Paint Europe plein air painting trips with national award-winning artists & instructors -- Susan Abbott, Scott Hamill, Catherine Hearding, Lori McNee, Cynthia Rosen, Richard Scott and Nancy Tankersley -- are designed for painters of all levels... seasoned artists to beginning painters... to have a wonderful holiday of having fun and painting in beautiful Europe locations.

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You will capture the beauty of European landscapes in your own unique style in oil or watercolor... and bring home your paintings along with many treasured memories of your creative adventure.

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You don’t have to be a painter to come... and if you have always wanted to try painting this is the perfect time and place to start and learn.

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The small number of participants provides an intimate setting for painting. There are daily painting sessions, individual one-on-one instruction, and demonstrations by the instructors to improve your skills and expand your art experience. After each session we will have a group review to share with each other.

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Many trips include local-cuisine cooking classes and wine tasting sessions with regional experts, a welcome reception, cocktail hour soirees, a gala farewell dinner, and time for relaxation and shopping.

 

An optional group leisure walk is offered before breakfast for guests wanting some morning exercise to start their vacation day.

           

Guests stay in charming boutique and premiere/luxury hotels. Breakfasts are included. Guests can choose to explore on their own local bistros or go to Michelin star gourmet restaurants for lunch or dinner... yet everyone is invited to join group meals at specially selected local-cuisine restaurants.

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Non-painter friends and spouses of artists are invited to join the trips.

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2023 Paint Europe Trips

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• Portugal: Lisbon, Porto Duoro Valley -- May  8 - 14, 2023

• England: The Cotswolds -- May 15 - 21, 2023

• France: Paris with Tracy Burtz -- Coming for 2023 

• France: Normandy with Cynthia Rosen -- Coming for 2023 

• Italy: Tuscany/Florence with Scott Hamill -- September 3 - 9, 2023

• Italy: Amalfi Coast with Catherine Hearding -- September 17 - 23, 2023

• Greece: Hydra "Greek Islands" with Lori McNee -- October 9 - 14, 2023

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All are small group trips limited to 15 artists. Recommend signing up early!

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About

Nancy Tankersley

 

Nancy began her career as a portraitist but entered the gallery scene with figurative paintings of people at work and at leisure. Currently as she searches for the unpredictable, Nancy moves between landscape, figures and still life. Incorporating non- traditional tools , supports and technologies for her paintings she remains faithful to her impressionistic style.

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Active in the current plein air movement, and a founder of Plein Air Easton, Nancy travels worldwide participating in competitions, judging and teaching. In 2018,2019 and 2020 she was invited to be an instructor and demonstrator at the Plein Air Convention in Santa Fe and released two instructional videos with Lilliedahl Videos. In 2016 and 2017 she was invited to exhibit at the prestigious Masters Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. Recent honors include Best of Show at Parrsboro, Nova Scotia International Plein Air 2018, Best of Show at the Lighthouse Plein Air Festival 2017 and the Dickinson Award for Best Painting by a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society 2016 Annual Juried Exhibit. In 2019 she was selected to be the Featured Artist at the 49th Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland. 

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Nancy is a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society, the American Society for Marine Art, and the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters and also holds memberships in the Washington Society for Landscape Painters and the Salmagundi Club. Founder and Director of the Easton Studio, a workshops facility begun in Easton in 2010, the artist mentors and teaches workshops and also sponsors workshops by nationally known painters.

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Nancy's website:

www.nancytankersley.com

T: (410) 253-3641

E: tankersleyart@gmail.com

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About

Catherine Hearding

 

Catherine's Artist Statement:

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"My goal in painting is to portray the beauty of the ordinary. I want the viewers to see their surroundings from a different perspective. I want the viewers to feel the shapes as light hits the form and describes it, to see colors they might not expect. Minnesota winters are a subject that I enjoy painting because they are all about form and light and color. The shapes created by the snow and wind catch the light and create shadows that contain surprising color and are abstract in nature. To accomplish my goal, I try to focus on more intimate views of the landscape. Many of my landscapes have a high horizon line, thus focusing our attention on the foreground and the details we might pass over.

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I like to find the abstract in the realistic, whether by using shadows or by focusing in closely on a subject and cropping tightly. I am fascinated with how light falls on form, whether in the landscape or on a still life. Cast shadows are interesting, as they depict form and I use them to describe the shape of the landscape. Color and light are intertwined and affect how we see the landscape or a close-up subject. Light changes over the course of a day and from season to season. I like to explore those changes and use light to create a mood. Focusing on color, form and light and the relationships between these ideas is all a part of what I try to do in each of my paintings.

