A Painting and Yoga Holiday in Normandy, France - August 2012!!!

Painting & Yoga in Normandy, France August 19-26, 2012



Picture This- the Ideal Painting Holiday



Start the day with yoga to awaken the senses, enjoy fresh baked croissants, baguettes and jam and a bowl of coffee before setting out for the day to explore the Norman countryside. Take time each day to paint what you see, what you feel, what you sense on a painting holiday with artist Marc Hanson.

We'll be touring and traveling the French country side with Chris Coleman who is a very experienced French guide. For the painting part of the trip we are hoping that the participants, experienced or not, will bring along a small scale painting supply bag. Possibly gouache, watercolor or acrylic paints and a small pad or pads of paper to paint on. The painting and the yoga is open to you whether you've never practiced either before or are an old hand at both. Instruction will be limited but as we are both teachers of our respective professions and loves, you can be sure that there will be plenty of helpful advice. If you are new to painting, or to plein air painting, don't worry, I'll be there to help you along the way to learn a new and fascinating way to record your travels. More info on the specific supplies will be available as we get closer to trip time.



Chris Coleman, an experienced yoga instructor and owner of Yoga Hus - Scandia, MN, will instruct yoga classes for people of all abilities both indoors and out (weather permitting). Chris is a seasoned (14 years) tour guide in France with Rick Steves and will guide you through her second home - la Belle France! Chris will teach you key French phrases, offer wine tasting classes, and help you avoid cultural faux pas. We will want to make your painting holiday in France a memorable one! Please join us!



Painting & Yoga Holiday in Normandy, France
A Fully Customized Tour

August 19-26, 2012
Itinerary in detail

Day 1 Sun. Aug 19 PARIS Welcome to Paris!
We will meet at the hotel at 5:00pm for a short orientation meeting over wine and snacks. We will then take a short walking through the neighborhood on our way to dinner together. Overnight in centrally located 3* hotel.

Day 2 Mon. Aug 20 HONFLEUR Monet’s house and gardens at Giverny, Honfleur
Depart Paris on private bus. Visit Giverny, Monet’s home and gardens en route to Honfleur. Painting in the afternoon. Evening yoga practice. Overnight at the Hotel Antares 3* or similar. Approximate 3 hours driving. Chris will offer a wine tasting before dinner.

Day 3 Tue Aug 21 HONFLEUR Explore and paint the countryside
Morning yoga practice. Painting time. Explore the coastal area, including the famous rock formation Etretat, and Le Havre. Overnight at the Hotel Antares 3* or similar.

Day 4 Wed Aug 22 PORT EN BESSIN Explore and paint the countryside
Morning yoga practice. Explore and paint the countryside en route to Port en Bessin. Overnight at the Mercure Omaha Beach 3* or similar

Day 5 Thu Aug 23 PORT EN BESSIN Full day touring and painting the beaches and D-Day sights
Morning yoga practice. Full day D-Day beaches tour with local guide and artist. Time for painting during the tour day. Overnight at the Mercure Omaha Beach 3* or similar

Day 6 Fri Aug 24 CHARTRES Morning tour of Abbey Mont St. Michel. Drive to Chartres
Painting opportunity along the coast. Drive towards Paris to overnight in a charming town en route. Overnight Hotellerie St. Yves or similar.

Day 7 Sat Aug 25 PARIS Visit the cathedral of Chartres. Return to Paris by train.
Last night farewell dinner together followed by painting exposition. Overnight at the Hotel Minerve 3* or similar

Day 8 Sun Aug 26 FLY B Tour over. Bon Voyage!

Small Group Pricing (up to 18 travelers Maximum)



Land Price based on 2 people in shared accommodation
$2650 PP
$550 single room supplement
$100 off price if pay by check or wire transfer
Price based on a small group size of up to 18 travelers. If the group size is limited, the tour cost may be affected.


