The Mill Road Studio Method

The Mill Road Studio, the building itself, is a lovely, well proportioned structure that sits on a hill over looking the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of Newfoundland in a relatively remote area three hundred kilometers from St. John’s, the oldest city in North America. The building takes full advantage of the natural clarity of the light, with a number of large windows and two doors. The building sits on a north-south axis and is infused with light from dawn to sunset. There is a stove for heat and a fan in the peak of the ceiling, 20 feet high, that can distribute heat more or less evenly throughout the building. The walls are rough, revealing the way the building was constructed, and canvases can be hung on nails hammered into the vertical supports. The floor is wood and there is a sink, a laundry tub, for washing brushes and other implements. All in all it is a casual, inviting space, where a person coming to the program would not feel constrained or worried about making a mess with whatever materials they were using. There is a model stand and a backdrop can be hung to help define the figure in the space. Wooden stools and tables made of planks resting on saw horses are the primary furnishings in the building.

Newfoundland is about four hundred and fifty miles out at sea off the east coast of the Canadian mainland. There are two ferries: one is a six-hour voyage and the other is fourteen hours. The six-hour ferry leaves the traveler about ten hours by car from the Mill Road Studio. The fourteen-hour voyage leaves a two hour drive. The traveler can fly to St. John’s and then rent a car for a three-hour trip or hire a taxi that runs regularly from the airport to Bonavista, a town located where Cabot first landed in 1497. I am telling you this to illustrate that getting to the Mill Road Studio involves travelling quite a distance and it is a distance not only in miles but from the comforts of big city life to a rugged rural situation, with certain amenities, but one that is located right on the eastern edge of North America.

The program at Mill Road Studio has been developed as an art program that can help anyone, from the absolute beginner to the professional, expand their skills and comprehension of the process of making visual art. But it is also a transformative experience that has art practice as a foundation that can inspire and support a shift in perception and awareness. This is possible in part because of the remote setting and the lack of distraction that comes with being far away from work and the family home. The location, essentially out at sea, provides for variety and unpredictable weather. There can be fog and rain and wind and warm sunshine and clear skies and dramatically cloudy skies and t-shirt warmth to parka chill and this can all happen over a few days in July. This coupled with the stunning physical environment—with its rock cliffs jutting straight up from the sea, and the clusters of forest, and the rolling hills and the wild flowers, and the ever-present vista of the sea stretching as far as the eye can see —help a visitor shake off the tensions and concerns of their regular daily lives. The physical situation of the studio and the surrounding area imposes itself in a way that leaves little room for defense. It may not happen in the first few hours but it does happen after a few days. The physical environment inspires awe. Combine this with poor cell phone service and a program that is free of technology, and a visitor can rediscover the quiet places in themselves that may be lost to the rigours and demands of being a professional in a competitive urban culture.

The Mill Road Studio program covers some fundamentals of drawing, painting and printmaking. So far these are in the realm of the working from life or the landscape but the participant can bring whatever nuance of personal expression and creativity to the work being done. There is a three-hour session in the morning from nine until twelve and then lunch is served in the house at a long table with a stunning view of the coastline, the sky and the sea. After lunch there is another three-hour working session but not all of the time is spent in the studio. There are some outstanding trails in the area and hiking these trails is an important part of the program. It helps to get the participant to live in the moment and to engage in something for pure pleasure and excitement that is not about an outcome. Walking the trails and then stopping along the way, once or twice, with a sketch book allows for the possibility of the participant to connect more fully with the landscape than if they were just ticking the trail off a to-do list and taking a few pictures along the way. The rhythm of the walk is like the rhythm of working in the studio with a life model or a still life installation. To gain the most benefit from the experience it is essential to be able to immerse in the process at hand. This is a difficult thing for many people to do but there is something about being out there on the edge that encourages this immersion in a more natural way than, say, going to a meditation class in the morning on the way to work. Losing sight of the worries and stresses of daily life, even for a short time, even for a couple of hours or a few days, allows for some personal renewal, a revitalization of the spirit. Add to this the pleasure to be had in making something new, something that demanded the learning of technique once thought to be out of range, and the feeling of confidence brought by this kind of achievement. The participant often experiences a sense of well being and a renewed desire and determination to break the restrictive habits that have formed over time.