This summer I am planning a pack trip into the Twenty Lakes Basin area of the high country Northeast of Yosemite in and near the Hoover Wilderness. Painting while backpacking can be a challenge but I will be bringing back several small works that can be seen at the Kings Mountain Art Fair on Labor Day Weekend. The fair is located on Skyline Blvd south of Hwy 92(the halfmoon bay) road. This will be my 21st year at the fair.

Kit Carson Lodge on Silver Lake is one of the most idyllic places to paint the Sierra Landscape. Join us for a great week of painting outdoors and enjoying the environment around the Carson Pass High Country. There will be painting demonstrations, critiques, and most of all a chance to get out and paint yourself. Contact Kit Carson Lodge for registration www.kitcarsonlodge.com

St Mary’s Art Center
Virginia City, Nevada
June 11 thru 15, Wed thru Sun

Located just 45 minutes from Reno, this historic town has played home to St Mary’s since 1876 when it began life as a hospital. Since 1965 it has been hub of art activity in the Virginia City area where artists have come to learn and paint with professional instructors from all parts of the country.

At this retreat-style workshop students will live and paint in the restored 1875 building. With recently renovated rooms, heating, bathrooms, internet access, parlor, and dining room, one can enjoy the ambiance here as well as the camaraderie of associating with other artists.

Dinners are a team enterprise with individuals pitching in with food, cooking and of course eating. The kitchen is fully equipped, just bring food.

We will start by sketching and painting outdoors in the morning hours and retiring to the studio to work with our drawings and paintings to make finished works.

Not only do lectures feature information on watercolor but on design, composition, and drawing which is the heart of it all.

There will be morning painting demos, individual instruction, critiques and slide shows.
For the exercise minded there are local hiking trails for morning or evening walks, for those who are risk takers there are the gaming tables uptown.

The St Mary’s Art Center Website has detailed information on the facility as well as the workshops.
For contact and registration info click on workshop listing page on this website.

Plein Air Workshop in Cambria,
October 20 to 24, 2008

I just returned from a short trip to the coast in December scouting out some sites for an outdoor painting workshop and found Cambria and the surrounding landscape to be fertile ground for watercolor painting. There are quiet beaches like San Simeon State Park, also rural countryside in Harmony where we can paint quiet views from a winery. We can roam all the way down to Morro Bay and its fishing village and Morro Rock itself. In Cambria where we will be staying there are beautiful rock strewn beaches with long views toward distant headlands that make great subjects for seascapes.

The secret to visiting the coast is to come in fall and winter.

Although the tourist season if officially over in October that is when the sunniest and most beautiful weather begins on the coast. The chilly summer fog is a rarity and we should have nice days most of the time.

Cambria has several gourmet restaurants and wine tasting is a local pastime. There are several shops and galleries in town as well.

Arrangements have been made with Cambria Pines Lodge for our workshop. Artists wishing to stay there will be able get special rates. It is set on forested grounds with restaurant, lounge, and other amenities. There is a complimentary breakfast buffet included with the stay.

After class registration, you reserve with the lodge individually if you plan to stay there.
Click Workshop List for registration information.