Did I really do that? — Five days painting with Pomm, February 2027

February 8–12, 2027 / Fifteen artists

“Did I really do that?”

We asked students what they wanted most from a year of painting. One of them wrote that sentence. It is the reason this exists — and in February, fifteen people are going to say it out loud in a room in Florida with Pomm standing behind them.

When: Feb 8–12, 2027
Where: The Vinoy, St. Pete
Places: Fifteen
Per artist: $8,000

Take one of the fifteen What you leave with

Before the logistics, the point

What you fly home with.

A painting you'd actually hang

Bring the painting you feel is a challenge in watercolor, because Pomm will be right by your side. Bring two if you're ambitious — some will.

Her eye, and you can't give it back

Actually seeing contrast and value in real life — and having Pomm show you how to put that on your paper, guiding you with her eye — is what makes this special.

Watching Pomm with fourteen other artists

You'll watch her guide fourteen other artists through their barriers to a final, beautiful piece. It is a special experience, watching Pomm touch a painting.

A special gift

Pomm's brand new paints in her signature box, signed by her. And a few other goodies she hasn't told us about yet.

Friends and experiences

Socialize with Pomm and the other artists, and share your successes with them — at a breakfast together on the first morning, dinner together on the last, and a Fine Art Museum most of you will walk on the Friday.

The loop

By Wednesday, you stop asking what to do next.

On Monday, you begin with stretched watercolor paper, your drawing in place, and your photo.

I come to you throughout the day. I always begin with what you're doing well. Then we look closer. I may point to an area no larger than a square inch — a value that needs to deepen, an edge that needs to soften, a place where you're losing the light.

I don't just tell you what to do. I show you. Then I hand the brush back to you. And little by little, something changes.

By the third day, instead of asking “What do I do next?” you're saying, “I think I know what this needs.” That's why we're here.

You arrive with a drawing on blank paper. You leave not only with a painting, but with a better eye.

Artists holding the watercolors they finished with Pomm — Boards down, work up.

I don't just tell you what to do. I show you. Then I hand the brush back.

Foundation wash: Your lightest layer, where you cover every inch of your painting.
Dry brush: Knowing exactly how much water to use for detail work — seeing it live, and testing it.
Shadow layer: Where your painting starts to take shape, with Pomm beside you for your first shadow.
Deep detail: Bringing out more detail. Learning where to bring it out, and how much to add.
Shadow pop: Her finishing secret — the touch that makes a stranger lean in.

February 8–12, 2027

Five days. Four of them with a brush in your hand.

Four days of pure bliss, in a calm environment. A brush in your hand, Pomm overseeing your movements and encouraging you. Painting runs 10 to 4 — move at your own pace.

Monday 8 Feb

Breakfast together at 9:30, then day one, 1–4. You meet Pomm and the fourteen others over breakfast before a single brush comes out — most people arrive not knowing anybody who paints, and that lasts about an hour. The rest of the morning is yours: settle in, unpack your materials, walk the waterfront. Boards down at one.

Tuesday 9 Feb

Day two, 10–4. More painting. Most people will be starting their shadows.

Wednesday 10 Feb

Day three, 10–4. Concentrating on detail work, and learning from other people's paintings too — whether it's wrought iron or lace, learning the detail.

Thursday 11 Feb

Day four, 10–4, then dinner together. Finishing, the shadow pop, and the part where you stand back and look at what you've done. Then everyone celebrates together over dinner and shares their success.

Friday 12 Feb

Museum of Fine Arts, and lunch with Pomm — optional, and included. Walking a gallery with someone who can tell you how each painting was built, and why it works, is an education you can't buy by the hour. Come if you'd like to; nobody minds if you'd rather fly home or spend the day at the beach.

Why fifteen

Sixteen is one more than she can reach.

Not fifteen because it sounds exclusive. Fifteen because she has six hours a day and she refuses to leave anybody sitting alone with a wash going wrong. She'd rather turn people away.

There's no countdown clock on this page and there won't be one. There are fifteen chairs. Institute members heard first, and going by how quickly the Institute itself filled, we expect the fifteen to be taken this month. There are fifteen chairs — that's the only deadline here.

The person standing over your paper

Forty years in, still taking classes.

Her originals: $30,000 to $80,000, and they sell out.
The Saturday Evening Post: Came and found her, and commissioned the cover — the magazine Norman Rockwell painted 321 covers for. They came because a painting she'd made of her daughter had the light, the shadow and the story in it, and it spoke to them.
Her 9/11 painting: Hangs in around thirty firehouses around the world.
Collectors: Priscilla Presley, Nancy Cartwright, Kirstie Alley, David Hasselhoff, and numerous others.
First show she ever entered: Santa Monica, forty years ago. First place, and she sold a piece off the wall.
How she paints: Pure transparent watercolor, the way competition rules demand: no masking fluid, no white paint, no black paint. Her wrought-iron black is ultramarine and burnt umber, layered until you'd swear you could put your hand through the gap.
What she still does: Studies — most recently at the Florence Academy of Art — and hands everything she learns straight to her students.

