris, France Since 2012 a member of the Union of Russian Artists.
I will introduce myself and start a demo to show my way of painting and thinking. And after 15-20 min of demo students can join me and do their own sketch (better a small size). All mediums and all levels are welcome.
Still life. "Capture the moment of everyday life". In our every day life we are surrounded by still lives. I propose to you one of them. We are going to learn what can help us to capture this moment of every day life in our work.
Landscape."Mood of the day". What is important in the landscape? Colour, big shapes,values? Yes,and the right balance of all of it, which creates the beautiful mood of the day. Let us learn how to catch this harmony.
Charlie Hunter
Workshops:
Demo 1: Tuesday, 22nd July, 2pm, Duncannon.
Demo 2: Wednesday, 23rd July, 10.30am, Enniscorthy.
Charlie’s Website: http://www.charliehunter.art/
Charlie Hunter is a painter of the post-pastoral landscape. His distinctive, low-chroma work, heavily reliant on a mastery of values, edges and composition, utilizes a variety of moderately unorthodox techniques. His work has been featured in numerous art and lifestyle publications, is in multiple collections and museums, and was the recent subject of a one-man show, SEMAPHORE, curated by fellow artist Eric Aho. With painter and designer Larry Moore, Hunter created the En Train Air painting train, and Hunter’s weekly live stream, REASONABLY FINE ART TALKS, has a fervent following. He’s won a bunch of awards.
Growing up in rural New England, the son of a small-town printer, Charlie Hunter’s work examines the pressures of modern urban and suburban culture upon small-town and agricultural communities. Initially a graphic designer of tour posters for musicians such as the Jerry Garcia Band, Bob Dylan, The Clash, Eurythmics and REM, Hunter became a music manager and event producer, before turning to painting full time in the 2000’s.
Billyo O’Donnell
Workshops:
Sunday, 20th July, 2pm, Kilmore Quay.
Wednesday, 23rd July, 10.30am, Enniscorthy.
Billyo’s Website: https://www.billyoart.com/
Workshop description: Bring those old tubes of paint and palette knives that have been sitting around forever and let's have some fun with them. I will demonstrate and lecture while doing two quick block-in using my visual perception of colour and an applied idea of colour and how I structure it. If time allows students who choose to set up and block-in will receive additional instruction and those who choose not set up may follow me around as I help those who paint and refine everyone's understanding while answering questions.
Raised west of St. Louis, near the Missouri River in Warren County. Billyo is recognized as one of America's leading landscape painters by the Haggin Museum, Stockton, California book and exhibit "Sea to Shining Sea". Billyo has earned "Best in Show" at the following: 14th Annual Laguna Beach 2012 Invitational the 2009 Maui Plein Air Invitational 2012 - 2011 Big Cedar Lodge Paint Out and "Artists Choice" 2009 Lanai Plein Air Invitational. Received highest honor an artist can earn from State of Missouri the "2012 Independent Artist Award" Missouri Arts Council award presented in the rotunda of the state capitol. His book "Painting Missouri" received the Governor's Humanities 2009 Book Award, which contains 115 paintings, one of each county, and writings from his journals, Authored by Karen Glines, 4 printings totaling 8,000 books. Invited guest artists to the White house for creating an ornament for the Christmas tree. 2013, voted in as a member to the prestigious Plein Air Painters of America. 2018, 2022 China selected 12 painters from around the world as a cultural exchange to paint, teach and exhibit through Shengxinyu Art Institute. 2013-2024 showing with the Plein Air Painters of America, showing in Museums and group paint-outs across America Today. The Saint Louis Symphony did a full dress rehearsal for the artist to paint. Creating a series of paintings used in 2001 - 2002 subscription guide. Peggy and Billyo live west of St. Louis in a 200 year old log cabin overlooking the Big River valley that was once owned by his grandmother.
Tina Orsolic
Workshops: ‘Oil Painting en Plein Air’ Students will receive critiques on their progress, painting after demo.
Monday, 21st July, 2pm, Johnstown Castle.
Tuesday, 22nd July, 10.30am, Duncannon.
Tina’s Website: https://tinaorsolic.com/
Tina Orsolic is a figurative painter born in Zagreb, Croatia. She received her formal academic training at the prestigious Florence Academy of Art in Italy, during which time she was granted a meritorious scholarship. She graduated from Florence Academy of Art in 2018.
Tina also holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Zagreb Law School, an LL.M. degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a PhD degree from the University of Maastricht, Faculty of Law. Before becoming a painter, she taught philosophy of law at the University of Zagreb.
Alongside her husband Marc Dalessio, she discovered her passion for fine art, which led her to a life changing decision to leave academia and devote herself fully to painting.
Stewart White
Workshops: Planning a landscape painting with watercolour. A lesson in setting up an order of steps towards a finished painting.
Tuesday, 22nd July, 10.30am, Duncannon.
Wednesday, 23rd July, 10.30am, Enniscorthy.
Stewart’s Website: https://www.stewartwhitestudios.com/
Stewart White – AWS, NWS, ASMA is an artist from Easton, Maryland. He works as freelance illustrator specializing in architectural illustration. The flexible nature of watercolor painting can impart both precision and illusion, for that reason it is extremely useful in conveying as yet unrealized concepts with great efficiency. Besides illustration, Stewart is always out and about painting “en plein air” or in studio.
Stewart studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and after serving 3 years in the US Army he received a BFA from UC Berkeley with a minor in Art History. As a carpenter of many years his interests found a perfect balance between Art and Architecture in a career in architectural illustration. His skill in both oil, egg tempera and watercolors have garnered many awards. He is a Grand Prize winner of several of the country’s most prestigious plein air competitions, which in a field dominated by oil painters is a significant accomplishment.
Stewart is a past President of the Mid-Atlantic Plein-Air Painters Association (MAPAPA). He exhibits his paintings in juried and gallery exhibitions throughout the US. Stewart is a member of the American Impressionists Society (AIS), a signature member of the National Watercolor Society (NWS), a signature member of the American Watercolor Society (AWS) Executive Fellow for the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) and past President (2012) of The American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI). He has spent many years as a mural painter with commissions that include: the Smithsonian Institute, The US Naval Academy, The Texas Rangers Baseball Club and prestigious homes too many to list.
Stewart White is represented by Folly Cove Gallery in Rockport MA. The Troika Gallery in Easton, MD.
