2024
June 22 & 23
10am- 4pm @Townsend Atelier
Instructor: Mia Bergeron
Join Mia as we work with painting the richness of the night! This class will be centered around working with darker values, mood, narrative, and layering techniques. Students will pick from multiple images provided by Mia and have the ability to change them as they see fit. Mia will discuss learning to control values with color when working with nocturne images, making sure to infuse darks with plenty of color and freshness. We will also be using a multitude of tools to create different effects. A lecture on the history of nocturne painting will be given the first day of class to inspire students, along with a demonstration by Mia. Basic knowledge of oil paints is recommended.
Click here for materials list
About the Instructor:
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.