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Most of my paintings start with a poured watercolor wash over the entire sheet. The paper is toned with a wash of three primary colors, letting these colors mix freely on the paper. This creates a wonderful color transition across the page, helping to create movement for the eye. Before the wash is poured, the whites are saved by keeping those portions of the paper dry, or by using masking fluid. The color is poured, and this sets the mood for the entire painting, with this first wash of color shining through all of the eventual layers. The initial wash becomes the mid-value range of color. When this wash is dry, the dark values are added for contrast and the painting is finished with the detail. The colors that are used are chosen specifically for each painting and typically only 3-4 colors are used in a painting. This creates beautiful color harmony and bright, clean color."

 

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Catherine is a self-taught artist with more than 40 years of experience in watercolor. She has a BA degree in zoology and botany from the University of Montana (1974.) She works from her home studio in Lake Elmo, MN, and teaches classes and workshops in basic watercolor technique, color theory and composition.

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Catherine's website: 

www.chearding.com

T: (651) 777-8158

E: cathy@chearding.com

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About

Cynthia Rosen

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"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most."  John Ruskin.

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Cynthia's Artist Statement:

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"From a background making non-objective art in NYC to a move to Vermont, the tides changed and a passion for "plein air" took hold. This love of the outdoors is additionally translating into larger studio works as well.

 

Painting in the field to limitless color, ever changing light, and the sound of a spinning world engages and challenges both perceptions and expression. No sooner do I embark on one path when the road turns introducing new sights and inspirations, broadening my visual vocabulary with no end in sight.

 

Finding my voice, discovering a way to connect with and interpreting the organic and ephemeral nature of an ever-changing world, lies at the center of my interest and quest, through both improvisation and creating order."

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As an American contemporary post-impressionist, Cynthia offers creative and original fine art paintings. Renown for her palette knife paintings and colorful landscapes, she has achieved note for her modern interpretation of the world around us.  Often found in the field painting from life, Cynthia is considered one of the most creative outdoor painters on the scene today and has received invitations to plein air events and shows both around the country and abroad.  

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While the focus of Cynthia's work is often celebrating the outdoors in art, her fascination with color and the ever-changing nature of life provides views of a personal and vibrant nature.  She often jokingly says, with an underlying grain of truth, that "I am making up for my earlier rather beige life." Coming from a large family and then raising a large family, for many years 'calm' was the name of the game.  I now find excitement in my pursuit of moving color.

 

The variety of diverse landscapes and constantly changing light provides both a richness of subject and a personal challenge to Cynthia, the product of which she can then offer to collectors and art interested patrons.  

 

Additionally, with a passion for and a background in education and curriculum development spanning over 40 years, Cynthia merges these art capabilities with her love of teaching to provide private or group workshops.  Her eclectic and individualized style of teaching allows for a diversity of predilections, as she helps others find their personal talents and visual voice while imparting the needed skills so they can better meet success and joy in their own art. 

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Cynthia's website:

cynthiarosenartist.com

T: (802) 345-8863

E: cynthiarosenart@gmail.com

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About

Susan Abbott

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Susan's Artist Statement:

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"As a painter and teacher of both oil and watercolor, I emphasize designing strong compositions and using color in inventive ways. My goal is to have students develop their own unique styles of painting based on solid principles of visual art. It's a wonderful pleasure and privilege for me to lead students to explore the world in new ways with sketchbooks and paint."

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Susan has taught many hundreds of students the joy of travelling with their sketchbooks via in-person and online classes and guided sketching trips to Rome, Umbria, Paris, Provence, India and Vermont. She is as comfortable and enthusiastic talking about the art and architecture of the past as she is sketching it and loves to bring paintings in churches and museums alive for her students by linking it in interesting ways to culture and history.

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Susan graduated Summa Cum Laude with an BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and went on to receive an MFA from the Institute’s Hoffberger School of Painting, with the renowned abstract expressionist artist Grace Hartigan as her advisor. She’s been working as a professional artist since that time, exhibiting her oils and watercolors in galleries and museums around the country. Her paintings are in numerous private and corporate collections and she’s had many corporate and private commissions, including a biographical still life for Oprah Winfrey featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

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Articles and reviews about Susan's paintings have appeared in many newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Washingtonian Magazine, Museum and Arts Magazine, Art New England, American Artist Magazine, Watercolor Artist, and Watercolor USA. She writes a regular column on creativity for The Artists Magazine. The art critic for the Washington Post commented on Susan’s painting, “There simply aren’t many watercolorists in America who can match her level of expertise. What makes her painting so interesting, however, is the tension between the dazzling display of skill and the underlying idea.”

 

In addition to her active career as an exhibiting painter and writer on art, Susan teaches popular painting and sketchbook workshops in Italy, France, India, Canada, the Bahamas, and locations around the United States. She lives with her husband James, two dogs, a cat, chickens and ducks in Northern Vermont, where she enjoys gardening and hiking when she’s not painting.

