Above, Homestead Reverie, Martin Osner. One of these big paintings hangs in the restaurant at Bloupunt Winery, so you can stand in front of it on the first morning.
Five days in Montagu
Art of Painting Breakaway in Montagu
Bring your own photographs. Leave with a painting. Five days at our gallery district on Long Street, with Martin and Samantha Lee Osner beside you the whole way.
No painting experience is needed, and most people who come have never finished a canvas before. The workshop has moved here from Napier, to the place where our own work has hung for the past five years.
What this is
Turn your own photographs into paintings
Five days of painting, using pictures you have taken yourself as the starting point. No prior painting experience is assumed and none is needed.
Most people who come to this have wanted to paint for years and never quite started, usually because the first blank canvas is intimidating and nobody has shown them a way in. Working from your own photograph removes that. You are not inventing something out of nothing, you are interpreting something you already care about.
“Our first task, a vase of flowers from imagination, felt daunting. But as I looked around, I saw how uniquely each painting evolved.”
Martin and Samantha Lee Osner teach it together, moving between easels rather than lecturing from the front. The techniques are deliberately simple, palette knife work, loose brushwork, letting the paint do some of the deciding. You will leave with a finished painting that is unmistakably yours.
This is for you if
- You have photographs you love and want to do something more with them
- You have wanted to paint and never known where to begin
- You already paint and want a looser, less literal approach
- You want five days with no interruptions and someone standing next to you
The setting
Montagu, and the district we already call home
Five years ago the Osner Gallery was invited into the BluVines District (now Bloupunt Winery) to make the art for the space. Our work now hangs right through it, including both restaurants and the wine tasting room.
Bloupunt Winery, 12 Long Street, Montagu. The workshop runs from here.
A street worth painting
Long Street alone holds fourteen of Montagu's twenty two national monuments, Cape Dutch, Cape Georgian and Victorian standing side by side. You can work one street for five days and not repeat yourself.
Four landscapes, one short drive
Vineyards and smallholdings in the valley, the Langeberg behind them, the Koo Valley over the pass, and the dry open light where the Karoo begins.
Paintings that became bottles
Five of our works are now labels on Bloupunt's wine. Four of the six Bloupunt wines achieved Double Gold at the Gilbert & Gaillard International Challenge 2026.
What that landscape gives you
Four of Martin's paintings from this region. This is the kind of thing you will be working towards, and the kind of subject waiting outside the door.
How the five days run
Six hours a day at the easel, and the light at both ends
Out with the camera at either end of the day when the light is worth having, and six solid hours at the easel in between. The two of us are in the room for all of it.
Out with the camera
First light is when this landscape is worth photographing, so that is when we go out. You are gathering reference for a painting rather than making a finished picture, which is a different way of looking and takes a day or two to settle into.
Painting, all of it
Six hours at the easel, every day. Short demonstrations when there is something to show, palette knife, loose brushwork, knowing when to stop, then straight back onto your own canvas. Martin and Samantha work the room the whole time, and the guidance is on your painting and your decisions rather than a class exercise everyone does at once.
Out again
The other end of the day, when the light comes back. More reference, and by midweek you will be choosing subjects with a much clearer idea of what will actually paint well.
Stop
Dinner at the restaurant if you would like it, or your own arrangements. There is no evening programme on most nights. Painting all day is more tiring than people expect.
The showing
Everyone puts their work up and talks about it. It is the part people are most nervous about and the part they remember, because four days in you can see how differently the same landscape came out of each person.
Wrap up and debrief
A last morning to finish anything still wet, then we sit down together and go back over what changed in your work through the week, and what to do with it once you are home.
You will leave with a finished painting. Not a study, not something to complete at home. That is the point of five days rather than four, and it is why the workshop was lengthened.
Before you book
What is included, and what is not
Said plainly, so there are no surprises when you arrive.
