A working studio built on the atelier tradition, teaching by the side of the easel, one student at a time.
Greengate Atelier grew out of a simple idea: that anyone can learn to draw and paint if they are taught patiently, from the fundamentals up.
The studio takes its name from its home on Greengate Road. Inside, the walls are hung with portraits, seascapes and studies. Some are by the instructors, many by students who began as complete beginners.
Students come from across Sydney's North Shore, children and adults, side by side through the week. Mornings might hold a quiet children's class; evenings, a Paint n' Sip or a private lesson working toward a finished canvas. The thread through all of it is care, and a love of the craft.
Nasser works in black pen, coloured pencil, pastel, and live drawing, with a particular love for the patient realism of portraiture.
Across his career he has taught close to four hundred students. Many have gone on to professional practice or to teach the craft themselves.
A North Shore painter, Elnaz has painted since childhood and works between impressionism and realism in oil, coloured pencil, and acrylic.
In twenty years she has guided around three hundred and fifty students from beginner to advanced. She has a gift for nurturing children’s imagination in a calm, kind room.