Collingwood’s Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts is launching a three-part Colour Theory and Painting Series with instructor Heather Smiley beginning Monday, January 5, 2026. The sessions will be hosted at the BMFA’s main hub at 65 Simcoe Street (Studio 4) with additional workshops in Blue Mountain Village.
The series is designed for beginner and intermediate painters looking to sharpen their skills in mixing hues and capturing light in landscape scenes. Over three sessions beginning January 5, participants will explore basic colour theory, practical mixing techniques and how seasonal light affects outdoor paintings.
Heather Smiley, a York University Fine Arts graduate and Collingwood-based landscape artist, will lead hands-on exercises and provide instructor feedback tailored to the class. “For me, the landscape is a vehicle for exploring our emotional relationship with light, colour and location in the natural world,” Smiley says.
Smiley returned to painting full-time after a 30-year career outside the arts and is known for an approachable, process-oriented teaching style. Her work and methods are discussed on her artist website and in local profiles, and she has previously headlined exhibitions at the BMFA.
Registration is open through the BMFA official website (bmfa.on.ca); membership typically offers discounted workshop rates. This series launches part of the BMFA’s 2026 winter programming and follows the closing of the Winter’s Gift holiday exhibition on January 3, 2026. Local artists and adult learners in South Georgian Bay are encouraged to sign up early to develop their technical handling of colour and light under Smiley’s instruction.
