Serena Rowe: The Poetry in Colour in Still Life Painting; 9 & 10 May 2026
An inspiring and vibrant still life oil painting weekend with Serena Rowe.
2 days with lunch
10am - 4pm
THE POETRY OF COLOUR IN STILL LIFE PAINTING
A wonderful weekend of oil painting and drawing with artist Serena Rowe.
In this workshop will be exploring how colour can help convey a wide range of emotions and ideas in still life painting.
We will be working from life and looking at a wide range of artists for inspiration from Cezanne to Manet to Morandi to Winifred Nicholson.
During the weekend, Serena will demonstrate how to mix colour on her traditional wooden palette and explore how a limited palette can be the answer to create the most colourful and expressive paintings.
You will leave with an armful of paintings and drawings and a head full of inspiration.
Serena Rowe is an experienced artist and art teacher.
She studied in Florence at an atelier-style Academy, as well as completing a more exploratory Masters in Drawing at The Royal Drawing School.
Her teaching is not only underpinned with sound technical knowledge but also with many tools to help you explore mark making in paint in a more expressive and personal way.
——
DAY 1
During the first morning, we will do drawing exercises to help to warm up the eye, hand and heart!
Serena will then do a colour mixing demo on her traditional wooden palette and she will show you how she approaches her still life paintings in a painting demo.
In the afternoon everyone will then move onto work on a small painting.
DAY 2
On the second day, after our drawing exercises, we will start a larger painting and work on that throughout the day, using everything we have learnt and talked about from the day before.
LIST OF MATERIALS
I source most of my materials from my local art shop or order them online from Jackson’s Art or Cass Art
Paper and charcoal and rubbers will be provided
BRUSHES
= a minimum of 6 hog hair brushes of differing widths and styles, widths can vary from 10cm to 2cm
MEDIUM
= zest-it or another NON-TOXIC thinner.
= Linseed or poppy oil.
= x2 jars with lids to hold your medium.
OIL PAINTS
= Below you will find a list of the colours I use and where I buy them from.
= Please bring these colours with you
and do bring any other colours you like to paint with.
= If you are starting out with oil painting, do buy the cheaper paints (from Winton etc ) rather than spend lots of money on more expensive ones.
= I am happy to share some of my paints with you over the weekend if you don’t manage to get the full range of paints listed below.
The following colours are made by Michael Harding :
ivory black
ultramarine blue
burnt umber
Yellow ochre
And the following colours are made by Winsor and Newton (NOT Winton):
cobalt blue
cerulean blue
Alizarin Crimson
Cadmium Red
cadmium yellow
lemon yellow
titanium white
PALETTE
= Please bring something solid to mix your paints on and NOT the tear off paper palettes if possible.
= I am still using my wooden palette which I bought in Italy 25 years ago! So although expensive, it was money well spent
Lavender Hill Studios sell solid palettes
https://www.lavenderhillcolours.com/product-category/palettes/
= alternatively, a solid palette doesn’t have to cost a lot; you could just use an old piece of plywood, or a piece of acetate.
OTHER
= rags
= roll of kitchen towel
= palette knife ( I like to use a fairly large one)
SURFACES
= please bring a minimum of 4 canvas boards.
You can buy these from most art shops/
Please bring a selection of different sizes : from 20x25cm up to 60x50cm
If you would like to experiment with a size you don’t usually paint with, now is the time to do it!
= please put a ‘tone’ of colour on your boards .nothing too strong or overpowering.
A thin wash of colour (pink , green, soft grey, blue) rubbed in with kitchen towel.
= I paint on plywood boards which i get from Jacksons Art which I then cover with two coats of primer.
(my primer recipe is at the bottom of this list!)
DRESS
= Please bring an old shirt or apron to paint in or wear something that you don’t mind getting paint on. Definitely don't wear any precious clothes - nothing worse than being worried about getting paint on your clothes when painting!
CLEAN UP
After getting of the paint off my paintbrushes with a rag and thinner, I then clean my paintbrushes with very hot water and cheap soap (imperial leather or Pears will do)
PRIMER RECIPE for plywood boards
Fill a bottle with
¾ matt varnish
1/8 thinner
1/8 linseed oil
SHAKE WELL and put two coats onto your board
It will take around 5 days to dry completely
An inspiring and vibrant still life oil painting weekend with Serena Rowe.
