Lisbeth Firmin

Plein Air Painting Workshop @ West Kortright Centre-8/27 & 28, 2022
2022-08-27 10:00 - 2022-08-28 16:00 (America/New_York) | West Kortright Centre, 49 West Kortright Church Rd, East Meredith, NY, 13757, United States
I am going to be teaching this two-day painting workshop again at The Centre, in East Meredith, NY, Aug 28 & 29. Class size is limited to 12 people. If it rains, we will work underneath the front and back porches and the tent. I have been promised that the neighboring goats will not visit this year! It is always sweet for me to be back here teaching, because in 2007 I taught this class for The Centre and subsequently went to work there for seven years. So it’s come full circle. Here’s a link for more info:
Plein Air Painting Workshop at West Kortright

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain in Stamford, NY 5/15-19, 2023
2023-05-15 09:00 - 2023-05-19 17:00 | Headwaters Art Center, 66 Main St., Stamford, NY, 12167, United States
I am teaching the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop again! It will be at the Headwaters Arts Center, 66 Main St., Stamford, NY. The dates are May 15 til May 19, 2023. Class starts at 9am every day, and will end around 4:30pm Mon. thru Thurs. Friday class will start at 9 and end around 1pm. Here’s the link:
https://roxburyartsgroup.org/event/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brain-2023/
For more info, pls contact Headwater’s Director: Liza Oesterle at the Headwaters Arts Center at headwaters@roxburyartsgroup.org – 607.214.6040

May 15 – 19, 2023 (Five Day Workshop)
Have you always wished you could draw?

Lisbeth Firmin will once again be using Dr. Betty Edwards’ techniques from the famous Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain book, combined with her own unique drawing skills, to encourage both professional and beginning students to find their unique ways of seeing. She takes the stress out of “being creative” and guides students towards unleashing their own unique energy through making art.
Through an intensive combination of lectures, demonstrations and studio exercises over five days, you will:

Develop the skills of perception necessary to draw with confidence
Explore the relationship between drawing and the two brain hemispheres, based on pioneering research by Dr. Betty Edwards
Work through a carefully sequenced process in which you will learn the basic strategies of ‘seeing’ which will enable you to draw with skill, and produce high-quality drawings
Unlock your creative side and begin to see in a whole new way

Lisbeth Firmin is a full-time painter and printmaker known for her urban landscapes. She teaches painting and printmaking at various art institutes, universities, schools, and artist residencies around the United States. She is the recipient of many awards, grants, and fellowships, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Printmaking (Lily Auchincloss Fellow), and full fellowships to the MacDowell Colony, National Seashore Cape Cod Dune Shack Residency, Vermont Studio Center, and Saltonstall Arts Colony.
Firmin is an accredited teacher of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, was trained by Dr. Betty Edwards and has been teaching this for more than 25 years.
Please bring the following materials to class:

Two sketchbooks for drawing, one big: around 11″x14″ and one small: around 9″x12″
Drawing Pencils: 2B, 4B, 6B
Graphite stick 4B (Firmin will have extra ones of this)
Optional: A support of some sort for the drawing tablets: a drawing board, foam core, anything that will give the sketchbook a support.
A kneaded eraser

Please feel free to email Lisbeth with any questions you may have, like the contents of the workshop or the supply list: lisbethfirmingmail.com

Estimate price including the workbook: $240.00
(this does not include the art supplies listed above)

Working in Gouache Workshop, RAG, Stamford, NY 3/9-10, 2024
2024-03-09 09:30 - 2024-03-10 16:00 | Headwaters Art Center, 66 Main St., Stamford, NY, 12167, United States
“Woman with Child, “, 22″ x 26”, gouache, 2023
March 9 + 10
9:30am-4pm
Price: $75 per day, $125 for both
Class size is limited to 12

Painting Workshop working in Gouache
with Lisbeth Firmin @ The Headwaters Gallery, 66 Main St., Stamford, NY

Register online on the Roxbury Arts Center website.
You may also contact the Roxbury Arts Center by calling 607-326-7908 or the Headwaters Arts Center at 607-214-6040 or by email: jenny@roxburyartsgroup.org
In this weekend workshop, students will be working with one of painter Lisbeth Firmin’s favorite mediums, gouache. “Gouache or opaque watercolor, is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin). Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache has a considerable history, having been used for at least twelve centuries.
Gouache is similar to watercolor in that it can be re-wetted and dries to a matte finish, and the paint can become infused into its paper support. It is similar to acrylic or oil paints in that it is normally used in an opaque painting style and it can form a superficial layer. Many manufacturers of watercolor paints also produce gouache, and the two can easily be used together.” — Wikipedia
Students will be working from still lives on day one. For the second day, students will be working from source materials that they bring from home, photos, drawings, famous paintings, anything they want to turn into a painting. Hopefully on day two in the afternoon, we will have a live model (with clothes!) to work from.
Firmin will demonstrate at the beginning of each class, and there will be a critique at the end of each session. And as some of you already know, there will be NO drawing allowed. We will be working with big brushes right out of the gate. Please bring a lunch or prepare to go out for lunch. We are right on Main St. in Stamford. There will be a 45 minute lunch break each day.
Materials List:
Students will need to bring a good-sized watercolor pad (at least 9” x 12”) to work on along with big jars (big plastic yogurt containers are great) for water. Also they will need to bring some water based brushes, from big (!) to small, synthetic and inexpensive is fine. Bring some rags too. Firmin will be ordering decent sets of gouaches https://www.dickblick.com/items/savoir-faire-opaque-watercolor-gouache-set-of-10-colors-10-ml-tubes/. These sets cost around $15 and will be available for students to buy, or they can bring their own.

