Headwaters Music & Arts hosts landscape artist Gillian Bedford for a painting workshop series in March. The four session course will be held 6:30-8:30 Thursdays March 4 through March 25. Led by local landscape painter Gillian Bedford, the course will teach how to capture the mood and expression of a landscape through composition and color choices. Participants will use acrylic paints as they learn about color mixing, the basics of design, and the importance of values and contrast. Participants will leave the course with their own 16” x 20” landscape painting and a larger understanding of landscapes.
Gillian Bedford is a transplant to Bemidji but the two seem a perfect fit. Gillian says “I have painted all of my life but have never felt so excited to paint the landscape of Minnesota as now. I moved from Philadelphia to Bemidji a little over a year ago and have fallen in love with the bogs, trees, lakes and countryside.” Inspired by the Minnesota landscape Gillian has found herself exploring the area with her paintbrush. “I love painting plein air, whether with a group or by myself. In the winter I use photos my husband or I have taken of the beauty around us and paint in my studio.”
Gillian received a BFA in painting, magna cum laude, from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. While painting was not her first choice of medium; after exploring photography, jewelry, and ceramics, she found her true home in painting and has been doing it for over thirty years. Gillian loves using large amounts of color and though she has used oils and watercolor in the past, she has chosen acrylic paint for it’s fast drying nature. She likes being able to change up what she is doing quickly so that there can be better and better iterations before she settles on her final painting.
The workshop is for adults; the $100 fee includes supplies, learning materials and instruction but participants are encouraged to purchase their own copy of The Simple Secret to Better Painting by Greg Albert which Gillian will reference in the class. Space is limited to 8 adults. Social distance and mask protocols will be enforced, registration deadline is March 1. To register or for more information, contact 218.444.5606 or visit headwatersmusicandarts.org.