2 days with lunch
10am - 4pm
THE POETRY OF COLOUR IN STILL LIFE PAINTING
A wonderful weekend of oil painting and drawing with artist Serena Rowe.
In this workshop will be exploring how colour can help convey a wide range of emotions and ideas in still life painting.
We will be working from life and looking at a wide range of artists for inspiration from Cezanne to Manet to Morandi to Winifred Nicholson.
During the weekend, Serena will demonstrate how to mix colour on her traditional wooden palette and explore how a limited palette can be the answer to create the most colourful and expressive paintings.
You will leave with an armful of paintings and drawings and a head full of inspiration.
Serena Rowe is an experienced artist and art teacher.
She studied in Florence at an atelier-style Academy, as well as completing a more exploratory Masters in Drawing at The Royal Drawing School.
Her teaching is not only underpinned with sound technical knowledge but also with many tools to help you explore mark making in paint in a more expressive and personal way.
——
DAY 1
During the first morning, we will do drawing exercises to help to warm up the eye, hand and heart!
Serena will then do a colour mixing demo on her traditional wooden palette and she will show you how she approaches her still life paintings in a painting demo.
In the afternoon everyone will then move onto work on a small painting.
DAY 2
On the second day, after our drawing exercises, we will start a larger painting and work on that throughout the day, using everything we have learnt and talked about from the day before.
LIST OF MATERIALS
I source most of my materials from my local art shop or order them online from Jackson’s Art or Cass Art
Paper and charcoal and rubbers will be provided
BRUSHES
= a minimum of 6 hog hair brushes of differing widths and styles, widths can vary from 10cm to 2cm
MEDIUM
= zest-it or another NON-TOXIC thinner.
= Linseed or poppy oil.
= x2 jars with lids to hold your medium.
OIL PAINTS
= Below you will find a list of the colours I use and where I buy them from.
= Please bring these colours with you
and do bring any other colours you like to paint with.
= If you are starting out with oil painting, do buy the cheaper paints (from Winton etc ) rather than spend lots of money on more expensive ones.
= I am happy to share some of my paints with you over the weekend if you don’t manage to get the full range of paints listed below.
The following colours are made by Michael Harding :
ivory black
ultramarine blue
burnt umber
Yellow ochre
And the following colours are made by Winsor and Newton (NOT Winton):
cobalt blue
cerulean blue
Alizarin Crimson
Cadmium Red
cadmium yellow
lemon yellow
titanium white
PALETTE
= Please bring something solid to mix your paints on and NOT the tear off paper palettes if possible.
= I am still using my wooden palette which I bought in Italy 25 years ago! So although expensive, it was money well spent
Lavender Hill Studios sell solid palettes
https://www.lavenderhillcolours.com/product-category/palettes/
= alternatively, a solid palette doesn’t have to cost a lot; you could just use an old piece of plywood, or a piece of acetate.
OTHER
= rags
= roll of kitchen towel
= palette knife ( I like to use a fairly large one)
SURFACES
= please bring a minimum of 4 canvas boards.
You can buy these from most art shops/
Please bring a selection of different sizes : from 20x25cm up to 60x50cm
If you would like to experiment with a size you don’t usually paint with, now is the time to do it!
= please put a ‘tone’ of colour on your boards .nothing too strong or overpowering.
A thin wash of colour (pink , green, soft grey, blue) rubbed in with kitchen towel.
= I paint on plywood boards which i get from Jacksons Art which I then cover with two coats of primer.
(my primer recipe is at the bottom of this list!)
DRESS
= Please bring an old shirt or apron to paint in or wear something that you don’t mind getting paint on. Definitely don't wear any precious clothes - nothing worse than being worried about getting paint on your clothes when painting!
CLEAN UP
After getting of the paint off my paintbrushes with a rag and thinner, I then clean my paintbrushes with very hot water and cheap soap (imperial leather or Pears will do)
PRIMER RECIPE for plywood boards
Fill a bottle with
¾ matt varnish
1/8 thinner
1/8 linseed oil
SHAKE WELL and put two coats onto your board
It will take around 5 days to dry completely