TUITION & WORKSHOPS

Workshops 2025

Subject to be Confirmed
     Alton Hall South Taranaki  February 8-9th




Workshops 2024 
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Luminous Flowers In Pastel
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August 24-25th The Estuary Art Centre Orewa 
Register on the Estuary Website 



Exploring Waves

September 14-15th  Winchester 
Enquires please contact Clive Scott   

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Pastel Portraits-The Basics

October  12-13th The Painting Place Cambridge 
Enquires please Contact Lynn Waters     Full ( Waiting List)


   ​Mastering Animals 3 Day Workshop 2024
Southern California
Redondo Beach
​ June 24/25/26th   COMPLETED
Register your interest  with the PSSC direct
or email
Mauryne Fennell
2024    Pastel Portraits-The Basics          The Painting Place Cambridge Oct 12-13
2024    Exploring Waves                               North Otago Art Society Oamaru Sep 14-15
2024    Luminous Flowers                          The Estuary Arts Centre Orewa Aug 24-25th
2024    Mastering Animals                           Southern California Redondo Beach June 24-26
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2023    Exploring Waves in Pastel             Tauranga Society of Arts Tauranga 7-8th October FULL
2023    Water Reflection of Light              The Painting Place Thornton Rd Cambridge 5-6th August FULL
2023    Birds of a Feather                             Estuary Arts Centre Orewa 10-11th June  FULL
2023    Water - Reflection of Light            Alton Hall South Taranaki Feb 4-5th  FULL

2022    Pastel Expo Australia                      Exploring Light Form and Texture     FULL
2022    Pastel Expo Australia                      Mastering Animals  Sept 1-2nd          FULL
2022    Bird/Animal Textures                     Tapu War Memorial Hall Coromandel  Feb  12-13th  FULL
2022    Animal Textures                                Alton Hall South Taranaki  February 5-6th  FULL


2021    Birds of a Feather                            Central Artspace Lake Hawea   July  July 17th/18th  FULL         
2021    Birds of a Feather                              Central Artspace, Lake Hawea   July 10th/11th  FULL
2021    Capturing Flowers                            Estuary Arts Centre  26th/27th June  FULL
2021    Introduction to Pastel                      Estuary Arts Centre 12th June  FULL
2021    A Realistic Perspective                   Coromandel Aero Clubs Rooms  Feb 13th/14th 2021  FULL
            Still Life Textures/Ocean Wave


2020  A Realistic Perspective                     La Valla Tuakau  26th/27th September 2020  FULL



Private Tuition
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Picture
 

​I am currently offering private one on one lessons from my studio in Auckland. If you are a beginner in the use of pastel or have experience I can guide you with techniques, tools and materials, use of colour, and work process. 
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​Tuition is $65 an hour. I am happy to work with individual budgets, whether you come weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or when ever you need a catch up.
Typically I have 2-3 hour sessions.
​Alternatively you can book a day for $390
 
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​This is my studio space which I share with my husband Michael when  he is free to work on his art. It used to be all his office but now is split 3/4 art studio.

Testimonials


Megan Holmes  Private Student

I had noticed Julie's amazing art on face book and admired from afar for some months before I noticed someone on her comments talking about lessons. I thought holy moly! I wonder if I have the courage to send a message to an artist of Julies calibre and ask her to teach someone like me with no real art experience at all but a love of art and a want to create it?
Turns out I did and I am so grateful she said yes. Julie has so much patience and is very happy to share her amazing depth of knowledge and talk with you about any of her art pieces and the creative process behind them. I love realism and being able to learn that process is such a gift. I do get frustrated with myself sometimes (as most who put pencil to paper do I imagine) and Julie is so good at de-mistifying something that looks so complex but when broken down becomes achievable and something to grow from.
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. (a quote from William Ward)
Thanks Julie. I am inspired.

Isla Ferrer  Private Student

I have had the pleasure of having individual lessons with Julie for over 4 months now. Her work is amazing and inspiring and I am always in awe when I step into her studio. She is so kind and an incredibly patient teacher, always taking the time to explain her techniques and happy to demonstrate over and over again! Julie generously shares everything she knows - not only her techniques but also how to develop and grow as an artist. This is invaluable to anyone who is starting out and it is wonderful to have a teacher who is so encouraging and supportive!!


