THE 2023 COLLOQUIUM IS FULLY BOOKED. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR 2024 DATES AND LOCATION.

Announcing the Fryer-Hunter Gathering. A juried workshop, taking a deep dive into the artistic process for three full days of painting and four evenings of discussion.

This is an opportunity for serious vocational and professional painters to explore their creativity in a supportive, collegially intensive workshop. Artists work individually, in the field or in provided studio space, then gather at day’s end for critique and fellowship. No instruction, per se, will be given. Instead, participating artists are expected to be comfortable with self-direction and the painting techniques of their choosing.

Leading the colloquium will be painters Douglas Fryer and Charlie Hunter, assisted by Dalan Wells. The Gathering has its roots in a pre-pandemic get-together in December, 2019, when Doug Fryer, Terry Miura, Patrick Lee and John Lassiter IV gathered at Hunter’s studio in Bellows Falls, Vermont for several exhilarating days of fellowship and painting. From those roots, Hunter and Fryer began discussing how exciting a juried colloquium might be; how to create a gathering where serious artists might paint intensively, where the exchange of ideas and concepts would be paramount, where the why, as opposed to just the how and what of art would have a place at the table.

This will be a serious (but fun) workshop for serious (but fun) painters. Each day there will be hours of painting time, followed by daily group critique of work, evening meals together, and winding up the day with discussion on larger philosophic and artistic topics.

On Monday, May 22, participants will arrive in Vermont and settle into their accommodations (we are happy to provide a list of recommended lodging options). In the late afternoon we will gather for a brief keynote touching on the larger issues of the week - why are we here?, what are we going to try to accomplish? - a chance to home in on our mission - a time to focus on improvement on the conceptual, philosophical level, and to realize that he work we are doing this week can be consequential to our artistic practice. There will be an informal welcome dinner, during which Charlie Hunter will give an insider’s look at various favorite painting spots in the area, followed by a slideshow and presentation by Doug Fryer.

Tuesday, May 23 will be a full day of painting. Each participant will come and go as they choose, with a late-day rendezvous and critique session, led by Hunter and Fryer. An informal dinner will be served, followed by a slideshow and presentation by Charlie Hunter.

Wednesday and Thursday follow in similar pattern - a full day painting, followed by dinner and discussion.

On Friday, participants will head home, hopefully with expanded boundaries, new concepts and wider horizons - not to mention a wet-panel carrier or two of paintings!

APPLICATION AND COST:

The colloquium tuition is $1200.00 per person. There is a $100 deposit required at time of application (deposit will go toward fee upon acceptance; deposit will be refunded in full if application is not accepted). 

To apply, please click here. You will be taken to a secure link where your $100 application fee will be processed. After receipt of application fee, you will shortly after receive a confirmation email with instructions for materials submission. If application packet is not received within 60 days of receipt of instruction email, application will be deemed abandoned and deposit will be forfeited.

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Douglas Fryer is an atmospheric painter, widely respected for his richly textured, subtly abstracted landscapes, still-lifes and figures. Fryer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago and in California. He received a BFA (1988) and MFA (1995) from Brigham Young University, principally studying with Bruce Hixon Smith. Interested in work that explores the interplay between the physical and metaphysical, Fryer has been influenced by artists such as Soren Emil Carlsen, John Twachtman, George Inness, Edgar Degas, Fred Cuming, V. Douglas Snow and Alex Kanevsky, among many others. Fryer has taught at BYU, University of Hartford, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Snow College. His work is held in numerous private and public collections.

Charlie Hunter is a Vermont painter of the post-pastoral American landscape. His distinctive, low-chroma work is heavily reliant on a mastery of values, edges and composition, focusing on “what natures does to what man creates.” After graduating from Yale University with a BA in Art, Hunter became a designer of tour posters for musicians such as the Jerry Garcia Band, Bob Dylan, The Clash, and REM. In the 2000’s Hunter was inducted into the Putney Painters, and was fortunate enough to paint for over a decade with Richard Schmid and the other stellar contemporary realists associated with the group. Hunter’s sketches are featured in Schmid’s ALLA PRIMA II, and his work is widely collected. In 2022 Hunter won both the blue ribbon at Door County Plein Air and the Timothy Dills Grand Prize Award at Easton (MD) Plein Air.

Dalan Wells is an internationally collected and award winning artist originally from upstate New York, now living and working in Wilmington, Vermont. Writes Wells, "Being a true 'daily painter' means subjects can - and will - include anything that will sit still long enough to be painted. Depending on the day, this may include studio portraits and still lives or plein air landscapes and seascapes.” Classically trained in New York, London, and Hawaii, Wells' work ranges from impressionistic palette knife work to detailed contemporary realism. "Getting the golden ticket of becoming a Putney Painter has truly changed my life," says Wells. "I have learned so much from the teachings of Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik. In addition I am always grateful for the endless generosity of knowledge and inspiration from my fellow Putney Painters."