For the past 8 years I have spent a week each July painting in Stonington, Maine, at a workshop led by Jon Imber.   (I did not attend in 2002, having travelled to Vietnam earlier in the year.)   These workshops have been very important in my development as a painter.  Jon is a very good artist and teacher and the opportunity to talk with him about my work has been a wonderful experience.  The workshop is conducted in a very relaxed manner with individual discussions during the day and group critiques each evening.  But, it is also a fairly intense painting experience; getting up each morning and setting out with the intention of completing a painting by the end of the day (sometimes 2 paintings).  In addition, being in the workshop has allowed me to meet and interact with a number of other painters and learn from them as well.