Art Classes
Salt Spring Island Painters Guild is dedicated to promoting artistic expression and creativity in the local community. We offer a variety of art classes for painting and drawing, suitable for artists of all skill levels. Our experienced instructors will guide you through the techniques and methods used in creating beautiful works of art. Come and join us and discover the joy of creating art in a supportive and friendly environment.
Become a Member here in order to register for classes.
*If your membership has expired or you're a new member, click on Annual Membership to complete your membership form.
If you are already a member, you will receive a renewal reminder by email, letting you know that you will be renewed automatically.
Once you have purchased your Annual Membership
you can register for the following classes:
Cancellation Policy
Refunds for withdrawal from an instructed or mentored workshop will be issued if one withdraws at least 14 days prior to the instructed workshop. To cancel your registration, 14 days prior to the workshop, contact the registrar. Exceptions for refunds (medical or family emergency) post 14 days will be considered at the discretion of the registrar at info@ssipaintersguild.com.
Beyond the View,
Abstracting the Landscape
Date: Oct 7, 2026
Time: 09:30 – 3:30
Instructor: Susan Rogers
Location: SIMS
Levels: All
Medium: Acrylic
Price: $55
Max participants: 12
A landscape can be painted as we see it - trees can look like trees, rocks like rocks and light and space can be carefully observed. But what happens when we begin to let go of description? In this workshop you will use your photos and sketches of a familiar landscape as a starting point rather than something that has to be faithfully reproduced. You’ll use these references to look for shapes, lines, rhythms, colours and contrasts within the landscape. We will then explore how these elements can be simplified, exaggerated, rearranged or invented. We’ll look at how softened edges, unexpected colour and bold brushstrokes can open new ways of seeing and responding to the landscape. The aim is not necessarily to make a completely abstract painting. The landscape can still be recognizable. Instead we’ll explore how far we can move away from literal representation while still keeping something of the character, energy and structure of the place that inspired us. You’ll leave with practical strategies for simplifying, altering and reimagining the landscape to create paintings that are more personal, expressive and abstract. Materials Acrylic paint - a selection of colours (ideally a warm and cool red, yellow and blue and white and black) Matte or Glossy medium for acrylics if you want to practice glazing Supports - Canvas/paper/board - size at least 16 x20 but bigger is better Easel or you can work on the table top Paintbrushes - bring what you have but include at least two bigger brushes References – photos, sketches Sketchbook and pencil Water container Paper towel Plastic covering for the table Susan Rogers attending art school in London, UK studying surface design. In Canada she went on to studying educational media production and worked as a television producer and director. She also worked as a writer and designer of interactive media projects for children.
Introduction to Oil Painting (2 Days)
Date: October 14, 21, 2026
Time: 09:30 – 3:30
Instructor: Betty Rideout
Location: SIMS
Levels: Open to All
Medium: Oil
Price: $120 for the 2 days
Max Participants: 12
Learn the secrets of oil painting in this hands-on, two-day workshop. This workshop is intended for beginners, but more experienced artists are certainly welcome. We will start with the fundamentals of brushes, mediums, canvas types, paint and palette choices along with basic rules for painting in oils. We’ll discuss the “alla prima” method – wet on wet approach, which is naturally suited to slow drying oil paint. Since hands-on practice is the best way to consolidate learning, we’ll spend the rest of our time together painting ‘Overlooking Trincomali’, with individual guidance and step-by-step instructions. Because this workshop is designed primarily for beginners, we will provide the image, paints, mediums, and palette and transfer paper. You will be responsible for supplying an 18 x 24 inch canvas, brushes, and an easel. Materials list: An 18 x 24 canvas, (please don’t bring any other size). Canvases generally come in a standard, thin or deep profile (the depth of the canvas). Standard is easier to frame, deep is easier to leave unframed – your choice. An assortment of paint brushes, including at least one filbert, one angle, a liner, a fan brush and a larger brush to apply your background colour. Bring a sealing glass jar with odorless mineral spirits to clean your brushes in. A roll of paper towel. An easel, (if you don’t have an easel, contact me, I have a couple of extra ones). A bag for your oily rags and general garbage, bringing your lunch is always a good idea, that leaves more time for painting!
