Are you hungry to find your feet as an expressive painter and make work that delights you?
Do you see other artist’s work and yearn to paint like them? Perhaps deep down you dream there’s an equally successful artist in you, but feel lost as to how to get there.
Each Adventurous Painters module offers a carefully paced, experiential journey to discovering the skilful, confident artist you’re meant to be.
Discover evocative, exciting and harmonious colours that feel truly yours.
Find your natural style with line and mark-making.
Explore with shapes, motifs and symbols that have personal meaning.
Demystify the art of achieving interesting and balanced compositions.
Build your confidence in working expressively and adventurously.
Make some beautiful paintings you never dreamed possible.
Want to see some of the inspiring work produced on previous courses? Click below to visit the Adventurous Painters Gallery.
‘A great course, well thought out and delivered, with an excellent teacher and lots of lovely people in the group.’
Chris Hern, UK
Adventurous Painters offers:
three-month membership of a like-minded, supportive group of emerging / improving artists (max 50) committed to becoming confident, successful painters,
a series of playful, easy-to-understand painting exercises emailed weekly, carefully designed and paced to demystify the key principles of successful expressive art-making (composition, line, tone / value, colour, surface treatment, motifs and meaning),
the chance to see a group of paintings through to completion; including getting started, working with overwhelm and ugliness and deciding when you’re done,
the tools you need to turn your worst unfinished paintings into your best paintings yet,
opportunities to really get to know yourself as an artist - how you work best, your natural style and what can bring delight to you and those who see your work.
Successful artists delight in exploring new territory, confident they’ll make exciting discoveries without getting completely lost. I call this the art of adventurous painting and Adventurous Painters gives you the map and guidebook for your journey.
'I really appreciate the building blocks of skills that Fiona introduces week by week. '
Nikki Rice, UK
Over a period of three months you get to:
be part of a small, private, interactive Adventurous Painters Facebook group where you can share your adventures, network with other members and get feedback on your work,
explore 10 playful, experiential painting challenges (PDFs emailed weekly), designed to build confidence with shape, symbols and meaning, composition / design, line / movement, tone / value, colour, texture and mark-making,
learn from a weekly video presentation supporting each challenge, demonstrating techniques and principles for successful painting,
make some ‘adventurous paintings’; seeing some new (or old) paintings through to completion, with support through the ups and downs of the painting process from start to finish,
pick up tips and inspiration as you watch me work on my own series of ‘adventurous paintings’,
benefit from support and critique on your work, including a weekly ‘feedback forum’ in the Facebook group,
meet your fellow adventurous painters in three live Zoom sessions - an opportunity to ask questions, get feedback on your work and talk about art.
Your journey into successful art-making.
Join my wait list to hear first when early-bird booking opens.
More about your teacher
I set up my Adventures in Paint free facebook group in July 2020 to offer artistic connection and inspiration during the Covid crisis. The group grew fast and so did my appetite for teaching, so I established my Adventurous Painters programme to offer a deeper experience than I could give for free.
Having found delight in my own painting success, as well as having taught art, trained art teachers and worked as a coach and therapist, my teaching weaves together a lifetime of skills. Importantly, I understand how to structure learning, breaking down the complexities of art into manageable chunks. I place a particular emphasis on learning through doing, and enjoy devising fun, friendly exercises that are valuable whatever your level of painting experience.
Is Adventurous Painters for me?
Adventurous Painters is for you if:
you’re an enthusiastic, emerging or practising artist with some prior painting experience,
you want to build a happy working relationship with your art; facing fears, learning how to get unstuck, developing creative resilience and forming ‘the art of being an artist’,
you’re happy to work in acrylics and mixed media,
you’re interested primarily in abstract or semi-abstract expressive painting,
you’d like to get confident in new skills and techniques through structured, experimental painting projects, teaching input and personalised feedback,
you’re eager to understand the principles of making successful art - the subtleties of creating exciting colour, the importance of tone (value) and contrast, the joy of mark-making and texture, the value of working with layers and how to be expressive with motifs and symbols,
you like to learn at a manageable pace, integrating art into your life,
you’d like this to be the year when you can confidently say ‘I’m a painter’.
What people have said about working with me:
‘These tasks are exactly what I need, helping me simplify my approach while I work out what I like and don’t like. Thankyou Fiona, you’re a genius!’
Becky Little, UK
‘I’ve been taking art classes since 2006 and your course is by far the best one I’ve EVER taken.’
Merrilyn Laursen, Canada
A joyful adventure into the heart of painting.
FAQs
+ How often do you run Adventurous Painters?
I run Adventurous Painters once a year.
+ How is the course structured?
The programme provides ten weeks of painting excercises, followed by three supported weeks for making further paintings based on the principles learned. During the first ten weeks, you'll receive a weekly email with a PDF and video for the week. The tasks are designed to build up your confidence and understanding layer by layer.
+ I work in watercolour / oils, will this programme work for me?
The tasks are designed around working with acrylic and mixed media. However the majority of the principles we explore are applicable for working in any medium.
+ How much time will I need each week?
Much like a weekly art class, you'll need around three hours per week to complete the challenges I set. Of course, the more time you put in to painting, the more you'll get out of it, so if you can make more time, great!
+ I'm not in the UK. Will I miss out due to time-zones?
Adventurous Painters works whatever time zone you're in, apart from the three live sessions which are scheduled at 6pm GMT / BST. However, these are recorded so you can catch up at any time if you miss them.
+ For how long do I get access to the Adventurous Painters group and tasks?
All tasks are emailed to you as PDFs as well as posted in the group, so you'll be able to keep these forever. There's a new Facebook group for each module and each group is archived a couple of weeks after the module ends. After this date you can still access all the materials in the group, but not post or comment.
+ I'm a realistic painter wanting to find a more abstract style. Will this course work for me?
The emphasis of the programme is on working expressively and intuitively, while understanding good principles for making expressive paintings. The principles I teach give confidence in colour theory, composition and expressive mark-making, which can all applied to more realistic painting.
+ Can I pay in installments?
I don't currently offer a payment installment plan.
+ What happens if I decide Adventurous Painters isn't right for me? Can I get a refund?
I want you to be able to try the programme and know you can pull out if it doesn't feel right for you. So I build in a two week refund period allowing you to try the course and get a full refund during that time if it doesn't feel right for you.
+ What happens when I sign up?
When booking is open, once you’ve completed the payment process, you’ll receive a confirmation email with key information, dates and materials list. You’ll then receive an email from me closer to the start date with instructions for how to join the Facebook group and what you can do to be ready to start.
+ I have other questions, where can I get more information?
There are more Q&As in the general FAQs sections - do check below as you may well find the answer you're looking for. If you can't find what you need, do email me at fionagodfreyart@gmai.com.
If you can't find the answer you need, do use the contact form here to get in touch.
Refund policy
I offer a few weeks to try the course and within that time you can contact me at fionagodfreyart@gmail.com to get a full refund.
Get happy with your painting.
Each module brings a new series of playful painting explorations, designed to build confidence in your relationship with paint.
