In September, Kerrie Lester was at Daku for her second workshop. One of her students, Christine Leaming, writes about the week and what she learnt.

It was a week was filled with painting, new experiences, laughter and relaxation. Each day began with a relaxing stroll along the waterfront, followed by breakfast around the pool. We then went up to the yoga shala, a lovely open sided platform above the resort, to paint the view and to complete the other paintings which we had begun in the market place or on the jetty.

Everywhere we were followed by the bubbly children and the curious townsfolk and I surprised myself at my ability to sit and paint with an audience!

And then each day ended sipping a wine as the sun set and sharing a meal at the poolside table with other guests. Our free time was filled with swimming, shopping, visiting the pearl farm and sightseeing.

Christine painting in the yoga shala, with Kerrie in the background.

Kerrie is passionate about painting and passionate about Fiji. She is an enthusiastic teacher constantly encouraging and pushing each of her students to observe and interpret what they see. She showed us how to achieve this through the use of surface preparation, using mediums with the paint and how to make the desired mark using brush or spatula.

As a result my painting is vastly improved and I am now confident to plan a good composition, tackle figures in the landscape, and to use colour and texture more freely.

So if you wish to be taught how to really use your paints and mediums, and unleash your artistic talents in an authentic Fijian environment, then join Kerrie in 2012 at Daku Resort … I know I shall!

Kerrie Lester’s 2012 art retreat runs from 8 – 15 September 2012. See the Paradise Courses page for more details.

Paradise Courses 2009

We’re more than half way through the schedule for this year – but there are some wonderful courses still to come.

Art:

Kerrie Lester teaches Figures in the Landscape from September 12 – 19; as a 16 times Archibald finalist, her exuberant paintings are very well known.

The following week – September 19 – 26 – Leonie Norton teaches Botanical Art and Holiday Sketching – always a popular week.

Singing and Music:

Rachel Hore leads her sixth week from September 26 – October 4 – a choral workshop drawing on her world music songs.

Mike Smith of Radio 2MBS leads a week of Classical Music Appreciation from October 11 – 18.

Tony Backhouse is coming back for a week of Gospel Singing from November 22 – 29.

You can find full details of all the courses at www.paradisecourses.com. If you have any specific questions or are not clear about anything, please get in touch, either by email to paradisecourses@iinet.net.au or by calling us on +61 (02) 9969-4753. We look forward to welcoming you to Daku Resort.

Yoga

This has been a new and very successful introduction this year, and we still have 4 weeks on offer – have a look at www.yogainfiji.com for more details.

Aug 23 – 30   –   Pam Badman:  Yoga with awareness – Hatha and Kundalini

Nov 6 – 13   -   Amanda Ahern:  Yoga and creativity: Svaroopa Yoga

Nov 14 – 21 –   Tara Er:  Iyengar Yoga

Dec 7 – 13   –   Mark Whitwell:  Heart of Yoga

Last Saturday morning I went to talk to Kerrie Lester about the course she’ll be running at Daku in September. We are very excited that one of Australia’s top contemporary artists is coming to Daku – it really is quite a coup for us.

Kerrie Lester in her studio

What an amazing place she has, full of her artworks and the marvellous bits and pieces she’s collected over the years. She describes herself as a ‘bower bird’, picking things up from all over the place. The objects then appear in her paintings, forming the landscape in which her figures appear.

Mantelpiece inside Kerrie's studio

Landscape to Kerrie doesn’t necessarily mean a realistic depiction of trees or streets. Rather, it’s a series of suggestions about that particular figure’s setting. A seesaw and a jumping dog make the landscape in “Playground”; a beach and a few boats are the landscape for “In a hurry.” So how will this work when she comes to Fiji? She explained it like this:

“Oh, we’ll go out and see what there is. It’s all about getting an impression –I don’t paint from what I see, I re-arrange it.”

So, I wonder, will everyone need a lot of green paint for all the tropical backgrounds?

“No, not necessarily. They might paint the air, and that might be red. Painting landscape is about reacting to the surroundings, and everyone has a different approach. You can’t set up one standard. And green is a very difficult colour to use – a lot of painters say that. I went to PLC and we wore green blazers so maybe that has something to do with it too!”

"In a Hurry"

I’m catching the excitement and the laughter she brings to her painting as we talk. She relishes humour; she loves the larrikin side of Australia and seeks out the funny aspects of everyday situations. Her figures reflect this – whimsical little people going about their daily lives bathed in a light-hearted spirit. She makes it look simple, but she’s been painting for 36 years. “It takes 20 years to be a painter – it’s a learning experience, you don’t go to an art course and come out a painter. I’m still learning now.” So what can she teach them in a week? “I can give them the joy of discovering they can do it. I can show them how to see things, and to believe that their mark on the canvas means something.”

It’s shaping up to be a fabulous week.