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Welcome to Bienarté and our friendly team.

Discover the artist within you. In small, inspirational and carefully structured classes.

Every single person has the ability to create art and under the guidance of a skilled and attentive teacher, your talent can flourish.

Master Artist Marcel Desbiens has years of experience teaching students to find their own artistic voice and to gain and strengthen their technical skills. Hear what past and current students say about us.

Learn from award-winning local, interstate and international guest artists who offer courses and workshops for all skill levels in Oil colours, Acrylic, Watercolour, Drawing and Pastels in various specialty subjects. We also offer private lessons for intensive training in any technical area you need.

And all this, in the comfort of our purpose-built air-conditioned art studios.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Having already nurtured the development of over 15,000 new artists, Bienarté is offering a series of
Life Drawing Workshops throughout 2024.

Starting Soon

      • Contemporary Natives in Watercolour on Clayboard | Libby Derham

        About the workshop

        Day 1: Come and explore the wonderful qualities of watercolour, mark-making and ink. 
        Be inspired by beautiful natives such as Banksias and paint from life with award winning artist, Libby Derham. 
        Working with artist-quality materials and the rich colours of Daniel Smith paints, you will learn skills to loosen up representational and expressive watercolour painting on paper. 
        Day 1 will build a collection of marks and sketches, developing you looser style, in preparation for Day 2.

        Day 2: After building the foundation and familiarity of the subject and looser painting style on Day 1, Day 2 teaches skills of selection and composition from preparatory work, identifying and building of tone and working on dual paintings. 
        You will step across from smooth paper substrates to the ultrasmooth surface of Clayboard, learning new possibilities of this intriguing material.

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        Who is this workshop suitable for?

        Suitable for absolute beginners, but people with some previous experience in watercolour will also get a lot out of working with Clayboard.

        What do I need to bring?

        Ampersand Claybord 8" x 8" Your choice of thickness. 

        Please bring a collection of fresh or dry flowers, natives or plant material to draw from.
        HB or 2B pencil

        Fabriano Studio Watercolour pad (25% cotton)- 300 gsm Smooth (hot press)- White A3

        Paper towel, masking tape (Bear 24mm x 50m washi from Bunnings is good)

        You are welcome to bring some Banksias and Natives to the workshop

        Libby will supply:
        Paints - made up palettes of Daniel Smith Watercolours @ $10 for 2 days workshop per student 
        Colours Included:  Buff Titanium, Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Gold, Pyrrol Scarlet, Pyrrol Crimson, Quinacridone Rose, Imperial Purple, Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue Chromium, Phthalo Blue (Green Shade), Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Undersea Green, Sap Green, Yellow Ochre, Goethite (Brown Ochre), Burnt Sienna, Tiger's Eye, Indian Red, Raw Umber, Payne's Gray
        Sticks 
        Art Spectrum Ink - in small dropper bottles 
        Plastic pipettes

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        Bienarté will supply:
        Mop brushes - large for washes, small for detail 
        Spray bottles of water 
        Waterpots
        Protection for tables 
        A3 Clipboards 

        Please bring your lunch and snacks or you can purchase from cafes close by. We do have a fridge at the studio for your convenience.

        What else is provided?

        • Tea, coffee and biscuits (please bring your own cup)
        • A friendly, supportive and encouraging learning environment
        • Connection to the Bienarté art community

        About the Tutor

        An award-winning artist, Libby is a fourth-generation water-colourist, passionate at pushing the medium into the contemporary space. She won the Annie Tan Memorial Watercolour Award - Queensland Regional Art Awards (2021) and has been a finalist in multiple local and national awards including Splash: McClelland Contemporary Watercolour Award (2021), QRAA (2020), Local Artist Local Content (2023/2022/2021/2020) and Du Rietz Art Awards (2021/2020).

        Useful Information

        For Visitors FAQs

      • Floral Bouquet in Watercolour for Beginners | Rachael King

        About this workshop

        Join Brisbane artist Rachael King for 2 hours of fun painting a colourful floral bouquet in watercolour.

        Rachael will take you through the steps to creating your own masterpiece!  this will be a fun session where you will create the impression of a floral bouquet - no experience is necessary as this is all about having fun and making marks with watercolour! 

        {image name:"RK4" width:"300px" height:"400px"}

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        Who is this workshop suitable for?

        Everyone is welcome! No experience necessary.

        What do I need to bring?

