Explore Modernist painting approaches to still life through Cubism and early abstraction, inspired by artists such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque, and create your own Cubist-inspired oil painting.

You will work from a surprise still life set-up revealed at the start of the session, encouraging you to step away from traditional realism and focus on structure, multiple viewpoints, and expressive composition.

Through guided exercises, you will learn to break objects into shapes and planes, experiment with flattened space, and use colour and line expressively, creating a modernist yet personal still life painting.

The workshop encourages playful experimentation, simplification, and creative disruption of perspective, helping you develop confidence in both observation and abstraction.

Basic materials provided. Food and drink is also available for purchase throughout the session from our cafes.

This workshop is suitable for ages 18+.

What is Cubism?

Cubism is an art movement that breaks objects into geometric shapes and planes, showing multiple perspectives at once rather than a single realistic view.

What is still life?

Still life is a genre of painting that focuses on everyday objects – like fruit, bottles, or flowers – arranged to study composition, form, and colour.

About your tutor

Denisa Mansfield is an artist whose work explores expressive colour, movement, and emotion through the language of Impressionism and abstraction.

She works primarily in oils, with a focus on how traditional methods can be reinterpreted in contemporary ways. Her practice celebrates curiosity, creative risk-taking, and the joy of discovery through paint.