[Cornish painter]

I did the Venice workshop along with Fred (hi Fred!). I've subscribed for a while to the VAA and was thrilled to be able to go to one of Barry's workshops.
It was everything that Fred says it was. So interesting and informative, but you've got to want to learn. The more you are prepared to put in, the more you will got out of it. Many 'eureka' moments.
Barry's a great teacher. My friend came with me, a total non-painter, and she loved it too. It opened her eyes as much as mine.
This year we went to the museum workshop in Madrid at the Prado with Barry to see the huge Sorolla exhibition and to study his work. It was truly wonderful.
The online study is fantastic but nothing beats going along to a workshop if you can manage to do so. It has fed through into improving my paintings no end. (Although it's often a case of...the more you learn, the more you realise there is to learn).