Workshop in France with Chris van Winkle
Bob Ruby, Sandy Rooney, Julie Crouch, April Drew Foster, and Mary Jane Klune
Five VHAA members accompanied Chris Van Winkle to Brittany, France. It was an intense travel and painting schedule but loads of fun and beautifully organized. Our members shared their thoughts on a fantastic experience:
Julie: this was my first time on a trip with artists and I was nervous! What an awesome experience it turned out to be—great company, lots of sketching and painting and the spectacular scenery and lovely people of Brittany!
April: The art workshop with Chris Van Winkle to Paris and Brittany was one of those life time events. Chris and his wife Caroline had organized the most spectacular artists ‘ journey that worked perfectly for all 27 of us! There were so many wonderful things to see and paint, that one didn’t know where to start. The French region of Brittany was a visual joy. I will never forget the picturesque coves and rose colored coast line which we tried to paint at sunset. We sat on walls and rocks and painted medieval villages and quaint seaports and sometimes the lovely smiling people of the little towns in rain and shine. Mostly the weather was shiny. With beautiful skies, new friends and Chris Van Winkle it was the perfect painting adventure.
Mary Jane: I think what I loved the best on the trip was to see Monet’s Garden. It was so much larger than I had imagined. As we all walked through his home full of his lovely paintings, our guide provided us with a history of his life. Monet was very generous and kind, loved children and his family and was able to support all of them with his painting. We also visited Van Gogh’s last home in Auvers sur Oise where he shot himself and the room where he later died. He is buried next to his brother Theo under simple mounds covered with ivy.
Sandy: I had a fabulous time on the painting trip to Brittany. In Perros-Guirec I painted colored cliffs, light, rocky outcroppings along the shoreline in mist and rain. We painted quaint granite stone houses surrounded by colorful hydrangeas that were all over the town. We visited seaports and painted boats lying on their sides in harbor ports and sailboats blowing in the wind in the Gulf of Moribihan. At Pont Aven we painted bridges, mills and two- storied houses with half timbered decoration. The town of Quimper, Rennes and Pontrieux were like painting in fairytales with flower baskets along every street. At Carnac, not only did we have a lovely beach to relax on, but not far away were prehistoric megaliths to explore and paint. Even the food in the farmers markets were good enough to paint and enjoy eating.
Bob: Great trip with NEW camera in one hand and instructions in the other!
Julie: this was my first time on a trip with artists and I was nervous! What an awesome experience it turned out to be—great company, lots of sketching and painting and the spectacular scenery and lovely people of Brittany!
April: The art workshop with Chris Van Winkle to Paris and Brittany was one of those life time events. Chris and his wife Caroline had organized the most spectacular artists ‘ journey that worked perfectly for all 27 of us! There were so many wonderful things to see and paint, that one didn’t know where to start. The French region of Brittany was a visual joy. I will never forget the picturesque coves and rose colored coast line which we tried to paint at sunset. We sat on walls and rocks and painted medieval villages and quaint seaports and sometimes the lovely smiling people of the little towns in rain and shine. Mostly the weather was shiny. With beautiful skies, new friends and Chris Van Winkle it was the perfect painting adventure.
Mary Jane: I think what I loved the best on the trip was to see Monet’s Garden. It was so much larger than I had imagined. As we all walked through his home full of his lovely paintings, our guide provided us with a history of his life. Monet was very generous and kind, loved children and his family and was able to support all of them with his painting. We also visited Van Gogh’s last home in Auvers sur Oise where he shot himself and the room where he later died. He is buried next to his brother Theo under simple mounds covered with ivy.
Sandy: I had a fabulous time on the painting trip to Brittany. In Perros-Guirec I painted colored cliffs, light, rocky outcroppings along the shoreline in mist and rain. We painted quaint granite stone houses surrounded by colorful hydrangeas that were all over the town. We visited seaports and painted boats lying on their sides in harbor ports and sailboats blowing in the wind in the Gulf of Moribihan. At Pont Aven we painted bridges, mills and two- storied houses with half timbered decoration. The town of Quimper, Rennes and Pontrieux were like painting in fairytales with flower baskets along every street. At Carnac, not only did we have a lovely beach to relax on, but not far away were prehistoric megaliths to explore and paint. Even the food in the farmers markets were good enough to paint and enjoy eating.
Bob: Great trip with NEW camera in one hand and instructions in the other!