CSPWC Symposium

Canadian Society of Water Colour Painters Meet

The Canadian Society of Water Colour Painters met in Cornwallis, NS Sept. 28 to Oct. 3.  Forty-Nine participants, 8 instructors and other members met to put on 5 days of classes and to celebrate water colour painting and related events.

Digby Wharf

The Symposium was held at the Annapolis Basic Conference Centre which was a wonderful place to hold the event.  Right on the ocean, it is very large with many places to walk, paint, dine and hold classes.  The living accommodations were wonderful and adjacent to Desmond Piers Memorial Hall where the classes were held.  On the other side was James Horsfall Memorial Hall where meals were served.

The Margaree 

With 8 instructors one could spend one day with each of 5 of them or more than one day with your choice.  Ron Hazell presented classes on ripples in water and on breaking waves.  Bill Rogers and Poppy Balser covered plein air painting and took us out to interesting locations to paint.  Ann Balch presented portrait painting.  Rex Beanland did cityscapes.  Karen Isenburg presented still life painting.  Bianka Guna taught non-objective painting (abstract painting).  Lio Lo's class was flower painting.  What a choice!  I found the instruction excellent.  We were really motivated to paint and had the experts right there at our side to help with problem areas.  

Unfinished Cityscape

Seascape

The 'after school' times were full of social gatherings.  One evening we had an in-depth presentation on Golden products.  We saw 100s of products and were shown their many uses.  Bianka was generous with samples as well.  Another evening we had a session on life drawing with a nude model.  It was interesting to watch the experts sketch and paint the model.  Students were free to sketch or paint as they wished.  A Market was arranged and vendors were present to show and sell us products.  A silent auction was exciting too.  We also had a lobster dinner.  It was well done and delicious.  There they set up a display of paintings by the instructors.  It was interesting to see the range of their expertise.  

Portrait in progress

The week went by quickly and was well worth the time and expense for me.  I met many new artists and had a good time as well as gained a lot of artistic experience in the process.

Digby Scallop Boat