I have awesome news to share —– I’m going to be teaching in Provence in 2017! When the lavender is in bloom! Can you imagine anything prettier? I’ve been working with the folks at French Escapade, who have years of experience organizing artist tours, to plan our trip. Jackie Grandchamps is the owner of French […]
Category: Travel
Highs and Lows
My teaching trip to San Clemente was made up of a series of highs and lows. The highs were: the flowers… the beaches… and my wonderful students at San Clemente Art Supply… The low point was this… Yep, I got the flu while I was in California. I had to cancel my one-day “Sketching […]
Sarasota Farmer’s Market
One last sketch from Florida… 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, ink & watercolor in a Stillman and Birn Alpha series sketchbook It was too windy to sketch outside on the day I visited the Sarasota Farmer’s market with my sketching buddies, so we snapped pictures and headed for a warm, cozy Starbucks nearby. There, we spread out […]
Thumbnail Sketches – All Dressed Up!
One of the lessons I taught my students while in Tuscany was about using thumbnail sketches to zero in on a scene and test out various compositional options. I suggested using a separate sketchbook page for the thumbnails and later turning that page, with its accumulation of tiny scenes, into a dynamic page in its […]
2016 Tuscany Workshop
Imagine yourself wandering through the cobblestone streets of this medieval hilltop village in Tuscany. You stop at a sidewalk cafe for a cappuccino and pull out your sketchbook to begin drawing an ancient stone building across the way. Sip…….look……..paint……..see. This is the way we experience Tuscany, taking the time to meander and explore, or to […]
Day Trip to San Gimignano and Saying Goodbye to Tuscany
It had been a fantastic week at Fattoria Bacio and our final days gave us more of the same. The sunrise Thursday morning was spectacular… and the skies cleared by breakfast time, forecasting a perfect day for our trip to San Gimignano. But as we ate our breakfast, a stealthy fog began to fill the […]
Hanging Around the Villa
After a full day in the bustling city of Siena, it was nice to have some time to relax at the villa on Wednesday. Wednesday morning, and every morning, when I woke up and looked out my window, I just had to smile…I was in Italy! One of my sketches of the view from the […]
Fabulous Fattoria Bacio
We’re happily ensconced at Fattoria Bacio now and loving every minute of our time in this beautiful place. The villa is perched on top of a hill, surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and hilltop homes. It couldn’t be prettier and the amount of visual stimulation for an artist is almost overwhelming! I feel like I’m […]
Fun in Florence!
We finally made it to Florence! Yesterday’s frustrations were forgotten after a good night’s sleep and a delicious breakfast. We set out on foot in the late morning and took in lots of the popular sights as we meandered around the city. We didn’t see everything we wanted to, but we had a good sampling […]
The Day We Were Supposed to Be in Florence :(
Guess where I am……………no, not Florence…… Hint: Look at the magazine covers. Yes, I’m in Paris! For eight long hours. In the Charles DeGaulle Airport, waiting for a flight to Florence. This isn’t what I envisioned when I dreamed of seeing Paris someday. Our flight was delayed last night out of Pittsburgh, causing us to […]