        Use of all materials will be available.

        What is provided?

        • Tea/coffee will be provided, but please bring your own cup
        • A friendly, supportive and encouraging learning environment
        • Connection to the Bienarté art community

        About the tutor

        Rachael King is a Brisbane Surface Pattern Designer and Author of Pattern Pulse. Rachael uses analogue and digital techniques to bring her watercolour artwork into designs that are licensed to companies such Spotlight, Annabel Trends and John Sands Greeting Cards.

        Useful Information

        For Visitors FAQs

      • Oil Painting With Confidence | Marcel Desbiens

        Now that you have acquired the basic knowledge for painting in Oils, it is time to apply those techniques in real time on a subject you might want to paint at home.

        The challenge at this stage of your learning is to keep the motivation going and not fall into procrastination.

        The best way is to enrol in a further six consecutive weeks to keep the momentum going as it is fresh in your mind.
        This is the best way to secure enough confidence before continuing at home in your own painting space.

        Goals

        • To complement your acquired learning from the 8-week Foundation in Oils course
        • To gain confidence and be ready to paint on your own

        What will I learn

        Learn the basic technique for painting still life, seascape and fabric:

        • Painting a subject containing fabric in monochrome
        • Opaque and transparent colours
        • Applying Oil colour layering and glazing

        Starting a new project:

        • Choosing the right support from a variety of options (canvas, board, paper, etc)
        • Understanding the process of composition
        • Choosing a subject
        • Planning the development stages from beginning to completion of your painting

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        Content

        • Painting a subject containing fabric in monochrome from a photo provided
        • Starting your new project from your choice of photo or images
        • Applying colour over the monochrome fabric with glazing
        • Completing your own painting project, learning about varnishing and framing

        Who is this course suitable for

        While priority is given to students who have completed the 8-week Foundations in Oils course, this course is suitable for anyone with a basic practical understanding of Oil colours and their application

        What do I need to bring?

        • An old large towel to cover your table
        • Oil colours and hog hair paint brushes from Foundations in Oils Course. Art materials also available to purchase if needed.
        • A notebook and pen are optional for note-taking
        • Apron (Bienarte Aprons are available for purchase from our on-site shop)

        What is provided

        All the materials you will need for this course will be provided, including:

        • prepared surface for painting.
        • Digital Certificate of Attendance.
        • PDF booklet, packed with painting tips and tricks.
        • Free professional-quality oil colours
        • Free pack of paint brushes
        • Access to reference photos to practice at home.
        • Tables, chairs, easels
        • Tea and coffee (bring your own mug)
        • A friendly and supportive environment
        • Connection to the Bienarté art community.

        Useful Information

        For Visitors FAQs

      • Relax with Watercolour | Paint and Sip

        Add colour to your day or night with this unique paint and sip style watercolour session, in which you supply your drink of choice and we supply the rest! We have tea and coffee on-site for the drivers! This casual, relaxed class is perfect for absolute beginners, as no prior painting experience is needed.

        During the session, you’ll have the opportunity to experiment with watercolour paints in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere while creating your own unique framed artwork to take home with you. 

        What will I learn?

        You will learn the basics of painting in watercolour. You will be guided with a demonstration of painting in watercolour. You will have a selection of different scenes to paint on the night. You can follow a template to get you started or you can be as creative as you wish!

        Who is this event suitable for?

        Anyone who wants to have fun experimenting with watercolours. If you’ve never painted before, this is the perfect, relaxed opportunity to give it a try.

        What do I need to bring?

        Whatever you would like to sip while you paint. You are welcome to bring your own nibbles.

        What is provided?

        • all painting equipment, including watercolour paints and high-quality watercolour paper
        • disposable glassware
        • brushes and carbon paper
        • unique, custom-designed stencils to work from
        • an A5 frame to take home to frame your finished work of art

        What students say

        5* We had such a lovely girls night and even though none of us has ever painted in watercolours before, we had a lovely instructor and a heap of stencils to use before we were confident enough to do some freestyling. -Meghan-

        5* The class was very well run with good instruction and plenty of help if needed. All the necessary equipment was provided and all 3 teachers were friendly and encouraging. Would definitely do another class - we had a lot of fun! -Alex-

        Photos from previous Paint & Sip Events {image name:"paint and sip"}

  • More Courses

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Marcel Desbiens | Master Artist | Principal Tutor