THE PAINTING SCHOOL OF MONTMIRAL

The course is person centred and open ended. Small groups of students will be encouraged to develop and follow their own interests, using the medium of their choice. There is no restriction on the kind of painting to be done: landscape, townscape, figure, still life or abstract work will all be equally welcome. The method of teaching will be mainly informal. The course director will first discuss work with the students individually to discover something about their interests, responses and aims. Then he will work with them, as intensively as necessary, to find ways of promoting, reflecting and realising these in their paintings.

A good course director makes a good course. Francis Pratt is unusually well qualified to help students not only because of his experience as both artist and art course director but also by virtue of participating in research at the University of Stirling, Scotland. As an artist, Francis is particularly interested in colour. His paintings have been described as "iridescent, eye and mind enriching paint structures, in which affective and cognitive merge and meld to produce visual experiences of enduring significance." (Felix McCullough in Arts Review). As a course director, Francis has taught, in a part time capacity, at all levels in Art Schools, from Foundation to Post Graduate, as well as teaching evening classes. As a university researcher he has delved into fundamental problems related to how we use our eyes when drawing and painting. The ideas that emerged are very powerful and can help artists of all levels of achievement in many ways. Not only do they provide comprehensive explanations for many of the difficulties we all experience when drawing and painting but also they show us how we can overcome them. In the process many other benefits accrue. For example, they make it possible for us to draw both more accurately and more freely; they give much help to those interested in the dynamic relationship between the picture surface and different kinds of space within it (a major preoccupation of artists since the Impressionists, including Matisse, Bonnard, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko) and provide many insights into the processes of creativity and self expression.