Weeklong Plein Air Watercolor Painting with Timothy James Standring

Class runs Monday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, July 6-10, 2026.

Course Description:

Join Curator Emeritus and acclaimed author of Wyeth: Andrew and Jamie in the Studio (Yale, 2015), Timothy James Standring, for a dynamic five-day watercolor workshop designed to equip you with the essential skills for a lifetime of painting.

Through hands-on studio exercises and outdoor sessions, you’ll explore how watercolor technique is deeply rooted in understanding materials. Experiment with both hot and cold press papers, natural and synthetic brushes, and a range of watercolor pigments and brands. You’ll also learn how to assemble a compact, travel-friendly painting kit portable kit for painting on site while traveling for pleasure or for work, all while painting at some of the most stunning locations in Midcoast Maine.

Class Details:

The class will run Monday through Friday in the Farnsworth’s Gamble Education Studio, as well as (weather permitting) at onsite locations such as Mt. Battie Camden Overlook, Owls Head Lighthouse, Birch Point State Park, and Tenant’s Harbor to create a true Maine Summer plein air painting experience!

Each Timothy Standring course participant will receive a special commemorative Farnsworth gift to celebrate the By Design exhibition and plein air painting in Maine.  Admission to the museum will be included all week for painters, as well as a special Wyeth Study Center visit led by collections staff for the Study Center to view original Andrew Wyeth watercolors. Boxed lunches for picnic painting plein air will be provided by the East Wind Inn on Friday, July 10, with painting on site and then a special Wyeth site excursion and celebratory critique in afternoon to finish this special Maine experience.

To view the preliminary syllabus (subject to change) and supplies needed, click here.

Lodging and all transportation are the responsibility of each course participant. All other meals beyond the boxed lunch are on your own.

Instructor:

Timothy J Standring, curator Painting and Sculpture

Though small in scale, Timothy James Standring’s deft material sensitivity and technique, both traditional and radical, register in the recurring themes he paints. His influences range from a line of artists extending from Edgar Degas and John Singer Sargent to Joaquìn Sorolla and Andrew Wyeth.