Autumn Breezes - G.Mackenzie
Goulais2 - Foggy Hills - G.Mackenzie
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the
fifth annual
Algoma Autumn Splash
capturing the radiant landscape in watercolour
with
Gordon MacKenzie
September 28 to October 3, 2011
The
Setting
With
its high rocky
outcrops,
mixed hardwood and conifer forests, and countless lakes and streams,
the Mississagi Valley is renowned for its beauty in every
season. The timing of this workshop is planned to coincide with
the peak of the spectacular fall colours which to many represent
Nature's most awe inspiring masterpiece.
A selection of locations
along the
shores of the magnificent Mississagi River provide a variety of vistas
for the plein air sessions, with studio instruction and personal studio
time taking place at Hemlock Studio and in individual cottages at Kegos
Camp.
Each day begins in the
studio with
Gordon demonstrating a selection of the techniques which have made his
work and his books so popular. Participants then have the
opportunity to apply his methods in their own work; depending on
weather we will continue working in the studio or move out to one of
our plein air locations, where you will set up to begin painting on
your own. Throughout the plein air session Gordon offers
frequent demonstrations, individual tutelage, and the opportunity to
observe as he creates several different works using a variety of
strategies and techniques.
Because of the extra challenges of working en plein air, Gordon
recommends that participants in this workshop have previous experience
in working with watercolour.
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Autumn
birch- G.Mackenzie
 Lake Spirits - G. Mackenzie
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About the
Artist-Instructor
Gordon MacKenzie is internationally known as a gifted watercolourist,
an inspiring workshop instructor, and the author of The Watercolorists Essential Notebook"
and The Watercolorist's Essential
Notebook - Landscapes". We are privileged to be able to
claim Gordon as a local artist who has an intimate knowledge of the
Algoma wilderness which is the setting for alGOma WILD art escapes.
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The following biography is
excerpted from The Watercolorists Essential
Notebook:
Gordon MacKenzie is a native of
New Liskeard in northern Ontario.
He now lives in
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario,
where he maintains his painting and closeness to the outdoors.
Even
though the
remoteness of northern Ontario
precluded any formal art instruction, that same remoteness became the
inspiration and driving force behind his work. His paintings reflect
the
emotional bond he has made with the natural world.
"An
artist's work is a
reflection of...the most significant aspects of their environment.
Those perceptions
are usually set at an early age, and for me it was the spirit of remote
northern lakes and forests speaking in breathtaking images for the eye
and timeless silence for the soul."
Gordon
received his first formal
art training at the Ontario College of
Art while certifying as a visual arts specialist in education. Work in
a
variety of media followed, but none captured the transient and ethereal
nature
of the land as he saw it until the early 1970s when he switched to
watercolors.
"The lively
atmospherics
and delicate transparencies of watercolors combined to present a
whole
new
vision for me. Although my source was nature, I have always been more
interested in capturing the essence of an experience than simply making
a
literal reproduction of a specific scene. Close contact with children
and their
art over the years has taught me much about the picture-making process.
I've
learned to use nature as a setting or stage on which to recreate and
play out
my memories and visions, much as children do in their work. It is
these
impressions from the heart that are hidden in my paint for those with
kindred
spirit and eye to experience."
Gordon
has now retired after
thirty-three years as a teacher and art consultant for the Sault Ste.
Marie
Board of Education. As a graduate of Laurentian University and
specialist in
art education, he has taught ministry of education and university-level
art
education courses for teachers for many years. With over twenty years
of
teaching private adult watercolor workshops as well, Gordon has earned
a
reputation as a first-class artist and instructor.
Gordon
has had twenty-five solo
watercolor shows in Canada
and the U.S.
and his work hangs in many private and corporate collections throughout
Canada, the U.S.,
Europe, Africa and the Far East. He
has found
honors in several American shows, including that of the Detroit
Institute of
Art and the American Artist annual competition. He has been a
successful
participant in the last nineteen Buckhorn Art Festivals and his work
has made
the cover of Readers Digest in Canada, Switzerland, Finland, Australia
and the U.S. |
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includes:
4 full days of
workshop instruction
outdoors whenever
possible, in a variety of spectacular settings
(transportation provided
to sites, or use your own vehicle)
indoors when weather
dictates, in a comfortable, spacious, lakeside
studio
5 nights
accommodation in lakeside cottages
each
participant has his/her own bedroom
in shared 2-3 bedroom vintage cottages on lovely Chub Lake
all meals
from supper on arrival day to breakfast on departure day
a
total of 14 delicious meals delightfully prepared with fresh
ingredients,
served family style in a convivial atmosphere
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Kegos
Camp and
Hemlock Studio are located on Highway 129, 30 miles (50 km) north of
Thessalon, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 200 km west of
Sudbury,
and 100 km east of
Sault Ste. Marie. A 6 to 7 hour drive from Toronto via
Hwy.400/69/17. A 7-hour drive from Windsor via Michigan and Sault
Ste. Marie.
Closest airport is Sault Ste.Marie and bus service is
available to Thessalon; we will provide transportation from the airport
or bus station.
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