Wanderlust

Florence Cafe

Oil

Available 

When you close your eyes, where are you? Are you still in your own environment surrounded by things that are familiar to you?  Or are you someplace where you have been where you remember the sights, sounds, and smells?  Maybe you can imagine a place you would like to go.  Is it very different from where you are?  What do you envision you will see?  What do you hear? Are you alone or around others?  Is the language the same as yours? Are you in a town or out in the country? Maybe at a beach or in the mountains?  Do you smell traces of flowers or freshly baked bread at a market?

There is something about experiencing a new place that has always drawn me to travel.  Perhaps you enjoy discovering new places, new sounds, and new foods?  Where would you go if you were given a trip?  There are places I have been where I would return.  Still others that I would like to visit.  

Part of the joy of being a teaching artist is helping others to record what they see in sketches or paintings.  It is like you can stop time for a moment and capture it all to yourself.  When you return and see your artworks you created, you can still feel the presence of the place.  You can close your eyes and imagine being there again, hearing the sounds, smelling the air,and feeling the heat, cold, or breeze.  

Let me know if you want to experience some of the places I will be going this year.  I would love to have you join me!

Plein Air Painting in Venice  October 5 - 12, 2013, contact:      info@ilchiostro.com 

Painting in Provence  May 25-June 1,2014, contact:    contact@frenchescapade.com

Ciao!  or Au Revoir!

Durinda

Ciao, ya'll!

Packing up for the Tuscany Workshop week. My bag may be overweight this time. I am carrying my pochade box, tripod, paints, and panels with a week's worth of clothes. Whew! Looking forward to the rolling hills covered with vineyards. We may have rain one day, so already thinking about interiors at the monastery and views out the windows. Don't know if I will be able to post from there or not, but do know that I will be painting, painting, painting! Hope all ya'll have a great week coming up too.

Ciao, ya'll!

Durinda

Lasting Memories

Field of Poppies

Oil on canvas

16 x 20

So every chance I get to refer back to my photographs and notes of France, I take it. My daughter asked for a painting for the Boyd Buchanan School fundraiser. Of course I have paintings that were finished and framed that I could have chosen, but I wanted to get back to my "zen zone" of painting the wild poppy fields. This is the one I selected for the auction. I hope it will find a good home. The auction is Saturday, April 17, at the school. I am working on a couple more of the fields this same size and smaller works of Italy scenes.

If you would like to see the "La Dolce Vita" show on line here is the link for il chiostro. If that doesn't work, just try www.ilchiostro.com . I would appreciate you voting for my painting The Brass Shop Doorway (watercolor) as one of your 3 favorites. You simply email: info@ilchiostro.com and write VOTE for the subject. Then in the message list your favorites by name and artist. If you love Italy, you will love this show! Workshops are being booked now, so if you are thinking about going with me in October to Tuscany, get your name in! I will furnish you a sketch journal and IF I should win as one of the top favorites from the show, you could be in for a surprise too!

"A landscape is always something other than the reality it portrays. It is essentially a product of the mind." Charles Burchfield

Now go think good thoughts!

Durinda

Toughing it out in Tuscany!

Our Paint Group at San Fedele

http://picasaweb.google.com/DurindaCheek/TuscanyWorkshop2009

There is so much to say about our wonderful time in Tuscany for the one-week workshop. Yes, the weather was perfect. Yes, the food was delicious. Yes, the wine was flowing. Yes, the accommodations at San Fedele were excellent. Yes, the directors of Il Chiostro, Linda and Michael along with Michael the Younger, were very attentive and genuinely cared about us. Yes, we had a great time, visiting hilltowns, a winery and wine tasting, grape stomping, and seeing David in Florence. Oh, and yes, we did paint! We also enjoyed the company of the painters with Barrett Edwards who worked in oils.

And for those of you who didn't make it this time, I will be returning next fall. If you are interested, better speak now! I can't imagine a better place to enjoy the scenery, the people, and the food in Tuscany.

Enjoy the first slide show. I shot 698 photos so can't possibly post them all. Now it's back to the studio and paint some of these lovely scenes!

Ciao, Ya'll!

Durinda

Traveling Tuscany Coming Up!

I am starting to pack for the Tuscany workshop at San Fedele. I leave on Wednesday out of Atlanta. My whole group will be traveling together- Ann Currey, Faye Woolfork, Lisa Hutcherson, and Cam Busch. We will change planes in Paris and then arrive in Florence on Thursday around noon. From Florence, we will join the others who will be spending the week, an oil plein air group led by Barrett Edwards from Naples, Florida. A short bus ride and we will be in San Fedele.

To say that I am excited is an understatement. This will be my third trip to Tuscany and my first to stay at the converted and updated monastery of San Fedele. It is in the heart of Chianti country. Yes, this is the season for the grape harvest and wine festivals! See, I told you you should come! We will be using our watercolor paints, watercolor pencils, and Sharpie markers to capture all we can. I made our watercolor sketchbooks by cutting paper and matboard and having Office Depot bind them. I will be demonstrating some different techniques with the materials and encouraging everyone to not only sketch, but journal in the book as well.

And just when things couldn't get any better... we were notified that we are invited to exhibit our own paintings in the village that weekend and take part in a Quick Draw painting event on Sunday. So now I am packing a small framed painting to take with me for the show. Cam and Ann will bring along a painting too. I think I had better get another card for my camera! It will be a week of adventure and art. Who could ask for more? Oh yeah, great food, wine, scenery, and new art friends. I guess I will just have to "make do". ; )

If you missed this trip and are interested in one for next fall, let me know now so you can get on the list!

Ciao for now!

Durinda

New workshop: Tuscany in the Fall

Announcing... a week of drawing and painting in Tuscany this September! Bring your sketchbook, drawing tools, and watercolors! Maybe you have been to the area before on one of those whirlwind tours or maybe you went with family. Now see Tuscany through an artist's eyes! It's time to do something for yourself that you will never forget. I have structured this workshop for all levels of experience in drawing or watercolor painting. We will explore the region without heavy equipment, messy paints, or wet canvases. No worries going through the airports with paints. No stained clothes or tired shoulders from carrying easels. This week is all about observing your surroundings and choosing your own focus. The accommodations are superb, the food is excellent, and the company of others will be enjoyable. I have chosen Il Chiostro as our hosts. Linda and Michael will make sure you are well taken care of. Airfares are down, the dollar is strong, now is the time. You only live once!

Check out the information and go ahead and register for this week in the land of dreams. You will be amazed at how much you will get for the price. I will be happy to talk to you further about the trip and will send a supply list with your registration: Durinda@Durinda.com.

Now, Let's go to Tuscany!

Ciao!

Durinda