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Susan's website:

www.susanabbott.com

T: (802) 454-1641

E: sa@susanabbott.com

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About

Scott Hamill

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Scott feels fortunate to have found an outlet for his artistic expression in the en plein air tradition. As a native Californian, Scott has lived most of his life in and around the ocean and mountains of this beautiful state. He has developed a strong connection to the water and land while surfing along the Pacific coast and fishing, backpacking and canoeing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Scott’s goal is to share this connection with those who view his art.

 

In his en plein air paintings Scott hopes to capture the mood or essence of a place and allow the viewer to experience the beauty of our natural world. He uses a limited palette of colors in oils, which helps harmonize the painting as well as adding the challenge of mixing all other colors from these few. Scott’s painting gear fits into a backpack, which allows him the freedom to get off the beaten path while scouting for locations to capture on canvas. 

 

Scott's paintings have been juried into exhibitions and shows throughout the country. He is honored to have his work in private collections throughout the U.S. and abroad including decorating the Lodge at Pebble Beach and their newly built Fairway One project.

 

Scott also enjoys sharing his painting experience and techniques and teaches several en plein air painting workshops throughout the year. 

 

Scott was inspired to begin painting by New Zealand painter John Crump and has studied with John extensively. 

 

Scott lives near Santa Cruz, California with his wife and two children.

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Scott's website:

www.scotthamillart.com

T: (831) 239-2507

E: shamill360@yahoo.com

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About

Richard Scott

 

Richard's Artist Statement:

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"My teaching approach is focused on three ideas: that learning art should be fun; that making art can be a meaningful way to explore new places and experiences; and that drawing and painting can enhance our appreciation of the visual world, and deepen our connection with others.

 

Watercolor is my favorite art form and an ideal medium for travel. The "flow-state" you enter in making a watercolor downloads the travel experience like no other activity can, and the simplicity of the equipment make it perfect for painters on the run."

 

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Richard teaches painting and drawing at the The Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, and Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA. For the past 18 years, he has taught courses and workshops at various universities, including Cal Poly Pomona, UCLA, Art Center Pasadena, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UNLV, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Arizona. He also conducts private art workshops throughout the U.S. and Europe.

 

Students appreciate his clarity of communication, humor, and eagerness to support and help each student improve and enjoy the learning process.

 

He is the author of the highly-acclaimed book "Sketching – from Square One to Trafalgar Square" which is used as a text at many universities and colleges.

 

Richard's artworks are in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe, and have appeared in numerous magazines, including the Art of Watercolour and Watercolor Artist Magazine, and have been displayed at the California State Capital. His design work has been profiled on NPR station KCRW.

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Richard's website:

www.scottwatercolors.com

T: (626) 460-9711

E: sketchingfromsquareone@gmail.com

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About

Lori McNee

 

Lori's Artist Statement:

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"Often metaphorical, my paintings echo the delicate balance between nature and man. My broad spectrum of work includes still life, nature, landscape and plein air oil paintings. While plein air painting out in the field, Mother Nature is in charge. However, while in the studio, I am able to create my own small universe. Whether it is a landscape or still life painting, I respond to the effects of color, light and atmosphere on the subject. Paintings are like windows to the imagination. In a world full of chaos, I strive to create a respite for the soul." 

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Lori is an American artist, author, internationally followed art blogger, social media influencer, brand ambassador, producer, and keynote speaker. She is a Signature Member of Oil Painters of America as well as a Signature Member of the Heartland Art Club and a member of California Art Club. Lori is a certified Master Artist in Cobra water-mixable Oil Paints and is an Artist Ambassador for Royal Talens, Princeton Brush Company, and Fredrix Artist Canvas.

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Inspired by nature, Lori’s paintings reflect her love of the great outdoors and respect for its creatures. A native of Southern California and reared in the southwest, Lori cultivated an interest in art and wildlife during her childhood.

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While her three children were young, Lori began an art career as a wildlife artist in the 1980s-90s. During this time she mentored with famed wildlife artists Robert Bateman, John Seerey-Lester, Carl Brenders, Vivi Crandall, and Guy Coheleach. Lori illustrated for organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, the Wolf Education Research Center, various trout and duck stamps, and books.

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In 2000, Lori discovered plein air and still life painting. After studying with Robert Moore and Joe Anna Arnett, Lori made a shift from working with photographs to painting from life.

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Today, Lori’s broad spectrum of artwork includes poetic landscape, still life, and encaustic wax paintings which often incorporate birds or other wildlife. Her paintings have been featured in numerous publications including Plein Air Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur Southwest Art, Artists’ Magazine, American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, and more.

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Lori's website:

www.lorimcnee.com

T: (208) 720-3724

E: lori@lorimcnee.com