Dave Saywell   Private Student

'I wanted to learn new techniques such as using pastel pencils and sticks. I met Julie when she was working in an art shop and asked her if she was an artist.  Julie gave me her card and I looked at her website and was amazed by her work – it was exactly the type of art work that I myself wanted to achieve.
I find myself looking forward to my weekly lesson and am grateful that Julie listens to the suggestions and requests I make.  I find Julie to be professional, she makes my lessons easy to follow, is supportive and her feedback is invaluable.
Bottom line is that Julie is an awesome art tutor and I would highly recommend her to anyone.
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Anne Cowell    Private Student

Recently, I attended several private pastel lessons with Julie Freeman.  Until then I had only learned pastels through online videos and classes, and my own experimentation.  Julie covered all sorts of aspects such as selection of reference photos and how to get the best from them, as well as various ways to sketch the outline onto your paper.  We discussed brands of paper and pastels, and how to select colours for the artwork. 
One of the things I found invaluable was to watch her and understand the pressure that she uses – I just didn’t get that online!  Julie showed me how to work in small areas the way she does – it’s very clean and tidy, and she’s amazing at it.  However, I tried, but it didn’t work for me, as my brain prefers an ‘under painting’ so that I can get an idea of the values over the entire piece.  Julie was happy to adapt to help me in the way I felt comfortable.  Her blending techniques are great, and some of the things I came to understand is that pastel is more forgiving than I had thought, and one can change and ‘fix’ things, which has given me more confidence to experiment and push myself through any hiccups or problems I encounter.  I also learned from Julie how to capture more detail and the importance of sharp pencils for this, and she provided so many tips and tricks which have come in very handy. These lessons have been a good investment.
​Anne loves painting animals she has a facebook page under Anne Cowell Art


Julie Sheppard    PANZ Scholarship Winner 2015

Julie had been to the Invercargill PANZ Conference and seen my work, so when she was awarded the scholarship chose me as her tutor for the day.
'For me it was great to see how a professional sets up their studio, lots of practical little things were helpful like seeing the different tools and noting down the brands so I could buy them my self, like a good scalpel and how to change the blades, how to sharpen a pastel pencil, and how to use a paint medium. I'm very visual so seeing this happen and how heavy to put it on was just what I needed.  Julie showed me how to choose colours and blend them and then use the blended colours, soft and hard pastels, papers- oh It was wonderful ! We got down to business of techniques and laying down the pastels- I have to admit that at one point I got frustrated in my self as it was extending me so much. Julie was very supportive and patient! She gave lots of advice on being a professional too, which was really relevant to me and so appreciated.  I've learned so much and it was lovely to meet Julie and her husband Michael. I can highly recommend Julie as a tutor and am excited to get my pastels out again.'
​Julie is now  a practising artist her work can be seen on www.juliesheppard.co.nz

Betsy Marks    Private Student

I recently took a wonderful one-on-one 3-hour class with Julie, having admired her work on facebook for some time now. As it turns out, she's as skilled a teacher as she is an artist. I learned so much in the three hours with her, from tools and process to technique. I tend to be a bit impatient, especially when teachers talk rather than 'do' - but in this case, I furiously scribbled notes because everything she shared was valuable, and i didn't want to miss anything. I've put much of it into practice already. Then we moved onto the actual drawing/painting. I had asked to do waves and it was slow (or rather, I was slow!) and painstaking, and when I left i had only done the tiniest bit of a wave, but it was well worth the effort. The three hours were over in a flash. Julie is very generous with her knowledge and I went away having had a really great experience. If you get the opportunity, I really recommend a class with Julie. Thank you!


Workshop  Feedback

You two have so much to offer and have a lovely way of making me feel relaxed + inspired. It’s wonderful to see some of your work and how you bring so many things into the class, humour, patience, generosity, honesty, fabulous way of giving critical feedback. Come back!

Suggest coming back next year

Great team, Thanks

I have really enjoyed your lovely friendly approach. Kind and encouraging. Also allowing us to feel like this is achievable and to believe in our abilities. Thank you

I found this workshop very useful and it’s very professional. Thank you so much.

We will ask you to come again!
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We need more workshops