Workshops and Retreats
Subscribe to My Newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest news and updates from my studio straight to your inbox! SubscribeWhen would you like to attend a workshop/retreat?
2018 Workshops & Retreats
We are no longer offering workshops for 2018.
Announcements regarding workshops for 2019 will be forthcoming.
Thank you for your interest.
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter for the latest news from Gillian Lee Smith Art School.
Subscribe to My Newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest news and updates from my studio straight to your inbox! Subscribe2019 Workshops & Retreats
Workshops for 2019 will be announced shortly.
Thank you for your interest.
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter for the latest news from Gillian Lee Smith Art School.
Recent Workshops & Retreats
Intuitive Explorations
London/Northumberland, Great Britain
with Gillian Lee Smith and Judy Wise
May 22 – 31, 2018
Thank you to all who joined us!
Echoes of Land and Sea
Manzanita, Oregon
Sunday, April 15, 2018 – Saturday, April 21, 2018
Thank you to all who joined us!
Unearthing the Portrait
Seattle, Washington
Saturday, April 7, 2018 – Friday, April 13, 2018
Thank you to all participants!
Highly Expressive Portraits in Acrylics and Mixed Media
Random Arts, Saluda, North Carolina
October 9-13, 2017
Thank you to all who joined us!
Highly Expressive Portraits in Oils
Random Arts, Saluda, North Carolina
October 2-6, 2017
Thank you to all who joined us!
Emotional Portraits
Amsterdam
(May 20-28, 2017)
Thank you to all who joined us!
A Moment in Time
Seattle, Washington
(April 7-12, 2017)
Thank you to all who joined us!
A Moment in Time
Portland, Oregon
(April 17-23, 2017)
Thank you to all who joined us!
What Students are Saying
“I just want to thank you for all the time and hard work you put into this course. You are a very gifted teacher and I am grateful that you are so willing and open to sharing your techniques and insights with your students. Because of you, I am not only becoming a better artist, I am becoming a HAPPIER, more expressive artist and that is more important than anything. Thank you!”
Louise Duhamel
“I can’t say enough about this course. I think it was the most fulfilling course I’ve ever taken.“
Alyse Sanders
“I feel this course is helping me to achieve full circle in my quest to find my true style. I am still working my way through all the insightful lessons and find myself re-visiting the videos, because every time I do I find something I did not grasp before. It has most definitely met my expectations and so much more…It does not spoon feed but rather encourages one to experiment and explore.“
Tania Bain
“As a beginner, I’ve wondered how do you mix paints?…use pastels?…what papers? surfaces? pencils or charcoal? And how DOES one use the colour wheel? So many materials, methods, and all so confusing. Can’t someone please explain it all? Well, Gillian has. It’s all here, beautifully demonstrated in excellent video. Gillian is the most talented, generous, inspiring teacher. I’ve gone back over the lessons again and again, each time deriving more benefit and seeing improvement in my work. I’m so grateful for this extraordinary course.”
Arlene Lombardo
“Thank you so much for such an amazing course! When I try to describe it to friends I say that it is like an entire bachelor of fine arts curriculum in 6 weeks! That is what it seems like because it is so packed with information and exercises. I will be working on these lessons for many months to come. Thank you for your insights, generosity and gorgeous work.”
Anne O’Connor
“I want to share my extremely wonderful experience of taking Gillian’s class Unearth Gather Create. As a returning painter with years of no active drawing or painting, this thorough, intense complete class of wonderful tutorials, content, tips and writing exercises revived my passion for art. I have done many drawings, paintings and sketches. I have redone a porch to use as a studio and I am working in my journals to ready myself for two new series of paintings. Please take this class and trust you will have a wonderful journey.”
Joan Tucker
“I have LOVED the class and will enjoy continuing my study as I slowly work my way through. You are not only a gifted artist, but a generous and kind person. I thank you for your giving spirit which shone through each and every video. I hope to someday take a class from you in person!”
Beth Cole
“I have been taking classes for the last year or so pretty regularly. Gillian’s class is totally different. I feel like I am in art school! The first week was more info then a lot of month long classes. Gillian comments on every piece shown on the page and is there daily encouraging and prompting us. I would recommend it to everyone.”
Sandy Belt
“I have adored Gillian Cox’s work for several years now. When I found out she was teaching an online workshop, there was no hesitation. I signed up. Now I have taken many classes and not always, but sometimes my expectations are much higher than what the class actually is. Not so with Gillian. I just wanted to watch her work because her work is so deep and thought provoking and unbelievably beautiful. She is an excellent teacher. She is talking as she is creating and able to really explain what she is doing in such exquisite detail.”