Painting the Streets, Stamford!, 5/18-19, 2024
2024-05-18 10:00 - 2024-05-19 16:00 | Headwaters Art Center, 66 Main St., Stamford, NY, 12167, United States
“The Diner,”26” x 22′ gouache, 2022
PAINTING the STREETS – STAMFORD
with Lisbeth Firmin
2-Day Weekend Workshop: 10AM – 4PM
MAY 18 + 19, 2024
Click here to register for the class through the Roxbury Arts Center.

CLASS DESCRIPTION:
Urban landscape painter Lisbeth Firmin will be taking her students into the streets of Stamford, instructing them in working quickly with big brushes and bold color to capture the light and shadow of Main Street action. This workshop is structured for both beginners and advanced painters who want to expand their painting skills. Firmin will be giving a demonstration at the beginning of each class, and there will be a critique at the end of each session. Students will meet at the Headwaters Building, 66 Main St at the beginning of the first day,
Class fee for both days is $125. Single day fee is $70. Class is limited to 10 students. Students must be 14 years or older
She will be exhibiting new paintings @ 1053 Gallery, Fleischmanns, NY a two-person show in the fall of 2024
MATERIAL LIST:
Oil/Acrylic Paints (pls note that any water-based medium is also fine, ie gouache/watercolor) Lisbeth will be demonstrating in acrylics.
Roxbury will have easels we can use. Bring several Masonite or wood panels, canvas boards or stretched canvases–gessoed–(bring several supports of choice, students will be producing multiple studies & paintings each day), oil or acrylic paints, palette knife and portable palette, medium, turpentine, brushes (be sure to bring BIG brushes) & rags. For water-based medium, watercolor blocks are good, water & cans, brushes, (again bring big ones). Wear old clothes and bring a hat w/a brim. There will be a one hour lunch break each day.
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Painting the Streets, P-town & Truro/June 24-Jun 28, 2024
2024-06-24 09:00 - 2024-06-28 12:00 | Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, 10 Meetinghouse Road, Truro, MA, 02666, United States
“Washington Square, Late Afternoon,” 16″ x 20″ oil on wood panel, 2023

I am once again leading this painting workshop where we set up in five different locations in Provincetown & Truro, in the middle of the summer (!!). It’s colorful, crazy, lots of hard work and FUN! Students will be finishing w/at least five paintings, all done right on the streets of P-town and Truro. I will be demonstrating every day at the beginning of class. Class runs from 9am to noon, with a critique of the day’s work after that. Stay tuned for the link here or call Laura Chause, @ Castle Hill – 508-349-7511.
Here’s the class description:
Students will be setting up outdoors to paint urban landscapes in the streets around Provincetown and Truro. Firmin will be instructing them in her technique of working quickly using big brushes and bold color. NO drawing! Starting on Monday at a site to be announced, students will meet and Firmin will do a demonstration, after which students will set up and work on their own painting. Each succeeding day will be at a different urban location, and there will always be a demonstration to start. At the end of each class students will gather and critique the day’s work. This workshop is structured for both beginners and advanced painters who want to expand their painting skills. Students do NOT need a lot of experience to benefit greatly from this class.
And here are the sites:
Day 1: Castle Hill Campus @ 10 Meetinghouse Rd
Day 2: Downtown Truro (Just down the road from Jam’s)
Day 3: Old North Truro Cemetery
Day 4: Days Cottages, Rte 6A
Day 5: Johnson St. Parking Lot, Provincetown
And here is the materials list:
MATERIALS LIST:
Oils, acrylics, watercolor, gouache. (pls note that any medium is fine, as long as you are working with some kind of paint, using color and brushes)
A portable easel or a drawing board w/portable chair, several Masonite (untempered if possible, very hard to find these days) or wood panels, canvas boards or stretched canvases–gessoed–(bring several supports of choice, students might be producing multiple studies & paintings each day), oil or acrylic paints, palette knife and portable palette, medium, turpentine (for oil), brushes (be sure to bring BIG brushes) & rags. For water-based medium, watercolor blocks are good, water & cans, brushes, (again bring big ones). Wear old clothes and bring a hat w/a brim.

