Outdoor Painting Workshop, Contoocook, NH 

Emphasis on "Color and Mixing" using nature as our guide.

June  26, 27, 28, 2026, Friday Saturday and Sunday

DATES: June 26, 27, 28, 2026 – FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY

TIME: 10am – 4:00pm daily

PRICE: $575.00

LOCATION: Grounding Stone Farm: organic blueberry farm and artist retreat. 

289 Maple Street, Contoocook, NH


Painting and sketching outside you will investigate the natural landscape to develop your observational skills. Letting nature help us mix colors from nature will help with keeping your painting honest and fresh. Drawing, color mixing and painting exercises will be given to help students understand the distinctive shapes and colors that exist in the natural world. Thumbnail sketches will help you to understand a simplified sense of space and composition, without an over analysis of detail. Individual attention will be given to each participant, along with a group lecture to help understand historical and contemporary landscape artists that are inspired by nature. Includes painting demonstrations, group discussions and blueberry scones and fruit served each morning with coffee and tea!

EXPERIENCE LEVEL: Some experience, but more importantly you must have a  deep desire to learn to draw and paint outside, beginner, intermediate, and advanced artists welcome. Perfect for those who need an introduction to a more creative life, a jump start, and/or a need to be around other participants who have a love of nature and want to slow down. This workshop will help feed your creative life and come closer to finding your inner self again..

Materials are not provided but a list will be provided. Small table, chairs, portable easels and wagons and treents for working out of the sun and/or rain will be available.

HOUSING: A list of inviting local inns or hotels to stay for the weekend will be provided after signing up. Lunch can be picked up each day within 5 minutes of the farm in downtown Contoocook.

CALL: 413.563.5912 for more information

CANCELLATION POLICY: If a workshop is cancelled due to insufficient enrollment, students will be notified ahead of the start date and will get a full refund. Payment is due upon registration. A full refund, less a cancellation fee of 10% of the cost of the class, will be given to students who withdraw from a class at least 20 days before it begins. No portion of the tuition will be refunded within 20 days of class or workshop start date. Notification of withdrawal must be made in writing to Kathleen Dunn Jacobs.

2027 Workshops

The Outer and Inner Landscape

Plein Air Landscape Sketching and Painting Workshop

In the spirit of the Irish poet John O’Donahue with artist Kathleen Dunn Jacobs

Place: ESSENCE OF MULRANNY ARTS

Mulrrany, County Mayo, Ireland

SEPTEMBER 7 - 14

Skill Level: All levels

Join artists Kathleen Dunn Jacobs for an outdoor landscape painting and drawing workshop at the culturally rich Essence of Mulranny Arts, located at an Old Convent Campus, on the Western Coast of County Mayo Ireland. The landscape surrounding the Essence of Mulranny Arts, will be our muse that offers inspirational coast views and sunsets that have stirred artists for many generations.
About this class:
This weeklong creative painting and drawing retreat will help to immerse yourself in the delight of our natural world and rejuvenate your inner landscape by tapping into your creative process. We will refer to the book of Irish poet John O’Donahue called “The Four Elements” to guide our process.
“Poet and Philosopher John O'Donohue draws upon his Celtic heritage and the love of his native landscape, the West of Ireland, to weave a tapestry of beautifully evoked images of nature ….how the energy and rhythm of the natural world - its innocence and creativity, its power and splendor – hold profound lessons for us all.”
Kathleen will provide individualized instruction, demonstrations, discussions and presentations that will provide the format for an intensive exciting learning experience. There will be quiet, morning walks to scenic paths, balanced with quiet study to feed your vision and heart. Working small, participants will seek to create work with a spirit of place by emphasizing “slow looking” to understand the elements of the natural world, while responding to the grace, order and beauty that is in front of you and from within you. There will be ample opportunity to discuss each other’s work and to discuss international landscape painters throughout history. Nourishing food and stimulating conversation will be balanced with time to work alone to reflect on your purpose within your artistic life and process.
Mulranny is a small seaside village on Clew Bay in Co. Mayo. It is located at the dramatic western edge of Ireland, the end boundary of Europe. Here, land and sea meet at the threshold of a powerful creative adventure. Croagh Patrick, Ireland’s holy mountain, rises majestically from the sea on the opposite side of the bay. It is here that the ancients as well as the modern-day pilgrims have climbed the steep path to the summit. You can see the small chapel’s reflective glint on the top.
This is sheep country and below the village the sheep stand still as the tide comes in over their grazing patch on a salt marsh. They have learned to patiently stand and wait for the waters to recede so they can once again graze the salty grass. The rhythm of life here is dominated by these tides, flowing over the white sand beaches and then leaving in hasty withdrawal to the vast Atlantic Ocean.
Included in your retreat:
  • Workshop instruction
  • Some supplies (will be specified closer to trip)
  • 7 nights lodging
  • Transportation from Westport to the Studio (it is recommended to fly into Dublin airport and get a train to Westport where we will meet you to take you to Mulranny).
  • All meals except - 1 lunches & 1 dinner
  • All tour & excursion fees
  • New friends and an art tribe!
More info email: KathleenJacobs@groundingstonefarm.com