2024
A four-part virtual lecture and demo series with Mia Bergeron & Chris Groves
Sundays, February 11, 18, 25, March 3
2-4 pm EST | live via ZOOM
Open to everyone! Art lovers, artists, art collectors, and the curious
“How do you come up with your ideas for your paintings”? This is a question that arises for many artists as they want to move beyond focusing solely on technique or copying from a photograph. Mia Bergeron and Christopher Groves are two artists who are continually exploring how to build ideas for content and narrative into their own work. Chris and Mia will share how they develop, cull, prioritize and refine their ideas prior to ever putting brush to canvas. Each will give two lectures focused on explaining how they process and think about painting ideas. The first two Zoom lectures will cover various brainstorming methods in order to create the idea, intention, or theme of the painting. The remaining two Zoom lectures will cover the gathering of information, research, and initial development of the painting process with respect to the selected idea. Images, Photoshop, and demonstrations with explanations will all be covered.
Some examples of ideas that will be discussed:
Synesthesia
Writing for visual brainstorming
Visual attention in daily life
Power of sketch
Abstractions around us
Nostalgia and Memory as muses
Compiling, studying, and sifting through subjects
Studying other art forms for inspiration
If you are not able to attend the session live, each lecture will be recorded and emailed to registrants 24 hours after each session.
Pre-registration is required. A link to the ZOOM session will be emailed to registrants 1 day prior to the event.
Please note that if you have signed up for Mia and Chris’s three-part workshop, you are automatically enrolled in this lecture series.
About the artists:
Mia Bergeron
is a classically trained oil painter that uses modern techniques and concepts to create layered imaginative works. Imagery in her work often oscillates between the fictitious and the observed in equal parts.
Rooted in her upbringing in New York City with continuous exposure to modern art, her paintings also reveal her choice to study classical painting in Florence, Italy under Charles H. Cecil in her twenties. Heavily influenced by historical artists such as Diego Velázquez, Titian, Anthony van Dyck, and John Singer Sargent, her paintings are also shaped by contemporary artists such as Alex Kanevsky, Ann Gale, and Adrian Ghenie.
For Mia, the process of making paintings is similar to meditation. Each painting is the listening and contemplating of the surrounding world. The minutes at the easel are similar to focusing on the breath- there are times when the scrutiny is welcomed and quiet, and other times when the mind is loud and unintelligible. It is this dynamic contrast that is at the center of Mia’s paintings. This dualistic nature of life is what pushes and inspires her work.
Mia has been published numerous times in international magazines. Her painting “Tranquil Ghosts” was the cover image for the January 2022 Issue of American Art Collector Magazine. She continues to teach workshops at Townsend Atelier, Chattanooga. She and her husband, artist John McLeod, live in Red Bank.
Christopher E . Groves:
OPA, ASMA studied at the Florence Academy of Art, Italy, and the CAA Atelier Colorado– Classical Academy where he was the lead Landscape Instructor from 2004-2008. He also has a BFA in Environmental Design/Architecture from Colorado University. He is a member of Oil Painters of America – Signature Membership, American Impressionist Society, American Society of Marine Artists – Signature Membership, and Plein Air Painters of the Southeast. He has received numerous awards for his work including: the OPA National Juried Exhibition 2016, Southwest Gallery, Dallas, TX; Virtuosos of the OPA Exhibition 2015, Salmagundi Club, NYC, NY; OPA National Juried Exhibition 2014, Bennington Fine Art, Bennington, VT. His work can be found at Anderson Fine Art – St Simons, GA; Horton Hayes Fine Arts – Charleston, SC; Lagerquist Gallery – Atlanta, GA; Shain Gallery – Charlotte, NC; CAG – Greenville, NC; Mary Williams Fine Art – Boulder, CO; and Mackinac Fine Art – Mackinac Island, MI.
