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WORKSHOP
ART MEETS SCIENCE
2023 DATE TO BE DETERMINED
EXPLORE - CAPTURE - PAINT - PROTECT
We are excited to announce a unique opportunity for artists and art enthusiasts to join us in Bimini for a 7 day / 6 night Art Meets Science Workshop! This workshop will be led by award winning painter, designer, illustrator and photographer Francesca Page alongside the Bimini Shark Lab’s professional team of Field Technicians.
Francesca Page is a Wildlife fine art watercolour painter, Scientific Illustrator, published digital illustrator, wildlife Photographer, Dive Professional and storyteller who is on a life long mission to save wildlife through art. She specializes in colour and handmade UV sensitive watercolour paint to capture the colour show of nature beyond our gaze. Francesca’s ocean encounters and photos inspire her artwork, which aim’s to capture the beauty of nature which allows you to fall in love with it and ultimately want to protect it. “Art helps to provoke feeling and passion, which I believe is the foundation to taking the first steps into anthropogenic consciousness.”
“You must first become the fish in order to paint it” - Francesca Page
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The workshop will be held at the Bimini Biological Field Station (the Shark Lab), a relatively isolated research facility on the island of South Bimini, Bahamas, 46 miles across the Gulf Stream from Miami, Florida. Workshop dates for 2023 are TBD.
Days will be a combination of classroom based art lessons by Francesca Page and scientific lectures by the Shark Lab's researchers, and trips in the field to interact with a variety of sharks, rays and marine life.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN WITH FRANCESCA
"My dreams and visions for the trip is to create a workshop that allows people to broaden their creative minds, develop on their artistic skills and learn how to turn ocean encounters into meaningful art. By conducting drawing and sketching workshops I hope to grow peoples technical drawing skills and also to see the world from a different perspective. By getting out into the field with our sketch books and being with the subject matter this will allow a greater connection and understanding to grow which can be channeled into art.
The ocean drives my art, without these special and intimate moments under the waves my art simply wouldn’t exist. I believe you must first become the fish in order to paint it and by doing this workshop we will be connecting people with sharks and marine life they have never seen before. Married together with shark biology and conservation workshops will allow a deeper understanding and knowledge which will in turn benefit the artworks to come.
I hope people leave this trip with a new perspective and deeper understanding about sharks, having experienced once in a life time shark encounters. And leaving this trip with a new perspective on the creative mind, new drawing and painting techniques and lots of inspiration to fuel artworks to come."
1. Drawing & sketching workshops - Quick sketching workshops out in the field consisting of 1-10 minute long sketching exercises aiming to get you to loosen up your mind and drawing abilities, using your eyes more acutely and becoming more aware or your surroundings.
2. Colour theory, composition and painting ideas workshops. Teaching the fundamentals to using composition in your artwork to create a more visually pleasing and eye catching image.
3. Painting workshop - introduction to watercolour, techniques and ways to use it to your advantage when painting the ocean.
Aims from the art workshops: we aim for the guests to fill a sketch book with sketches of the local environment & marine creatures, drawing & watercolour techniques, painting ideas and a place to play for new artworks to form. We want people to leave with a new perspective, passion and inspiration for their own artistic practice!
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN WITH THE SHARK LAB
1. Lectures including: A history of the Bimini Shark Lab's 32 years of shark research; lessons on basic shark anatomy; a shark workup demonstration; presentations on ongoing research projects.
2. Daily field activities including snorkelling a coral bed teeming with reef sharks; interacting with juvenile lemon sharks among a mangrove-fringed nursery; sitting in waist deep water at a beautiful white sand beach surrounded by southern stingrays; snorkelling seagrass beds with sea turtles and more!
Activities in the field may be physically taxing. Bimini is a sub-tropical climate, and field activities will be conducted in the hot sun, on boats and surrounded by water. While there is no diving or snorkelling experience necessary, we want to make sure applicants will be comfortable and safe in and around the ocean.
COURSE FEES & WHAT'S INCLUDED?
The price for this course for 2023 is TBD and includes round trip charter flights from Fort Lauderdale (Tropic Ocean Airways at Sheltair) to Bimini International Airport (BIM), shared accommodations at one of the holiday homes on the island, three meals a day (we are able to accomodate vegetarian meals, unfortunately we are unable to provide vegan meals), all field excursions, and course instruction by Francesca Page and the Shark Lab's team of Field Technicians.
The course is open to a maximum of 14 participants and will run if at least 7 register. We ask that a non-refundable down payment of $500 USD be paid within 14 days of acceptance to reserve your place. 50% of your total payment must be paid 2 months prior to your visit, and full payment for the Workshop must be made at least 4 weeks prior to your visit. Acceptance is on a first come, first serve basis, so your deposit will secure a place on the course.
The Shark Lab is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is run on a shoestring budget. The prices we advertise are calculated to cover entirety of the trip, and a donation to support our three Missions. All donations to the station are tax deductible and we can provide receipts on request.
Field activities are weather and tide dependent and may include:
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Interacting with juvenile lemon sharks in pristine mangrove habitat
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Snorkelling with free swimming Caribbean reef sharks, blacktip sharks, lemon sharks and nurse sharks
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Interacting with southern stingrays on a white sand beach
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Snorkelling coral reef, mangrove and seagrass habitats
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Snorkelling with sea turtles at the famous SS Sapona shipwreck
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Potential encounters with great hammerhead sharks, spotted eagle rays, Atlantic spotted dolphins, or bottlenose dolphins and more marine wildlife
SUBMIT YOUR INQUIRY FORM
This workshop is open to anyone with an interest in art and science, but we do ask that guests have a basic understanding of art fundamentals so that we may jump straight into the workshop activities. Guests under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a guardian, and with limited spaces available it is preferred if both child/guardian have an interest in participating in all activities and classes.
If you're ready to mix your art with science, submit your inquiry form now!
SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Rosie’s Creative, LLC is a woman-owned small business located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Rosie’s Creative is offering one (1) grant in the amount of $3,000 for visual artists, and is intended to enable the recipient to attend the “Art Meets Science” Workshop offered by the Bimini Biological Field Station.
Rosie’s Creative is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and fostering mutual support for the diverse beliefs and values of individuals and groups working together to learn, educated, and contribute to marine conservation.
Special thanks to Rosie's Creative for helping to bring this workshop idea to life and for providing a scholarship award!