I’ve been working hard to finish up some of the unpainted sketches I brought home from my Italy trip last fall. Here’s a composite page I did the day we visited the medieval hilltop village of Certaldo alto… Since I taught two week-long workshops at Fattoria Bacio this past year, I had two visits to […]
Category: Workshops
Fun in the Mountains – Our Winter Painting Retreat in WV
Our winter painting getaway at Stonewall Resort in West Virginia was a huge success! Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at our time together… Stonewall Resort, Roanoke, WV Eighteen of us gathered to paint and relax for three days with nothing more to worry about than what to order for lunch. We had a cozy meeting room […]
Chapel Sketch + GIVEAWAY
This is one of my favorite sketches so far in my 2016 Tuscany travel journal… 10″ x 7″, ink & watercolor in a Handbook Field Watercolor Journal I had pre-painted the page earlier with watery washes of blue, yellow, and burnt sienna and let it dry thoroughly. I did a little bit of planning for […]
Best Friends Sketch + GIVEAWAY
There is plenty to smile about when staying at Fattoria Bacio, where my workshop was held last September and October. There are the incomparable views, of course… and the historic buildings… the vineyards… the olive groves… the pool… the chapel… and the sketch-worthy scenes everywhere you look… But the one thing that not only made […]
Tuscan Hills Sketch + GIVEAWAY
It felt good to finally arrive at Fattoria Bacio and have a chance to settle in for two full weeks. Home Sweet Home…temporarily We made it! It was as beautiful as ever… And there were just as many cats as last year, if not more. Kitties routinely get dropped off at Fattoria Bacio, and the […]
New Workshops for 2017 & 2018
I just wrapped up a full year of 2016 classes and have been busily working on my schedule for next year. I’ve had so many exciting opportunities coming my way in recent months, and I can’t wait to tell you about them! 2017 is shaping up to be an exciting year for me, with local […]
Italy – Pisa and Cinque Terre
Hello from Italy! It’s been a whirlwind week since I left Pittsburgh with seven friends, bound for Rome. The trip was grueling, but we finally landed in Rome, and after several hours of standing in security lines and customs lines, we took off for Pisa where we were picked up by a driver to take […]
“Sketch Your Life!” Workshop at Summerhill
Last weekend I hosted my first three-day “Sketch Your Life!” workshop here at my home, and we all had a great time exploring the possibilities of sketchbook journaling. I injured my toe when I was rearranging furniture for the workshop. Ouch!! I ended up with a nasty infection, but it’s healing nicely now, thank goodness! […]
Sketches from Maine – Part 2
Picture yourself sitting in an Adirondack chair somewhere along the coast of Maine, water gently lapping at the shore in front of you and seagulls soaring lazily overhead. The sun is sinking low in the sky and there’s a stillness in the air, as if the earth is holding its breath, waiting for darkness to […]
Maine Workshop (Part II)
(Read Part I here.) I spend a lot of time preparing for my workshops. Ask anyone who has taken one from me. I give my students hefty handouts loaded with information, and I try to tune in to their needs as artists and help them in any way I can while we’re together. I spend […]