Description
The Lay of the Land: A Three-Day Encaustic Workshop in Renvyle
The Lay of the Land explores texture in both its literal and metaphorical forms—inviting you to discover how encaustic surfaces can hold stories, memories, and the environments that shape us. Over three immersive days, you’ll investigate the topography of wax as a language of ridges, valleys, translucency, and depth, learning how these elements can become powerful tools for personal expression.
Through demonstrations, guided exercises, and reflective discussion, you’ll expand your technical skills while deepening your conceptual approach. Texture is treated not just as an aesthetic choice, but as a way of conveying meaning—an avenue for capturing emotional states, lived experiences, and the subtle impressions of place.
About the Workshop
We’ll begin with mark-making warm-ups that build a vocabulary of surfaces, then move into layering, heat manipulation, and techniques for creating varied marks through intentional gesture and pressure. Drawing inspiration from natural forms, you’ll explore how cliffs, soft hills, shifting shorelines, and forest-to-river transitions can be translated into expressive wax. You’ll also develop personal terrains where valleys become moments of reflection, ridges symbolize growth, and smooth plains invite calm.
This fusion of outer landscape and inner landscape encourages you to see your work as a layered map of memory, symbolism, and imagination. The workshop culminates in completed encaustic pieces that integrate emotional, environmental, and narrative elements. Group critiques and sharing circles create space to reflect on your process and learn from fellow artists.
Open to all levels, this workshop offers beginners a welcoming introduction to encaustic’s tactile possibilities, while giving experienced artists fresh perspectives on texture as a vehicle for storytelling and transformation.
About the Location
Set against the luminous skies and ever-changing vistas of Renvyle, the workshop draws inspiration from Connemara’s extraordinary light. Here, amidst sweeping coastlines and expansive horizons, you’ll discover new ways to see—and paint—the landscape, moving beyond realism to create vibrant, atmospheric, and expressive works rooted in both place and memory.
Workshop Details
Dates:
Friday to sunday, July 17-19 2026, 10:00–16:00
Location: Renvyle, Co. Galway, Ireland
Fee: €350
The fee includes:
- 3 days of total encaustic painting immersion
- All tuition and materials
- Support from R&F Handmade Paints
- A PDF guide with workshop information and supplier lists
Spaces are limited to 10 participants to ensure individual attention.
Payment Plan: A €100 deposit secures your place. Please contact me for full payment plan details.
Accommodation: Not included. Check Airbnb or Booking.com for nearby options. The workshop venue is just 10 minutes from Letterfrack and 20 minutes from Clifden.
Booking: Places are limited and allocated on a first-booked, first-served basis. Secure your spot early to avoid disappointment.
More Information
- FAQs
- Enquiries – email me here
- Once registered, you’ll receive detailed travel instructions, studio directions, and preparation tips.
- Read testimonials from past participants
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