Red Rock Paint Out with Caroline Reid (NEW!)

What if you could paint one of Canberra’s secret places?

This supervised plein air event will sharpen your observation skills and introduce to you a secret painting location, beloved of rock climbers and bird enthusiasts.

Dates: 12 April 2026
Day/Time: Sunday, 8.30am – 4pm
Location: Starting at Kambah pool.

Our Red Rock workshop is weather dependent and will be rescheduled should it be raining on the day.

If this course books out, please contact us if you would like to be added to a wait list for this or future classes.

Course Description:

Join Master Pastelliste Caroline Reid for an immersive en plein air painting day at little-known Red Rock Gorge on the Murrumbidgee River, one of Canberra’s most striking and lesser-known picnic spots.

This dramatic gorge, with its vivid red cliffs, marks one of the narrowest passages of the mighty Murrumbidgee River. Participants will explore how morning and afternoon light reveal the contrasting volcanic and sedimentary rock formations on either side of the canyon, and learn to capture the shifting atmosphere and character of the river throughout the day. 

Working on location, you’ll sketch, photograph, and paint using your preferred medium, developing both observation skills and expressive response to place. We will break hallway through with a relaxed shared picnic lunch, allowing time to reflect, connect, and enjoy this remarkable environment together.

Learning Outcomes:

• Setting up for outdoor painting Outdoor watercolour, pen and ink sketching
  Composition selection.

• Observation of shadows.

• Finish an en plein air landscape painting.

• Take away some photographs to continue painting at home.

Level of experience: Suitable for students 16+ at all skill levels.

Materials List: 

• Water colour sketch book
• Backing board
• Oil or acrylic Paints or pastels (or an other medium you wish)
• Watercolour kit
  
• Brushes, mediums
• Pencil and pen
• Hat
• Backpack
• Water bottle and your lunch
• Plastic bag to sit on
• Hiking shoes
• Iphone, IPAD or camera
• Binoculars if you wish (try to spot a falcon)

Field Trip:

• Drive to the Kambah Pool carpark in the southern Canberra suburb of Kambah
• From central Canberra it’s about 20 minutes by car.
• There’s free parking at the Kambah Pool carpark, and basic facilities like toilets
• From the Kambah Pool carpark, there’s a marked walking track that follows part of the Murrumbidgee Discovery Track toward the gorge.
• The gorge lookout is a short but scenic walk — roughly 2–3 km one way along the river path, depending on exactly where you stop for views.
• The trail is popular with walkers and cyclists alike, and you’ll pass varied riverscenery on the way.
• There is an easy but slippery scramble down into the gorge and back.

About the Outdoor Venue:
Red Rock Gorge is part of the Murrumbidgee River Corridor in Canberra’s southern region. It’s located near the Kambah Pool area on the western side of the Murrumbidgee River, within the Bullen Range Nature Reserve — a section of the scenic Murrumbidgee Discovery Track. The gorge sits along the river corridor that runs south from central Canberra toward the Tuggeranong and Pine Island areas.

Each year, Red Rocks cliff and the immediate area are closed to protect nesting Peregrine Falcons from August to January.

About the tutor:

“Love Where You Live”

Caroline Reid is a contemporary landscape artist based in Canberra. She draws deep inspiration from the rugged, semi-alpine terrain that surrounds her—flanked by mountain ranges to the east and west, and the Snowy Mountains to the south.

Though art has always been part of her life, Caroline spent many years working in science and industry policy, leaving little time to pursue a professional art career. It was through plein air painting that she reconnected with her creative practice, using it as a path to physical and emotional recovery, grounded in her profound care for the natural world.

For Caroline, the life force in nature is endlessly restorative. She is especially drawn to the wild beauty of Kosciuszko National Park and the remote areas of Namadgi National Park. There, the movement of water and the warmth of sunlight are more than just elements—they’re the vital energies that breathe life into the landscapes she paints.

Her work spans a variety of styles, from realism to impressionism, with a particular love for soft pastel and watercolour as her mediums of choice.

NatureArt Lab Awards:

2022, Telstra Best of Business Award Winner for Promoting Sustainability, ACT; and National Finalist Award

2024, Telstra Best of Business Award Winner for Building Communities, ACT; and National Finalist Award

2025, Telstra Best of Business Award Finalist for Promoting Sustainability, ACT; and Finalist for Accelerating Women, ACT

2025, Awards Australia Semi-Finalist for Connecting Communities, NSW and ACT; and Semi-Finalist for Small Business Award NSW and ACT. 

Image credits: Caroline Reid