PSME offers educational workshops taught by nationally and internationally recognized pastel artists. These workshops provide artists with the opportunity to enhance their skill level in the medium of pastel.  For more information, see below or contact the PSME Workshop Coordinator through: CONTACT PSME

Pastel Society of Maine Workshops

PSME’s yearly workshops are popular and a great way to make connections with artist friends and refresh or expand your pastel painting skills. Workshops are open to members and non-members, so please check back for a complete description of our upcoming workshop offerings.

Location: Wells Reserve at Laudholm, 342 Laudholm Farm Rd, Wells ME

A New Kind of Seeing: journey through and beyond realism

What is seeing? Is it simply visual?

We say that the job of the artist is to see openly - huge and forever morphing. How can that happen?

Think about it, how often do we impose our will on a painting? Do you find yourself wrangling it into shape - simply because “the photo says so” or because that is “what we see?” In this workshop we will work to erase the to do list and formulas. Painting is not a linear endeavor. Instead, we will work to refresh your curious eye -- that which bathes in questions instead of answers. Rather than take a position in front of nature and contemplate to reproduce it, let’s be inside it.

This is a workshop full of new ideas for you. It is a mix between outdoor awareness and studio inquiry. We will paint by the fields and waters of gorgeous Maine. An in-depth course, it will be a journey into understanding what you are doing and why. It will require a deep dive. Keep in mind that first, one needs the necessary skills to understand space, value, color and design.  Only then can we start to explore the whys.