Included
- Five full days of tuition with both Martin and Samantha Lee Osner
- All studio sessions and the guided time on location
- Use of the workshop space at Bloupunt Winery
- The final showing on day five
- Tea, coffee and light refreshments through each workshop day
Not included
- Accommodation. You book your own in Montagu and we will point you at the places we know
- Travel to and from Montagu
- Lunches and dinners. The winery restaurant is right there and you are welcome to eat there, but meals are for your own account
- Your art materials, unless you order a pre-packed set from us
Coming from overseas? You do not have to fly with paint and canvas. Order a pre-packed set of materials and it will be waiting for you on the first morning.
Dates and booking
One group, five days, twenty twenty seven
This runs once a year and the group is deliberately small, because six hours a day of individual attention does not scale.
- A 50% deposit secures your place, with the balance payable 60 days before the workshop begins.
- If you need to cancel, our cancellation policy sets out what comes back and when, and the three ways round it.
- The price went up because the workshop got longer. It used to run over four days and now runs over five, which is what makes finishing a painting realistic.
From someone who has done it
What five days actually feels like
★★★★★
“Every time I join one of Martin’s workshops, I know I’ll be pushed beyond my creative comfort zone.
We were immersed in learning from the start, beginning with Martin’s palette knife techniques. I was amazed at the variety of ways to apply paint to canvas. Our first task, a vase of flowers from imagination, felt daunting, but as I looked around, I saw how uniquely each painting evolved. Martin and Sam moved through the room, offering encouragement and expert guidance.
Days flew by as we refined our skills, painting in the open air and capturing inspiration from the surrounding landscapes. Morning and sunset photography sessions helped me reflect on my favourite techniques. Choosing a landscape to transform into a painting was a highlight, and watching everyone’s confidence grow was genuinely inspiring.
Thank you, Martin and Sam, for creating a space to explore and learn without feeling overwhelmed. You are both masterful teachers!”
Cathy Bell, Cape Town, on an earlier Art of Painting Breakaway
Six paintings, one week, six people
Nobody is taught to paint like Martin. They are taught to paint like themselves, which is why a room given the same five days produces this.
Work from previous Breakaways. Each painting is the student’s own and signed by them.
Questions
The ones we are actually asked
Tap a question to open it.
Is this suitable for a complete beginner?
Yes, and most people who come have never finished a painting before. Working from a photograph you took yourself removes the hardest part, which is deciding what to put on an empty canvas. If you already paint, the week is about loosening up rather than starting out.
Will I actually leave with a finished painting?
Yes. That is the point of five days rather than four. You go home with completed work, not a study to finish one day.
What does a day look like?
Out with the camera early while the light is good, painting from 10am to 4pm, then out again in the late afternoon. Evenings are your own, apart from Thursday, when everyone shows their work. Friday is a wrap up and debrief.
Are accommodation and meals included?
Neither. You book your own accommodation in Montagu and we will happily point you at the places we know and trust. Tea, coffee and light refreshments run through each workshop day, and the winery restaurant is right there if you want lunch or dinner, but meals are for your own account.
Do I need a professional camera?
No. A DSLR or mirrorless camera is ideal, but a phone is perfectly good for gathering reference. You are collecting material to paint from, not making a finished photograph.
How far is Montagu from Cape Town?
About two hours. The N1 to Worcester, the R60 through Robertson, then the R62 through Ashton and in through the Cogmans Kloof Pass. A straightforward drive, and the last stretch through the pass is worth the trip on its own.
I am coming from overseas. Must I bring art materials?
No. Order a pre-packed set and it will be waiting for you on the first morning, so you can fly with hand luggage.
What if the weather turns?
Very little changes. The painting hours are indoors anyway, and if the light is not worth going out for we use the time at the easel instead.
What if I need to cancel?
All of it is on one page rather than scattered about. Our cancellation policy sets out the deposit, what comes back depending on how far ahead you tell us, and the three ways round a straight cancellation.
Is there medical help nearby?
Yes. Montagu Hospital is in the town itself, on the corner of Hospital and Church Streets, and there is a clinic in Park Street.
Will there be time to see Montagu?
Yes. The town is small, the heritage buildings are a walk away, and the hot springs are on the doorstep. The week is built for painting, not for being marched about, so your own time is genuinely your own.
Still not sure?
Ask before you book rather than after. Tell us where you are with painting and what you want out of the week, and we will say plainly whether this is the right thing for you, including when the honest answer is not yet.