All Levels

Landscape Abstraction in Watercolor

Susan Maakestad

  • Painting
  • Painting
  • Painting
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All Levels

Landscape Abstraction in Watercolor

Susan Maakestad

Abstraction is not a fixed destination but a dynamic continuum of visual possibilities. In this workshop, students will explore where their own artistic voice lies along that spectrum through a thoughtful, process-driven approach to landscape imagery.

Beginning with your own landscape photographs as source material, you will create a series of watercolors each day.  With each iteration of your source, you’ll gradually release descriptive details and distill the image to its essential forms, watching your work evolve toward increasingly abstract compositions. This multi-step process of distillation and interpretation will encourage discovery of your own personal approach to abstraction.

Slide lectures featuring both contemporary and historical artists will provide context for the many ways painters have approached abstraction in landscape. Guided exercises will expand your color sensibility and paint-handling skills while exploring the relationship between landscape space and abstract space.

One-on-one attention and group discussions will create a supportive environment for experimentation, reflection, and growth. By moving through the weekly projects, students will deepen their understanding of compositional structure while developing confidence in creative interpretation.

Note: This workshop is designed for students with prior experience in watercolor who are comfortable with basic materials and techniques and are ready to push their work in a more exploratory and abstract direction.

15 hours of instruction
Five-week class meeting on Friday for three hours

Friday, March 27, 2026 - Friday, April 24, 2026
9:00am-12:00pm Add to Calendar
9:00am-12:00pm Add to Calendar
680 Oakleaf Office Lane Memphis, TN 38117
Materials Included: All supplies provided

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Susan Maakestad
About the Instructor

Susan Maakestad

Susan Maakestad is a Memphis-based painter. She was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Art fellowship from Arts Midwest in 1988. She is the recipient of the 2013 ArtsAccelerator Grant from ArtsMemphis, purchase awards from the UrbanArts Commission in Memphis and three individual artist grants from the Peoria Area Arts and Sciences Council. In late 2021 she completed a large scale public art commission at Memphis International Airport. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts among others. Her work has been included in the national publication New American Paintings and The Painting Center in New York's online Art File. Her watercolors are included in The Drawing Center in New York’s online Viewing Program. Her work has been exhibited nationally including at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis; Sazama Gallery, Chicago; Steinway Gallery, Chapel Hill; The Rymer Gallery, Nashville; and The Rockford (IL) Art Museum. Public collections include the Tennessee State Museum, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the City of Memphis. She is currently represented by Spalding Nix Fine Art in Atlanta.

Susan Maakestad was Professor of Art at Memphis College of Art where she taught from 1997-2020. Since 2020 she has taught watercolor workshops at Peninsula School of Art, Fish Creek, WI and in Shelby County for Creative Aging Memphis. She presented lectures about her work to graduate students at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS, the Dixon Gallery and Gardens and to several Memphis area art clubs. She juried the 2024 student art show at Delta State and the Artists Link annual show in Memphis in 2023.

She earned her M.F.A. in painting from The University of Iowa in 1987 and a B.A., magna cum laude, and M.A. from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA. Visit her website here

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