Painting & Drawing

“And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and direct the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands do thou direct.” Psalm 90

Our Oil Painting courses offer students a variety of options from reproducing and studying historic works of the masters to creating masterpieces of their own from still lifes. Be sure to check out all of these offerings as these courses are taught by some of the most talented teachers from around the country including professional artists, college professors, and religious sisters.

The Idealized Portrait

With Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs

May 4 - 9, 2025
Enders Island
Students will learn how to draw idealized portraits by combining elements observed from live models with their imaginations This type of portrait is well suited to sacred and mythological subjects Beginners will use graphite while more experienced students have the option to work in oil.

An Introduction to Drawing with Charcoal

With Mia Lang

May 25 - 30, 2025
Charcoal and graphite portraits very visibly capture the spirit and emotion of figures in pieces. This course’s goal is to explore how to capture the mind and heart of the viewer and lead them to contemplation through charcoal portraits. This workshop will include how to choose a subject matter that pulls in the viewer’s emotion, how to create an accurate sketch of a figure, the facial features and gestures that create evident emotions, and how to bring the portrait to life using different forms and techniques of charcoal and graphite.

Weeklong Sacred Art/ Patrick Webb

With Patrick Webb

June 8 - 13, 2025

Patrick Webb / Instructor More info to come   This week-long workshop's studio time lasts five consecutive days and begins Sunday night at 5:30 pm with a dinner for students and instructors. Dinner is followed by a workshop introduction and conference which ends at 9:00 pm. Hands-on instruction begins early Monday morning. The entire workshop […]

Classical Portrait Drawing

With Robert Armetta

August 3 - 8, 2025

Join us for an immersive workshop dedicated to the art of classical portrait drawing. Designed for artists of all levels, this class will focus on mastering the fundamentals of classical drawing techniques while guiding you through the intricate process of creating lifelike portraits. With years of experience teaching this craft, Robert Armetta, will provide personalized […]

Art of Relief Composition

With George Nista

October 26 - 31, 2025

This workshop will cover techniques for creating low, middle, or high relief of a sacred subject based on a painting of the student’s choice. Techniques for reproducing, transferring, and executing will be demonstrated to enable the student to sculpt a pictorial relief in clay. The work will be done on a wood panel using non-hardening […]