Last Day, Tuscany Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

5" x 7" textured oil painting by Niki Gulley • SOLD

Last Day:  TUSCANY ART TREK

Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

That afternoon, we all had free time. Some people stayed in Pienza to shop and explore the town, while others came back to the villa to chill out by the pool. I had enough time to complete one more small 5x7 oil painting of the villa itself. I loved this prolific rose bush in front of the unique terra cotta tile window offset against cypress trees, an olive grove and rolling hills in the distance.

Before dinner we gathered back at the villa for a slide from our photographers of the trip and to see the paintings we completed, accompanied by a little wine and Italian treats. That night we enjoyed a beautiful Terrace view with one last picture perfect sunset over dinner with amazing food and new friends. A perfect end to a perfect week! We were sad to see the night end.

***

If you're interested in joining us on one of upcoming Art Treks, please let us know. The early registration deadline of Sept. 23rd for a $600 on most trips is quickly approaching, so don't wait!

FULL - Fall in New England – Oct. 10-15, 2017

FULL - Croatia and Slovenia – May  9 – 17 (or with extended 4 days May 9 – 21 /2018

Venice, Italy (Carnival) – February 3 – 10 /2018

Tuscany, Italy – Sept 7-15, 2018

Cinque Terre and Lake Como, Italy – September  14 – 23 /2018   

For more information on upcoming Art Treks, please visit http://www.ArtTreks.org.

***

E-mail Niki Gulley with any questions.

To see more of my palette knife contemporary landscape paintings, visit nikigulley.com.

Marsh Birds at Port Bolivar, oils on canvas.,Barbara Haviland

©Barbara Haviland  Barb's Garden 2014

 Marsh Birds at Port Bolivar

Medium oils on canvas

Size  11"x 14"

 by Artist Barbara Haviland

Click to Purchase

BarbaraHavilandFineArt.com

MORE VAL-HUE STUDIES

Another couple of the val-hue studies I do in preparation for doing the actual paintings.  I can't over-emphasize the benefits of this practice.  Rather than thinking about "things" I'm going to paint, this involves designing the shapes, separating the values and trying out colors.  Spending an hour or two in trying out light and dark shape arrangements (notan), Simplifying shapes and making sure no two are alike in size, direction or value puts you way down the road towards a successful painting, rather than trying to render the literal appearance of things (boring!).  If the value relationships are correct, almost any colors will look good!  This is 80% of whatever creativity will go into your work, and it really raises the fun and learning factors exponentially.

DRIFTING SHADOWS &

MORNING ON BEE CREEK

©Jimmy Longacre 2017

6x8 oil on canvas panel

Jimmy Longacre

subjective realist landscape paintings

MY WEBSITE

MY BLOG: Paintbox & Easel

GALLERY LINKS

Fredericksburg Art Gallery Fredericksburg TX

Capital Fine Art Gallery Austin TX

Cherries and Cantaloupe, miniature,Barbara Haviland

  

©Barbara Haviland  Barb's Garden 2014

 Cherries and Cantaloupe 

Medium oils on canvas

Size  4"x 5"

 by Artist Barbara Haviland

Click to Purchase

BarbaraHavilandFineArt.com

Painting and Photographing Pienza with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

12" x 9" textured oil by Niki Gulley

Day 6, Pienza:  TUSCANY ART TREK

Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

On the last day of our Tuscany Art Trek, we explored nearby Pienza to enjoy its picturesque alleyways and amazing views of the valleys below. Having been home to Pope Pius II, the town is filled with interesting historical sites, great shopping, delicious lunch spots and plenty of interesting corners to paint. I chose this doorway since I loved the texture of the stone walls, the potted plants around it, and the soft light raking across it.

While some of our group explored Pienza, a few of the others stayed back at the villa to take a cooking class from a Tuscan mama chef. From hand rolled pici pasta, to roasted pork, to various pizzas and appetizers and finishing with a chocolate cherry ricotta torte, they shared their homemade creations with the rest of us. While they had a great time learning, we thoroughly enjoyed tasting their new found skills in the kitchen!

***

If you're interested in joining us on one of upcoming Art Treks, please let us know. The early registration deadline of Sept. 23rd for a $600 on most trips is quickly approaching, so don't wait!

FULL - Fall in New England – Oct. 10-15, 2017

FULL - Croatia and Slovenia – May  9 – 17 (or with extended 4 days May 9 – 21 /2018

Venice, Italy (Carnival) – February 3 – 10 /2018

Tuscany, Italy – Sept 7-15, 2018

Cinque Terre and Lake Como, Italy – September  14 – 23 /2018   

For more information on upcoming Art Treks, please visit http://www.ArtTreks.org.

***

E-mail Niki Gulley with any questions.

To see more of my palette knife contemporary landscape paintings, visit nikigulley.com.

Red Shed Study, oils on canvas,Barbara Haviland

©Barbara Haviland  Barb's Garden 2014

 Red Shed Study

Medium oils on canvas

Size  11"x 14"

 by Artist Barbara Haviland
Click to Purchase

BarbaraHavilandFineArt.com

Spring Mix by David Forks

"Spring Mix" by David Forks

35"x48" Acrylic on wood panel

available: DavidForks.com

Stevie Ray Vaughan Art Painting Guitar Art "Hat and Guitar" by Debra Hurd

 Palette Knife Oil on Canvas

 This painting is SOLD, but commissions are welcomed, click HERE for details.

 FINE ART PRINTS of this piece are available HERE

  Visit http://DebraHurd.com to view more of my work.

  Visit my Daily Painters Gallery HERE

  Visit my BLOG

Sea Mist, seascape,oils on canvas, Barbara Haviland

©Barbara Haviland  Barb's Garden 2014

Sea Mist

Medium oils on canvas

Size 13"x 13"

 by Artist Barbara Haviland

Click to Purchase

BarbaraHavilandFineArt.com

Big Bend Mountains, Landscape, Barbara Haviland

©Barbara Haviland  Barb's Garden 2014

 Big Bend Mountains

Medium oils on canvas

Size  24  "x 18"

 by Artist Barbara Haviland
BarbaraHavilandFineArt.com

This painting was done from my photos taken in Big Bend National Park in Texas.  The painting measures 24"x 18" and has been hanging in our den. Time to let the painting have a new home.    The painting is not framed but does have a wire hanger on the back.

Click to Purchase the painting