Painting Abstract Barns:
Character, Shapes, Color, and Texture

Live and Online

Would you like to add the character, shapes, and textures of barns to your abstract landscape paintings? 
​And play with color in the process?
​Learn how here!

Three Abstract Barn paintings • © Karen Lynn Ingalls

Barns have stories to tell. As time passes, communities evolve, and agriculture changes, they stand as quiet reminders of our history and heritage.

Each one was designed with a purpose — hay barns, dairy barns, chicken barns, and more — and each has its own sense of place, and, if it's been around for generations, the passing of time.

​Their old timbers, faded paint, and steadfast silhouettes hold stories of endurance; time; and lives lived in close connection with, and dependence on, the earth.

Old barn between Hancock and Rochester, southern Vermont

Live online class  •  with artist and teacher Karen Lynn Ingalls
Sunday afternoons, 1-4 PM Pacific Time
November 2, 9, 17, 23
& December 7, 2025
​Bonus Follow-up Meeting after the holidays: January 4, 2025
Plus extra on-demand resources & live Q&A sessions in between each meeting

In this class, you will discover and explore:

• Choosing the colors of your palette
• How to find interesting photos of barns to paint (in addition to ones that I will send you as resources that you are welcome to work from)
• The shapes of barns
• Drawing barns in perspective
• Underpainting options
• A variety of different approaches to painting barns abstractly — and the landscape around them — so you can try out each approach, and see what you enjoy the most)
• Using different mark-making tools, including brushes, palette knives, and more
• Adding collage, relief printing, and texture

Three more abstract barn paintings • © Karen Lynn Ingalls

COMING SOON:  Karen is currently painting more examples of different approaches you'll be learning about in class, including paintings incorporating collage, relief printing, and different mark-making tools.

Before we meet, you'll also get access to videos and printouts about: 

• How to discover your painting personality — who are you, as a painter? And which approach to creating a painting is truly you? 
• How to prepare your materials for painting, so you'll be ready to put it all into action during our live classes! 
• Choosing the colors of your palette
• Mixing colors
• How to mix neutral colors — browns and grays
• Different kinds of paint brushes, and which ones you'll need for this class   

How we'll be exploring this...

In each live online lesson:
You will explore one or more different approaches to creating an abstract landscape painting, with:

• Direct instruction on Zoom, so you can ask questions and share observations
• Time-lapse video demonstrations by your teacher – so you can see each process in action, and learn different techniques you can apply

You will be introduced to each method, one at a time, with examples, and a time lapse video demonstration, illustrating, and explaining the process.

​Then, you'll have time to paint and explore, on a small scale, so you can put what you've learned into practice, and try it out on more than one piece, in less time.

Next, we'll regroup, so you can share what you've created, and ask any questions you may have. Then we repeat the process, so you can try out two or three different methods in each three hour session.

You will get video recordings of each live class, too, so you can review it later, at any time.
​

Red Haybarn (loosely based on Karen's barn studio) • © Karen Lynn Ingalls

During the following week:
You can continue to explore and develop what you're learning, when it's convenient for you.

We'll have Q&A sessions on Wednesday evenings, 6:30 PM Pacific Time, that you can join (it's optional) to:

• Ask any questions you may have, 
• Share what you've been doing, 
• And see the work of your fellow students.

When we meet again, you'll be able to:

• Follow up with any questions,
• Share what you've been doing,
• And see the work of your fellow students,

before we dive into the next new approaches to painting abstract barns.

Several weeks after our last class (after the holidays),
we'll meet for a Bonus Follow-up session on January 4th, to: 

• Share what you've been doing;
• See the creative directions all the other participants are taking;
• And ask any questions that have come up for you in the meantime. 

Abstract barn surrounded by trees — a painting in process • © Karen Lynn Ingalls

Creating paintings like these is fun!

You have permission to play with color, shape, texture, mark-making, and more — 
and what you're creating honors the heritage of these structures, and our own ancestral connections to the land, while they're still with us

Sounds great - sign me up!

Who is this class for?  This class is designed for both:

• People who've done at least some painting with acrylics, so they might consider themselves a beginner if it comes to landscape painting,
• and more experienced painters.

What kind of paint do I need? 

• Preferably acrylics — especially since you will be using acrylic medium to incorporate collage into your painting, when we get to that point. 

What's different about this course? 

What sets this course apart is our exploration of a wide variety of different ways to approach, create, and think about painting barns in the landscape in an abstract way. 

You have the opportunity to try them all out, and see what resonates most with you — what most helps you discover, and develop your own, unique visual voice. 

