Workshop Tour - Day 2 - Creating & Sightseeing - Dominique Hurley

What an amazing day! It had been a rainy and windy night, and we drove to Grand’Terre in the thick fog, but after a great morning leading my first workshop, we reveled in the beauty of the Cape.

Les Mains dans l’Art – École Sainte Anne (painting workshop):

We all agree, it was a great success! Three hours of high energy exploration of paint and colour with 11 students of the Saint-Anne school at the very end of the Port-au-Port peninsula. This was the first of several cross-province French workshops sponsored by Heritage Canada and organized by the Fédération francophone de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Thank goodness I had Louis Christophe and Leslie with me to help set up, clean up, and take pictures. It was non-stop! When the children had their 15-minute recess, I was busy with the hairdryer to help speed things along. By the end, the students had played with 1) a layer of warm colours; 2) mark-making with cool colours and a variety of tools; 3) free mark-making time with more warm colours; 4) adding contrast and imagery with black & white, and; 5) glazing with a coloured wash (not everyone got to that stage). We chatted about colour theory, depth, texture, intuitive painting, indefinite layering, letting go of expectations, the impossibility of making mistakes, and lots more. The students had fun and now have the tools to keep working on their paintings if they choose to. I’m really happy about how it all went. A great morning! Note: you won’t see any of the students’ faces to respect their privacy. All workshop photos by Leslie Quennehen.

Great Scenery:

photo by Leslie Quennehen

We got lucky. It was still raining while I was teaching, but the sunshine greeted us as we left the school, and so we got some take-out and went by the beach to eat. After walking along the beach for a while, we drove through another bout of thick fog to the Boutte du Cap Park at the end of Cape St. George (between the school and our inn). We walked through fragrant paths of wind-blown pines and along spectacular cliffs to the famous Boot. What can I say, but WOW! Enjoy seeing it all through my eyes.