Open Painting Sessions
Dates: October 28, November 4, December 2, December 9, 2026
Time: 10:00am-3:00pm
Instructor: No Instruction, Hosted by Susanne Rutchinski or Julie Bowen
Location: SIMS
Levels: All
Price: $15 each day
Max Participants: 12
No experience needed and nothing formal about it! This is really about getting to know the people who share our guild, share ideas, information, support and mentor each other. We will begin with a round of introducing ourselves and a bit about what inspires us in our creative endeavours. These Open Painting Sessions will be hosted by a guild member and you are welcome to come for all, or part of the day. This is NOT an instructed class. Please bring a plastic sheet to cover your table, your paints and brushes, rags, container for water and whatever you are working on. If you are new to the guild or are looking for some company while you paint, this is an opportunity to meet other members, ask questions of each other or the host, play, practice, paint, get feedback (if you want) and learn from each other. Each session may have a theme and a couple of starting points suggested by the host, that you are free to explore and participate in; or feel free to do your own thing. The fee is minimal just to cover cost of renting the space. Your Hosts: Julie Bowen - an artist specializing in watercolours and a wild life photographer. She strives to capture a moment in nature, a time, a place, a behaviour, an action that she has witnessed that might resonate with the viewer’s own experiences. www.juliebowenartist.com Susanne Rutchinski - is a graphic designer, who works with acrylics, inks and mixed media, to portray her love of plants, weeds, sea and sky connecting the chaos and beauty that so often go side by side in the natural world. www.suerart.com
Loose Landscapes
Date: November 18, 2026
Time: 09:30 – 3:30
Instructor: Kimoko Brown
Location: SIMS
Levels: Open to All
Medium: Acrylic
Price: $65
Max Participants: 12
In this workshop, I’ll share my process for creating loose and bright landscape paintings using acrylics. We’ll first start on a small panel before we go bigger with our second painting. I’ll walk you through the small piece, exploring techniques to help keep our brush strokes loose, bold and interesting. Each participant will be provided a 6x6 Ampersand flat panel and a printed reference photo to work from. On this small panel, our goal is to simplify the scene, eliminating details and getting ourselves outside of our comfort zones by using a larger brush than you might typically reach for. We will practice making bold beautiful strokes and leaving them! We’re also going to paint faster - this will help keep our paintings “loosey-goosey”. We’ll also talk about palette set-up, toning, colour mixing, working thin-to-thick / dark-to-light / front-to-back, and negative space painting. Once we have finished our small, it’s time to go bigger! Participants are asked to bring a medium sized canvas or panel. Using your new 6x6 painting, as well as the original reference photo, you will now follow the same steps to create your larger piece. Note: this workshop will be very similar to the Loose Landscapes workshop I taught last year Materials: Medium sized primed canvas or panel (e.g.,12x12, 11x14) Soft vine charcoal Brushes: bright or flat synthetic brush with a long handle in size 6 (e.g., Artist’s Loft Firenze Bright Brush from Michaels). Also good to have size 4 and 8 if you have it Palette knife Acrylic paints: heavy body are preferred, but fine to use student grade if that’s what you have. These are the colours I will be using in Golden heavy body, I recommend you bring similar colours, ~10 total: 1 Yellow: Hansa Yellow Opaque 1 Orange: Cad Orange 3 Reds: Cad Red, Quinacridone Magenta, Alizarin Crimson Hue 3 Blues: Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Pthalo Blue (Green Shade) 1 Purple: Dioxazine Purple 2 Whites: Titanium White, Zinc White Recommended but optional: Golden Regular Gloss Gel Medium, Golden Retarder, Sta-Wet Palette Box (with sponge and sta-wet paper) Disposable paper palette or other such surface for mixing Container for water Paper towels Portable easel Instructor Bio: Kimoko is a self-taught artist whose work focuses on florals and landscapes, using bright happy colour and a loose expressive style. Raised in New York City, art has always been a part of her life. But it was only after moving back to Canada and to Salt Spring with her family, that painting became a central passion. Inspired by the lush beauty of the island, Kimoko loves to create art that is uplifting, light-filled and full of joy. Feel free to contact Kimoko with questions at kimokobrownart@gmail.com
Expressive figure drawing
Date: November 25, 2026
Time: 09:30 – 3:30
Instructor: Dee Tessmann
Location: SIMS
Levels: Open to All
Medium: Drawing mediums
Price: $65
Max Participants: 12
This workshop focuses on the use of gesture and rhythm to capture the essence of the pose. Weak gesture leads to drawings that are stiff and awkward. There is a Line of Life that flows through all movement and is watched for by animators and Old Masters alike. It is the foundation that makes your drawings come alive. Participants will have access to a live model for part of the day. They will follow specific exercises exploring line quality, rhythm, simplification, and cross-contour lines. Participants will also be shown how to observe weight and balance to help make their drawings communicate the life of their subjects. We will have a model from 11:00 to 12:30 followed by lunch. The model will resume posing at 01:00 and will be available until 2:30 (3 h total). To begin, you will do a quick warm-up with materials to loosen up. Then Dee will: provide a very quick review of basic shapes in space- egg, lock, cylinder how these shapes form the torso & turn in space (practice) the Line of Life that's basic to all animation, sweeping thru the form drawing practice on handouts of human silhouettes to reinforce the practice of spine-shoulder-pelvic tilt relationships the Line of Life that's basic to all animation, and seeking it and the rhythm lines that flow thru the figure with handouts for practice making the basic landmark lines thru figure. For the rest of the day, you will practice rather quick 15 min - 20 min poses with specific targets, such as: seated/curled pose - straight vs. curved lines exaggeration/omitting (just cuz it's there, you don't have to put it in) If people want one longer pose at the end, we can do that I'll bring handouts ( I like to give something for people to leave with), and extra materials & paper that we can experiment with, classic drawing Books. We’ll conclude the day with a review/discussion of what we’ve learned and accomplished. Supplies: Bring your regular life drawing supplies - 18 x 24" newsprint if you have it, with a backing board, soft and medium charcoal and pencils a willingness to have fun and get lost in the activity! Dee will bring some extra drawing supplies. Deirdre Tessmann - Bio After obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Western Ontario, Deirdre then studied illustration at the Ontario College of Art and Fashion Design at the Vancouver Community College. Deirdre worked in the Art Department of IBM in Toronto, has produced illustration for Disney Interactive.