Painting Flowers from Life: Oil Painting Workshop with Kat Gifford
Celebrate the colors of Spring with this one-day alla prima workshop.
Learn to paint directly from life using fresh, vibrant bouquets!
When: Sunday, May 31st from 2:00-5:00 PM
Where: Lower Level of Meetinghouse Arts, 40 Main St, Freeport
Cost: $95
New and experienced painters welcome! This one-day workshop explores painting flowers in oil alla prima (in one sitting) from direct observation. Students will work from a live floral arrangement, beginning with observational sketches that emphasize gesture, before moving into a structured painting process focused on block-ins, simplified shapes and color, and an understanding of value and light. Instructor demonstrations will guide each stage of the process, from establishing the composition to developing a resolved study. By the end of the workshop, participants will complete a floral painting while gaining practical tools for translating observation into expressive, painterly work.
Students are asked to bring their own supplies based on the materials list provided by the instructor.
About the Instructor: Katharina Gifford
Katharina Gifford is a Maine-raised artist and illustrator working in traditional painting and digital media. Her practice spans figurative and still life work, plein air painting, and animation, with a focus on expressive realism and painting from life as much as possible. Rooted in the process of painting, she is interested in how mark-making, light, shadow, and color create a sense of movement and atmosphere.
Gifford studied at the Florence Academy of Art, trained under painter Ronald Frontin, and holds a BA in Art History from the University of Southern Maine. She has taught drawing and painting at institutions including the Farnsworth Art Museum and the Art Loft in Rockland, Maine, and her work has been exhibited throughout the state. She maintains an active studio practice alongside teaching and commissioned work.