What you'll paint
You'll leave with this
One day, one finished piece. You start with a blank canvas and walk out carrying your own painting.
Into the Forest by Hayley Anderson. Yours won't look like this one, and that's the whole idea.
One-Day In-Person Class in Sarasota
with Hayley Anderson
Only 10 seats. Every supply included. All levels welcome.
What you'll paint
One day, one finished piece. You start with a blank canvas and walk out carrying your own painting.
Into the Forest by Hayley Anderson. Yours won't look like this one, and that's the whole idea.
What the day is actually like
You'll spend the morning building surface: mixing texture, dragging it, letting it grab. Hayley teaches marks the way other people teach brushstrokes, so by lunch you'll have a canvas that's already got moss and bark and weather in it, and no idea yet what the painting is. The afternoon is finding out.
Four hours is longer than it sounds. It's long enough that your phone ends up face down somewhere behind you, and long enough that you stop narrating what you're doing and just do it. Most people book for the painting and leave talking about the day.
You'll be at an easel with nine other people, none of whom need anything from you. Nobody's checking the news at your table, and there's no feed to scroll because your hands are covered in paint. The only decision you owe anyone for the next few hours is what color goes down next.
And it'll be yours. You're taught the actual principle, then you make your own calls, with a professional artist behind you catching the ones that would have cost you the painting. Ten easels, ten different canvases, every time. Nobody goes home carrying a copy of the instructor's picture.
Inside the room
Real classes at the gallery, and real people holding what they made that day. These are from other classes, in the same room, at the same easels you'll be using.
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What you'll learn
You keep these. They're what make the next painting easier, the one you do at home on your own kitchen table.
Build real dimension into the surface using mixed media acrylic techniques.
Develop organic mark making drawn from the shapes, patterns, and rhythms of the woods.
Stack color, shape, and mark so the painting has front, middle, and far distance.
Learn how a rough mark makes tension and a soft one makes calm, and choose on purpose.
No shopping list
Just bring yourself. Wear something you don't mind getting paint on.
Who teaches it
Hayley Anderson, who paints as Bopa, is a professional artist working from her studio in Northumberland, England, and a graduate of the Mastery Program. She combines realism with abstract elements in mixed media, using iridescent pigments, 3D texture, and mica powders, and takes all her inspiration from the natural world.
The details
Date: September 21, 2026
Time: 11am to 3pm ET
Instructor: Hayley Anderson
Level: All Levels
Seats: 10 total
Milan Art Gallery
72 S Palm Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236
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Doors open a few minutes early so you can settle in.
Two ways to do this
Hayley teaches four classes this September, each built around a different problem. Book them together and the fourth is free.
This class
$100
All four with Hayley
$400 $300
One day, ten seats
Block out the day, leave your phone in your bag, and come make something. Beginners are genuinely welcome, most of the room has never taken a class with us, and everyone goes home with a painting they want on a wall.
10 seats total. All supplies included.
Before you book
No. Every art supply, the surface, and the painting sources are provided. Just wear something you don't mind getting paint on.
Yes. Most people in the room have never taken a class with us before, and the instructor walks you through every step.
At Milan Art Gallery, 72 S Palm Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236, in downtown Sarasota. Doors open a few minutes before 11am.
Ten. It's kept small on purpose so the instructor can actually get to everyone.
This comes up more than any other question, and the honest answer is that the people who say it tend to leave with the pieces everyone crowds around. You're being taught a method you can follow step by step. If you can follow along for a day, you'll finish a painting.
Somebody has to be, and it genuinely doesn't matter, because nobody is comparing. Everyone is deep in their own canvas by the second hour. The classes are all levels on purpose, and most of the room is doing this for the first time.
All sales for in-person events are final, and seats can't be transferred to another date. If something comes up, email info@milanart.com.
All sales for in-person events, including workshops, retreats, intensives, and other experiences, are final. We do not offer refunds or credit for cancellations or no-shows. Funds cannot be transferred to another event. By registering for any in-person event, you're agreeing to this policy and helping us keep every event well prepared for everyone.