Because there's only one you in the world — and if your distinct visual voice — your style — was missing, the world would miss out. It's not about copying, or painting like the teacher. It's about you painting like YOU.

And we don't do critiques! Judgment and criticism can impede and impair the creative process. Instead, Karen uses a troubleshooting process she's developed that helps you figure out what isn't working in your paintings, without judgment or criticism. Though it's not the focus of this class, she'll be glad to go through it with you, so you can apply it to your paintings whenever you feel stuck.

Because the LAST thing you need is criticism impairing your creativity — the world needs what you have to share!

When: Sunday afternoons, 1-4 PM Pacific Time, beginning November 2, 2025
November 2, 9, 26, & 23 (off for Thanksgiving weekend) & December 7th
Plus Bonus follow-up meeting January 4, 2026.
Plus Wednesday Q & A sessions - 6:30 PM Pacific Time
Where: Live & on Zoom, from wherever you are
How much: $247 (less than $42 per class, including the Bonus follow-up gathering — and less than $25 a session, if you include our Q&As!)​

Super - Sign me up!

About your teacher 

Karen Lynn Ingalls is an artist and credentialed teacher who has under her belt a lifetime of making art, over 25 years of showing her artwork professionally, over 20 years of teaching art to adults (mostly) and years of teaching high school before that. 

Ingalls has been interviewed about her art and art projects for podcasts, radio, and television; and images of and articles about her artwork have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. She was honored when one of her paintings was even featured on a billboard. 

She loves teaching, loves seeing her students' joy as their artwork evolves and blossoms, and especially loves how, as they grow, each of her students brings more beauty and joy into the world — and that makes this world a better place. ​

FAQs

​Is this like a Paint-and-Sip-type class, where the students copy what the teacher demonstrates?

• No, most definitely not!
• You will learn how to actually paint YOUR OWN paintings, not to copy what someone else is doing.
• Because the whole point is to be creative, right? Not to be a copyist. (You can sip if you like — that's your choice!)

​
Do we need to buy large canvases to paint on?

• No, we'll be working on smaller surfaces in class (on watercolor paper).
• You may want to work on panels or canvases after the first couple of classes, but keeping them small will work best (such as from 6"x 6" to 8"x 10", to 11"x 14" or 12"x 12" at most).

Why will we work small in class?

• You can experiment with more than one piece in a short time.
• It's easier to try new things out.
• It's less intimidating, so you'll feel freer to explore and experiment.
• You're welcome to create larger paintings during the week, if you want. It's completely up to you!

​What if I have to miss one of the class sessions?

• You can watch it on the video recording replay, after it's edited and shared to the website.

​Are your classes real, or are they created by Artificial Intelligence?

• They are most definitely real, and not created by AI!
• Karen Lynn Ingalls has been teaching art to adults for over 20 years, and creating art all her life. What she teaches is what she's developed over decades of painting and teaching.
• Her classes are proprietary — and she doesn't know anyone who teaches this in this way. You'll be introduced to more ways to dive into abstract landscape painting here than anywhere else she knows of — and in ways that free you to experiment and feel comfortable.
• (Too bad we need to clarify that, isn't it? But that's the world we live in!)

Recap: Dates & Times — Sunday afternoons, Pacific Time

And if you can't attend during class, you can watch it on demand later during the week, after the recordings are edited and posted. (Karen will be adjusting to our new class platform, and she hopes to be able to get them up for you within 72 hours, once she's gotten it all figured out.)

Give yourself 3 hours to watch and paint, and you can share and ask questions at that week's Q&A session or our next live virtual class. You'll get login information once everything is set up.

November 2, 9, 16, & 23 •  1 - 4 PM Pacific Time: Live online 3-hour class, with learning and painting time
December 7  •  1 - 4 PM PT

​Q & A Sessions — Wednesday evenings, Pacific Time:

November 5, 12, & 19  •  6:30 PM Pacific Time:  Live online Q&A session — and you're more than welcome to send in what you've been creating, to share with the rest of the class, along with asking any questions that may have popped up for you in the meantime.
Off for Thanksgiving holiday week
December 3  (& we may add December 10th if everyone in class wants that extra day, and can squeeze it in around the holidays) •  6:30 PM PT

​And our Bonus Follow-up Session:
January 4 •  1 PM Pacific Time: Bonus follow-up session for sharing what you've created, and Q&A time

Sign me up — I'm in!

Questions? You can email Karen at NapaValleyArtWorkshops AT sonic.net, or call her for more information at (707) 332-7400. (Leave a voicemail, and she will get back to you as soon as she can.)