Her work

Look closely. There's an apple in every one.

Splendid Memories by Pomm — *Splendid Memories*Transparent watercolor

A Perfect Moment by Pomm — *A Perfect Moment*Transparent watercolor

Far and Away by Pomm — *Far and Away*Transparent watercolor

A watercolor by Pomm — *Tranquility*Transparent watercolor

The setting

A pink hotel on the water, since 1925.

The Vinoy has stood on the St. Petersburg waterfront for a hundred years. Barrel-tile roofs, that stucco pink, the whole Mediterranean Revival business — built in an era that still assumed a building ought to be beautiful.

Which makes it an absurdly good place to spend four days learning to paint light. Walk out of the studio and the entire property is a reference photo: hard palm shadows across stucco, the bay going silver at five, February in Florida, while most of the country is under a grey sky.

The grounds, the veranda bar, the lobby bar, breakfast, and St. Pete Beach a short drive out.

The details

What's arranged, and what to arrange.

Everything you'll want to plan around, gathered in one place.

Your room

Most artists choose to stay at The Vinoy, which puts the studio an elevator ride from your door. Rooms are booked directly with the hotel. We don't have a negotiated group rate at present — if we secure one, everyone holding a place will hear first.

Travelling in

Tampa International is the nearest major airport, around forty minutes from the hotel. Flights and transfers are arranged individually, and the team is glad to talk through the options with you.

Meals

Three meals are included: breakfast together on Monday morning, dinner on Thursday after the last day of painting, and lunch at the museum on Friday. There are refreshments in the studio throughout the week. Every other meal — breakfasts, lunches and dinners — is yours to choose. Painting takes real energy, and you'll do better eating where and when it suits you than keeping to a timetable.

Materials

Pomm's paints are provided in her box. Bring your own brushes and usual kit. The full materials list comes to you when you reserve, and Megan will go through it with you on a call well before you fly.

Travelling with someone

Partners and friends are very welcome in St. Petersburg, and there's a great deal to enjoy while you're painting. The studio, the breakfast, the dinner and the museum day are reserved for the fifteen artists.

Dietary and personal needs

Tell us your dietary requirements when you reserve and we'll work with both venues to accommodate them wherever they can. Personal and medical arrangements are made individually — do let the team know early, and we'll share whatever we can about the hotel and the studio to help you plan.

February 8–12, 2027 / The Vinoy, St. Petersburg

$8,000

Per artist · Fifteen places

Take one of the fifteen

You can change your mind until 20 December 2026. Up to that date your money comes back, less $500 for preparation and card processing. After the 20th it's non-refundable — by then the painting space, the meals and your materials are bought and paid for.

If you'd rather speak to someone before spending this — about travel, about whether you're ready, about anything — write to hello@pommwatercoloracademy.com and someone will call you at a time that suits you.

The things people actually ask

Fair questions.

I'm a beginner. Do I belong in that room?

Yes, and this is the question we get most. Pomm teaches on a gradient — she never hands you more than you can succeed with, which is how she learned to teach children forty years ago and how she still works.

Before February, someone from the team calls you and helps you choose a subject, sort your materials and get your board stretched properly. You won't walk in cold.

I can't draw.

Trace it. Plenty of her students trace an outline from a photograph and paint that — it isn't cheating, it's how a great many working professionals do it. What you're learning here is watercolor: water, pigment, light, shadow. Drawing is a different skill and it is not the gate.

If you don't have a subject, she'll help you find one. She's done it for a lighthouse, a grandson on a beach, and shells.

What do I bring?

A stretched sheet of watercolor paper with a drawing on it you'd love to paint — two if you're ambitious. Your brushes and usual kit. Her paints are provided.

The full list, including exactly how she wants the board stretched, comes to you when you reserve, and you'll go through it on a call with Megan.

Is this the same thing as the Institute?

No. The Institute is the twelve-month programme you do from home. This is four days in a room with her, and it stands alone. Members are welcome, and so is anyone who's never bought anything from us.

Will she do this again?

She doesn't know, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. She has shows booked and collectors waiting on work. She may well do another if this one goes well — but we'd rather you didn't count on it.

Artists wanted.

She wears that sweater because she means it. Her whole argument is that talent is a story people tell to excuse bad teaching — that the only real gifts are the eye and the wanting, and everything after that is method you can be taught.

Four days to be inspired by Pomm, to create a masterpiece, and to have fun. How can you fail?