Instructors
Founder Robert Garden 1937-2022
Robert H. Garden, a West Virginia native and a graduate of the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida, where he earned an MBA in Art. Over a distinguished career spanning more than 50 years, he worked in both commercial and fine art, with commissions ranging from museum dioramas to large-scale convention center murals. A Premier Gallery Artist, author, lecturer, and master teacher, Robert was accomplished in oil and watercolor. He developed the Robert Garden Method to address the lack of effective art instruction, successfully teaching beginning and advanced artists to paint with confidence and complete a finished painting in three hours or less.
Robert received the Silver Cup Art Award, the highest honor from the Corpus Christi Art Association, for two consecutive years and was a lifetime member of the Rockport, Texas Art Association. He was proficient in fine art restoration and selected for the restoration of a painting valued at three million dollars.
An author of two books, a video series, and co-host of an instructional painting pilot for public television, Robert Garden was featured on national television and in publications across the United States. He continued to share his passion for painting through workshops throughout the U.S. and abroad. Robert’s artistic journey began on a farm in West Virginia at the age of seven. Using his mother’s cosmetics and berry juices for paint, window shades and scrap materials for canvases, and brushes fashioned from his cat’s and dog’s tails, he sold his first painting at a sidewalk art show in Wheeling, West Virginia, for $80 at just eight years old. That early spark grew into a lifelong passion.
Today, the Robert Garden Method of painting lives on through accredited instructors and through his wife and daughter, who continue sharing his passion with artists of all ages.
Susan Garden
Susan Garden is an award-winning artist, muralist, and educator, and a proud graduate of the University of Texas. A member of the Irving Art Association and the National Speakers Association, Susan has been teaching the Robert Garden Method for more than 40 years, sharing her expertise with students of all ages. She has exhibited her work in galleries and has been featured on live television.
Alongside her husband, Robert Garden, Susan developed a unique line of art education materials, including books, videos, art supplies, and co-hosted the educational television series You Can Paint. She loves painting en plein air on location and also hosts painting cruises, including two sold-out weeks each October for Robert Garden Arts Annual You Can Paint Beaches week long painting retreat on the Padre Island Gulf Coast. While oil is her favorite medium, she also specializes in teaching watercolor, oil pastels, and charcoal.
Last summer, Susan, along with their certified instructors, taught over 2,500 children in the Dallas/Fort Worth area through Adventures in Art Camps. Through her teaching, gallery work, and workshops, Susan continues to inspire creativity and nurture artists of all ages, carrying forward a lifelong passion for painting.
Christen Garden
Christen Garden is an artist and educator who has been teaching since 2007 and continues the artistic legacy of her father, master artist and teacher Robert H. Garden. As the only daughter of two artists, she grew up immersed in the creative process and developed a deep appreciation for both fine art and teaching from an early age.
An accredited instructor of the Robert Garden Method of painting, Christen helps artists of all ages gain confidence and complete a finished painting in just a few hours. She teaches in more than 15 Parks and Recreation programs across the DFW Metroplex, specializing in watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting. Christen also works with special needs students and teaches in numerous senior centers, creating inclusive and supportive environments where artists of all abilities can explore, learn, and grow.
Alongside her mother, she carries forward her father’s teaching philosophy, ensuring that his legacy continues to inspire and educate new generations of artists.