Kate Thompson
“She teaches the foundation of drawing the portrait which is so important to all levels, for beginners to learn and for more experienced artist to revisit. She then demonstrates expressively her creations which gives the students the ability to take from foundational work into a more expressive and personal direction. Absolutely the best class I have ever taken.”
Kate Thompson
“Gillian is an amazing artist and an equally amazing teacher. What a comprehensive, professional, creative, responsive, beautiful presentation with superb videos and art instruction, gorgeous images and written materials to enhance learning, and creative inspiration to enable students to unearth their own inner vision for their art. Every day I come to the online classroom with so much renewed passion for art. And proof that the best teachers are also always learning themselves, Gillian frequently asks if we have any feedback for her as an instructor. The environment she has created is supportive and welcoming of everyone at every stage in their own creative exploration. This is so much more than an online art course. It is art school with a group of friends that includes the brilliant, generous instructor.”
Joanne Rose
“Unearth Gather Create has been a revelation, delivering so much more than I’d hoped for (and my hopes were high to begin with)! Rich in content, it will provide food for thought and creativity for months (and probably years) to come. Gillian is a natural tutor – patient, generous, and always encouraging, her passion for art is infectious. I quickly forgot this was an e-course, as it feels like she’s explaining everything to me in the same room! Can’t recommend it highly enough.”
Magdalena Moon
“So delighted I signed up for your course, Unearth Gather Create. I really did not know what to expect and have been so impressed with your approach as a tutor, the course content and your ability to connect with your ‘students’. Watching you model a technique, listening to the clarity of your explanations and receiving your constructive feedback is allowing me to develop important understanding and knowledge while inviting me to find my own voice. I am excited by the way in which you are allowing me to think, to see and to connect with Art. I would recommend your course without reservation and wish you every success in the future.”
Dalene Robertson
“I would recommend your course without reservation and wish you every success in the future.”
Dalene Robertson
“I was in art school as of last year and everything I learn from you is just as valuable if not more than art school. What you are teaching and how you teach is one of the greatest gifts to give someone who has never been to art school and/or can’t afford it. It’s my dream to create an online school teaching art to kids and adults because of those reasons I mentioned. So I admire you and you have been an inspiration.“
Jennifer Perry
“Wonderful content, superb teacher, fine art instruction without any the worry of my skill level, but thorough & comprehensive…Artfully & Thoughtfully Done!“
Lynne O’Neal
“Watching you paint and draw is immensely useful. I learn so much. And I love the way you write about artistic expression.“
Sharyle Doherty
“I love everything about her style – her teaching – just everything!!!!!“
Suzanne O’Mullan
“I was highly impressed by the amount of content in the course, it was like a college semester worth of information!”
Amber Walker
“Drawn to Expression is great and strong in all strands! Structure, presentation, practical videos, inspirational quotes, incredible content and words from an Artist/Tutor who is passionate to share her knowledge and expertise with her students. For me, each strand enriches my own journey.”
Debbie Gould
“Your videos demonstrate a technique and how you use it, how to express with the mediums/technique. Then the assignments dovetail in such a way that everyone experiments and produces something different…different expressions. This is not a paint by numbers course.”
Mardi Driftmier
“Gillian, the class I took from you, Drawn to Expression, was absolutely incredible. My art has grown, deepened, and loosened in such positive ways, by what I have learned from you. A totally exceptional class!”
Suzy Norris
Latest from the Blog
Studio Notes – The Things I am Learning
It is a wee while since I have written my studio notes here on the blog but I have still been writing regularly in my ‘end of the studio day’ journal. These pages are becoming an increasingly valuable part of my studio day and I have been thinking about...
read more
Emotional Portraits in Amsterdam – Part 2
Continuing on from my last blog post about my Amsterdam trip with Kathie of Bellissima Art Escapes - here is Part Two, where we explored more of Amsterdams museums and galleries and delved into working with paint and colour. You can read Part One of this...
read more
Emotional Portraits in Amsterdam – Part 1
I recently returned from my third teaching trip this year with Kathie of Bellissima Art Escapes. This time Kathie flew over the pond and we met in Amsterdam for ten days of sightseeing, complete immersion in art, culture and creating in the most incredible art studio...
read more
