Goodbye 2012
As I sit in my studio and watch the snow fall, I am happy to be home for the holidays, but a bit sad to say goodbye to 2012. For such a big year, a quiet ending is all I have planned. Maybe a little painting time and a bottle of Prosecco tonight. We talked…
Paul Jackson’s Blade Brushes
Just in time for holiday studio painting, my new “Blade” brushes are ready to go. These are specialty watercolor brushes that make great calligraphic strokes and wonderful shapes with their extreme taper. They are a hardy synthetic brush, carry a lot of paint and make a sharp point. The 1″ brush is $35, the 2″…
Venice, Italy
Venice is one of the few magical places on earth that lure me time and again without disappointment. It is a unique jewel that captures the heart and imagination of every visitor and never lets go. Bringing people to Venice for their first experience is a thrill for me. There is an audible gasp as…
Lake Garda, Italy
Malcesine is the small city at the top end of Lake Garda. It served as the perfect plein air studio for our watercolor sketching tour. We stayed at the Hotel Benacus, just a short, beautiful walk from town and sketched lakeside each day. The sunrises were mostly obscured by the tall mountains behind us, but…
Cinque Terre
Our Northern Italy watercolor sketchbook workshop has begun! We landed in Milan on September 8, and bussed down to Cinque Terre. Much of the damage from the mudslide disaster last year has been repaired, but our bus wasn’t able to make the last 4 kilometers to our hotel, so we had to ferry down the…
New Zealand: Land of the Long White Cloud
New Zealand is a visually rich experience that is an artists playground. I could stay here forever painting landscapes with the low clouds wrapped around the mountains. Driving around the North Island you will find one beautiful scene after the next. The South island takes beauty to a whole different level. The Southern Alps are…
The Whitsundays
The magical Whitsundays are the jewel of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. The relaxed atmosphere makes a visit here worth all the effort. We kicked off our shoes an played on the beach, painted in the mangroves and walked through the rainforests. From Airlie Beach we ferried out to Hamilton Island for a few…
The Daintree Rainforest
Up to the wet tropics in the northeast corner of Australia, we trekked into the Daintree Rainforest in search of exotic landscapes and creatures of imagination. This steamy place grows amazing plants and trees, some dating back to the age of dinosaurs. The Daintree is the oldest rainforest on planet earth. It is home to…
Uluru
Once named Ayers Rock, now named Uluru, it’s a magnetic place that defies description. Why do people travel to the middle of Australia to a barren desert to see a big rock? Maybe the color of the orange-red sand complimenting the deep blue sky is visually stimulating, but there is something else that pulled us…
Adelaide
We came to Adelaide to meet with friends about a series of workshops we are planning for 2013. Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney will be our locations for the first three events, because we have artist friends in each and have now scouted locations as well. Adelaide is known as the city of churches but offers…