Painting Class in Umbria, Italy, 9/2-9, 2024
2024-09-02 - 2024-09-10
photo credit Robert Brune
Yes, I am going to teach a week-long urban landscape plein air painting class in this small medieval walled city in Umbria, Vallo di Nera! The dates are 9/2/24 to 9/9/24. Flying in on the redeye 9/1. Our host is Jessica Vecchione, who is a well known professional videographer in our region. She has family ties to this village, and bought a house there a year or so ago. She asked me if I wanted to teach a painting class there, and I said YES! I havePDFs of the daily intineraries. Please email me and I will send them. lisbethfirmin@gmail.com

There is room for up to 12 students, she can sleep 9 and there an Air BnB and a hotel. Take a look at this urban landscape we will be painting every day! Here are links to the village:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNSa_gOMB_jx_O4d56nQs6pCc91SYPkAu4-q0Nj4fYWFMahr7mgbF68Tq00m1E_JA?key=[REDACTED]
https://www.e-borghi.com/en/village/Perugia/62/vallo-di-nera

As to artist supplies. We will have easels and acrylic paint sets to work with along with some painting supports like canvas paper, and paper palettes. You can’t bring a big bag to check, carry on and personal bag only. So plan on bringing some big brushes in your carry on. We will be going to Spoleto on day 2 to an art store so we can get anything else we need there.
This is an all inclusive trip, please look at the attached itineraries. if you are staying with Jessica it will be $3000 for the week. The painting class will be an additional $500 plus $50 to help offset art supplies. And if you stay in the AirBnB or the hotel, that is a bit more. Airfare is not included.
Here is a link to Jessica’s website, with the painting class: https://www.umbriacasa.com/retreat-packages
So please get in touch with me and/or Jessica to reserve your spot soon, we can only accommodate 15 students!
lisbethfirmin@gmail.com – jjvecc@gmail.com

Happy New Year to all…
Lisbeth Firmin

Seeing the Landscape: In Black & White and Color @ WKC 9/14 & 15 - 2024
2024-09-14 10:00 - 2024-09-15 17:00 | West Kortright Centre, 49 West Kortright Church Rd, East Meredith, NY, 13757, United States
8″ x 8″ each panel, oil on watercolor paper, Firmin demonstration for WKC Plein Air class, 2019

15″ x 5″, conte crayon on paper, Firmin demonstration for WKC Plein Air Class, 2019
In 2019 Richard Kathmann and myself put together a wonderful weekend workshop. We both approach our subject matter in such different ways, that we thought we would split up teaching the workshop. Richard will be teaching in the morning sessions and I will be teaching in the afternoon sessions. I will be taking Richard’s class and he will take mine! We got such interesting work out of everybody doing it this way, that we want to do it again. The Workshop is on their website: Seeing the Landscape in Black & White and Color For more info please call Siri Bertelsen at the West Kortright Center @ 607-278-5454, or contact me.
Here are more details:
WEEKEND WORKSHOP – Plein Air
taught by Richard Kathmann and Lisbeth Firmin
Bring a lunch! WKC is in the Middle of Nowhere. We convene at The Center a little before 10am on Saturday, Sept 14 & Sun. Sept.15. Hopefully the weather will cooperate, but if it’s pouring we will work under the outbuilding and under the porch. Richard will be teaching the morning session on both days, from 10 to noon, with a critique at noon. Then break for lunch. Lisbeth will be teaching the afternoon session both days. We will break for the day around 3:30pm and do a critique of all the work. (Lisbeth and Richard will be taking each other’s classes)
Richard will be working in black and white, charcoal & acrylics. Lisbeth will be working w/color, students may bring acrylics, oils, watercolors, or gouache. Be sure and bring big brushes for the afternoon sessions.
We will be working on several fabulous vistas each day, from the grounds of The Centre. We will be doing some triptychs in both sessions, 3 drawings/paintings that will make a panorama per sessions using a square format. Both teachers will be demonstrating before each session. Each have a unique approach to depicting landscape.
Materials List:
For Kathmann:
Please bring charcoal, sticks and/or pencils. Golden is supplying B&W acrylic for the morning sessions. Bring one or two acrylic egg cartons to mix a gray scale; and several medium size containers for cleaning brushes, etc. Bring BIG brushes. You will need paper marked to 12″ x 12″ for the charcoal, and heavier paper for the acrylic work. There will be 6 black and white paintings/drawings done over the 2 days.
For Firmin: (she will be working in acrylic)

Oil and/or acrylic, gouache, or watercolor paint
Portable easel or a drawing board with portable chair
6 12″ x 12″ masonite or wood panels, canvas boards or stretched canvases—gessoed or heavy watercolor paper.
Palette knife (for oil and/or acrylic paints)
Palette
Solvent and/or medium (for oil and/or acrylic)
Brushes (be sure to bring BIG brushes)
Rags
Cans or plastic containers

Wear old clothes and bring a hat with a brim.
Feel free to contact either one of us if you have any further questions, etc. via our emails:
richardkathmann@yahoo.com
lisbethfirmin@gmail.com
westkc.org
