Landscape as Laboratory

Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00AM-5:00PM (August 18 -22). Part of the Plein Air Art Festival.

This innovative workshop will be team taught by Liam Murphy-Torres and Francie Cook, both recent MFA graduates of the New York Studio School

Morning sessions run 10am-1pm and afternoon sessions run 2pm-5pm.

Landscape Laboratory is a week-long workshop exploring the Maine landscape through a combination of plein air painting and collage. Looking closely at the work of the Impressionists, primarily Cézanne and Matisse, alongside Lois Dodd and Fairfield Porter, two painters whose work was deeply informed by the landscape of Maine, we will examine how artists have approached direct observation and consider what their discoveries can offer our own practices.

The mornings, taught by Liam Murphy-Torres, will focus on painting from direct observation. Working outdoors among Maine's land and sea, participants will develop strategies for seeing and responding to a motif while strengthening their ability to convey space, light, atmosphere, and form. Through sustained observation, we will build a deeper understanding of structure and the visual relationships that give a painting its strength.

In the afternoons, taught by Francie Cook, participants will shift from painting to collage. Using the morning's paintings as source material, collage becomes a tool for simplification, experimentation, and invention. Participants will work on small, fast collages, rather than large works. Using collage as a means to explore new compositions, edit observations, and discover unexpected possibilities through cutting, layering, and rearranging forms.

Together, painting and collage create a highly generative process. The paintings inform the collages, and the collages, in turn, become studies for future paintings. Participants will leave with a stronger understanding of plein air painting, a body of work developed throughout the week, and a collection of collage studies and ideas to carry back into their studio practice.

See a detailed materials list below the artist bio.

There will be a lunch break from 1:00pm-2:00pm. You can bring your own lunch or check out one of the local restaurants in Yarmouth.

$750 workshop fee* does not include materials.

*ACT NOW for the EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT of $150 OFF to attend for $600. Discount ends 6/30/26.

NOTE: Eventbrite charges non-refundable processing fees for online payments and now displays these fees in the total ticket price shown on this event listing.

About the instructors:

Liam Murphy Torres is a MFA Graduate of New York Studio school. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. https://liammurphytorres.com/?page_id=8

Education

2024-Present, MFA, New York Studio School. New York, NY.

2020,2024, Mount Gretna School of Art. Mount Gretna, PA.

2023, Barnes-DeMazia Certificate, Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, PA.

2018-2022, BFA, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA.

2018-2020, Intermittent Study, Art Students League of New York. New York, NY.

Francie Cook is a MFA Graduate of New York Studio school. She was born in 1997 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is an emerging oil painter currently based in New York. She is best known for her intimate depictions of loved ones, all drawn or painted from direct observation. Cook’s work is guided by materiality, often incorporating elements of collage that work in tandem with paint, ink, and charcoal. Her practice is further characterized by a loose, painterly application and a strong awareness of the geometric structure of the rectangle. Francie Cook has exhibited across the United States and Europe. She holds a BFA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and has studied at the New York Studio School and the Art Students League of New York. In 2025, she founded the Francis Cook Gallery in New York and Berlin.

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