In the news

I've just finished a fantastic five-day watercolour painting workshop, in person, with Brazilian-Italian artist Fabio Cembranelli (a few photos of his many demonstrations are shown below).
The event was organized by Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, at their on-site art studio and lodgings (which included breakfast and dinner daily), at the rustic and historic Greenville Arms 1889 Inn.
My sweetheart came with me, to Upstate New York, and he happily explored local towns, nature trails, cafés, microbreweries, and shops during each 0900 to 1600 weekday workshop session. He and I would have breakfast together, then each go off on our own "adventures" for the day, before meeting up again for a before-dinner walk to tell the other about what we'd done.


A bonus, for us and the rest of the workshop guests, was provided by Mother Nature; a solar storm pushed the Aurora borealis - or Northern Lights - much further south than usual, allowing us to view them on Thursday night... A reminder that she remains the best artist of all!

Although I've taken many of Fabio's virtual-live ZOOM workshops, I'd never attended any of his in-person watercolour demonstrations; if ever you have the opportunity to do so, I highly recommend it!
He's such a generous teacher that he squeezed every moment out of each day, creating not only full paintings but also his beautiful "quick sketches" to illustrate a specific point or answer a question.
Fabio also provided truly helpful suggestions on our individual workshop creations, so that each of us could learn from the others' paintings and sketches.
I haven't posted any of my own watercolours from this workshop, because none are finished yet - but that's not a reflection on Fabio's teaching...
CRPS rare disease - with its neuropathic chronic pain and multiple other symptoms - significantly affects my right hand and arm, limiting the amount of painting that I can do at any given time. Of course, I knew that prior to the workshop, and would've been surprised to finish anything on-site; it was still a wonderful and worthwhile learning experience.

So I left the workshop-week yesterday with fabulous ideas and memories, plans to keep in touch with several new friends, and an assortment of "almost-done" paintings to finish up when I get home.
In the meantime, my sweetheart and I are in Boston. We drove in after the final workshop breakfast, on Saturday, to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. The watercolour workshop was his anniversary gift to me, while the Boston visit is my gift to him.
Stay tuned for news of our planned visits to two Boston art museums, and other artistic sites, next week!