Atmosphere & Memory
A Three-Day Studio Intensive in Abstract Landscape Painting
October 23–25, 2026 | Emmaus, Pennsylvania
Limited to four artists
Learn to paint what a place feels like, not simply what it looks like.
Landscape is more than geography. It holds memory, atmosphere, longing, belonging, and the way a place continues to live inside us long after we've left.
Atmosphere & Memory is an intimate three-day painting intensive exploring how we can move beyond literal representation and translate our experience of place into expressive abstract paintings.
Over the course of a weekend in my working studio, we'll explore composition, color, atmosphere, layering, expressive mark-making, memory, and—perhaps most importantly—the process of learning to trust what a painting is becoming.
This isn't a step-by-step painting class.
You won't leave with a painting that looks like mine.
Instead, we'll begin with observation and gradually move away from simply recording what we see. We'll explore what happens when we simplify, edit, remember, respond, and allow the painting to become something of its own.
The goal is to begin discovering what your landscape looks like when you stop trying to describe it.
WHAT WE’LL EXPLORE:
Throughout the weekend, you'll learn how to:
Look at landscape through shape, color, movement, light, and atmosphere rather than simply naming objects
Simplify a landscape without losing its character
Move beyond copying photographs
Create atmosphere through color relationships
See the full spectrum of color within what we often label simply green, gray, brown, white, or blue
Mix complex chromatic neutrals and darks
Build depth through layering, transparency, and edges
Develop expressive marks that serve the painting
Work from observation, memory, and sensory experience
Recognize and move through the awkward middle stages of a painting
Trust unexpected moments rather than immediately correcting them
Know when to keep working, when to pause, and when a painting may be finished
THE EXPERIENCE
With only four participants, Atmosphere & Memory offers something that's difficult to experience in a larger workshop: sustained individual attention and the opportunity to spend three days immersed in painting inside a working artist's studio.
We'll alternate between demonstrations, exercises, conversation, independent studio time, and one-on-one guidance.
We'll begin the weekend not by painting, but by looking.
On Friday evening, we'll take a short Seeing & Looking Walk through the park behind my studio. Rather than immediately reaching for our cameras or trying to find a scene to paint, we'll practice slowing down and paying attention.
What happens when we stop naming everything we see?
Instead of tree, grass, sky, can we begin noticing vertical shapes, shifting temperatures, broken rhythms, soft edges, unexpected color, movement, light, and space?
We'll pay attention to what catches our eye—and what only reveals itself after we've been looking for a while.
When we return to the studio, we'll work first from what we remember before returning to our photographs. This becomes the starting point for the weekend's larger exploration:
What changes when we stop trying to record a landscape and begin responding to our experience of it?
Lunch on Saturday and Sunday is included, along with refreshments throughout the weekend.
The Weekend
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We'll begin with conversation about place, memory, and what draws us toward certain landscapes before heading outside for our Seeing & Looking Walk.
We'll practice observing color, shape, light, movement, edges, negative space, and atmosphere without immediately translating what we see into recognizable objects.
Back in the studio, we'll move through a series of quick studies exploring the progression from observation → memory → atmosphere.
Friday is about slowing down, becoming curious, and beginning to see landscape differently.
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Saturday moves us from observation into painting.
We'll explore color as a language for atmosphere, including color temperature, chromatic neutrals, complementary relationships, and how to move beyond the literal colors we think we're seeing.
Through demonstration and guided studio work, we'll explore ways to begin a canvas without drawing or describing everything first. We'll work with large shapes, layers, expressive marks, lost and found edges, transparency, scraping, wiping, veiling, and other approaches to building a painting over time.
You'll begin developing a larger abstract landscape while receiving substantial individual guidance throughout the day.
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Sunday begins by returning to Saturday's work with fresh eyes.
We'll talk about how to assess a painting without immediately fixing it, how to recognize what's alive within the work, and how to protect the unexpected moments that often give a painting its individuality.
As the day progresses, we'll begin loosening our dependence on reference altogether.
What remains when the photograph goes away?
We'll explore painting more directly from memory and experience, allowing the landscape to become a starting point rather than a destination.
We'll finish the weekend by looking at your work as a whole—from your first studies through your larger paintings—and considering one central question:
Where did you stop describing the landscape and start painting?
WHO IS THIS FOR:
Atmosphere & Memory is designed for advanced beginner through intermediate painters who have some familiarity with acrylic paint.
You do not need previous experience with abstract painting.
This intensive may be especially valuable if you:
Feel overly dependent on photographs or reference images
Want to loosen your painting style
Find yourself painting objects rather than the experience of a place
Struggle with overworking
Want to use color more intuitively
Feel caught somewhere between representation and abstraction
Want more confidence making decisions without knowing exactly where a painting is going
Want to develop a painting language that feels more personal
What’s Included:
Three days and approximately 16 hours of small-group instruction and studio time
A class limited to only four artists
Individual guidance throughout the weekend
Professional-quality canvases and paper for all workshop paintings and studies
Use of studio easels and worktables
Access to shared specialty tools and experimental materials
A printed Atmosphere & Memory workbook
Friday welcome refreshments
Lunch on Saturday and Sunday
Coffee, tea, water, and refreshments throughout the weekend
You'll receive a short supply list of your own acrylic paints, brushes, and a few personal painting tools to bring with you. Your painting surfaces, easel, and general studio supplies will be waiting for you when you arrive.
$1,095 per person
Only four spaces are available.
You may pay tuition in full or reserve your place with a $550 first payment, with the remaining $545 due September 23, 2026.
October 23–25, 2026
Kat Collins Studio at Juxtahub
Emmaus, Pennsylvania
This isn't about learning a formula for making an abstract landscape.
It's about learning to look more deeply, respond more intuitively, and discover how your own experience of place can become a painting.
MATERIALS
Let’s get started!
October 23–25, 2026 | Emmaus, Pennsylvania
Limited to four artists
Learn to paint what a place feels like, not simply what it looks like.
Landscape is more than geography. It holds memory, atmosphere, longing, belonging, and the way a place continues to live inside us long after we've left.
Atmosphere & Memory is an intimate three-day painting intensive exploring how we can move beyond literal representation and translate our experience of place into expressive abstract paintings.
Over the course of a weekend in my working studio, we'll explore composition, color, atmosphere, layering, expressive mark-making, memory, and—perhaps most importantly—the process of learning to trust what a painting is becoming.
Atmosphere & Memory is designed for advanced beginner through intermediate painters who have some familiarity with acrylic paint.
Cancellation Policy
Because Atmosphere & Memory is limited to just four participants and significant preparation goes into each artist's place in the intensive, the $550 registration payment is nonrefundable and secures your space in the workshop.
The remaining balance of $545 is due by September 23, 2026.
If you need to cancel:
More than 30 days before the intensive: Any tuition paid beyond the $550 registration payment will be refunded.
Within 30 days of the intensive: Tuition is nonrefundable. If I am able to fill your space from a waitlist, I will refund the amount paid beyond the $550 registration payment.
Your registration may be transferred to another person with advance notice, provided the new participant meets the experience requirements for the intensive.
If the intensive must be canceled by Kat Collins for any reason, participants will receive a full refund of all tuition paid.
Because travel and lodging expenses are outside of my control, I am unable to reimburse participants for transportation, accommodations, or other expenses associated with attending the intensive. If you are traveling from outside the area, refundable or flexible travel arrangements are recommended.
By registering for Atmosphere & Memory, you acknowledge and agree to this cancellation policy.
Have questions? Email me!