Included Services
* Special customization and pre-departure services of Adventures Abroad
* Art guidance (not instruction) from professional artist Marc Hanson
* Minimum of five guided outdoor painting sessions
* Minimum of four yoga classes(offered outdoors weather permitting, otherwise indoors)
* Fully escorted by experienced France tour guide and certified yoga instructor Chris Coleman
* 2 nights accommodation Paris Hotel Minerve 3* or similar, bed & breakfast basis
* 2 nights accommodation Honfleur Hotel Antares 3* or similar, bed & breakfast basis
* 2 nights accommodation Port en Bessin Mercure Omaha Beach 3* or similar, bed & breakfast basis
* 1 night accommodation Chartres Hotellerie St. Yves or similar, bed & breakfast basis
* Private bus with air conditioning when traveling outside of Paris, or train
* Local site guides for guided tours as listed: D-Day Beaches Full Day tour with excellent local guide
* All entrance fees to sites, as listed: Giverny Monet’s Home and Gardens, Arromanches Memorial, Caen Memorial, Abbey Mont St. Michel
* Meals as indicated [B=Breakfast, D=Dinner] All breakfasts, 2 dinners
* Services of inbound local ground operators throughout

Not Included
* International flights
* Arrival and departure airport transfers
* Departure taxes (if applicable)
* Tips, gratuities of any kind when not doing group activities or included meals
* Alcoholic beverages and bottled drinks
* Meals not indicated above
* Extra costs for optional excursions or services on own or to be paid direct
* Travel insurance
* Yoga Mat or Painters Box/Pochade - more details to come on these necessary items to bring

ADDED BONUS:

PARIS 3-DAY TOUR EXTENSION: 16-19 August, 2012

Day 1 Thu August 16 Orientation meeting in the evening and welcome to Paris. Dinner together.
Day 2 Fri August 17 Morning yoga practice. Breakfast. Walking tour of Paris. Late afternoon tour of the Louvre museum with a local guide.
Day 3 Sat August 18 Morning yoga practice. Breakfast. Tour of the Musee d’Orsay with a local guide. Winetasting.
Day 4 Sun August 19 Breakfast. Free to explore today before the Normandy portion of the tour to Normandy begins this evening!





$895 per person, Land Price based on 2 people in shared accommodation
$225 single room supplement
$40 discount if pay by check or wire transfer

Included Services
* Special customization and pre-departure services of Adventures Abroad
* Fully escorted by experienced France tour guide and certified yoga instructor Chris Coleman
* Morning yoga classes available with Chris Coleman
* 3 nights accommodation Paris Hotel Minerve 3* or similar, bed & breakfast basis
* Guided tours as listed: tour of Paris including Orsay and Louvre Museum, with English speaking guide.
* All entrance fees to sites, as listed: Orsay Museum, Louvre museum
* Metro/bus tickets
* Meals as indicated [B=Breakfast, D=Dinner] All breakfasts, 1 dinner
* Services of inbound local ground operators throughout

Not Included
* International flights
* Arrival and departure airport transfers (arrival information will be supplied prior to the tour)
* Departure taxes (if applicable)
* Tips, gratuities of any kind when not doing group activities or included meals
* Alcoholic beverages and bottled drinks, meals not indicated above
* Extra costs for optional excursions or services on own or to be paid direct
* Travel insurance
*************************************************************************
Dear Travel Friends,

Please join us for an exploration of Normandy through the eyes of a painter and the senses of a yoga practitioner. Dates of travel will be from the 19-26 August 2012 with the optional 3-day extension in Paris from 16-19 August for $895 per person. If interested in the extension please let me know at booking.

BOOKING INSTRUCTIONS
To book your tour with us, send your passport and personal details (see below) to Christine Coleman ccoleman@privatecustomtours.com and send your deposit of US$500 per traveler. Full payments are due 60 days / 2 months prior to departure. We need the following details from ALL travelers:
i) Full name - as it appears on passport
ii) Nationality of each traveler
iii) Passport number
Place of issue
Date of issue
Date of expiry
iv) Sex of each traveler
v) Date of birth of each traveler
vi) Mailing address and phone number of each traveler
vii) Email address (note all docs are sent out be email to participants, so this is important)
viii) Telephone number

Deposit Payment by Credit Card
If you intend to pay your deposit by credit card – we will need your credit card information (name, number, expiry date, 3 digit security code). NOTE: To protect your security, please do NOT send you credit card details by email. Please call me, Christine Coleman at Tel: 651-433-3893 to give me your credit card details. If sending a check, see the Adventures Abroad address information below.

Full payments
Your full payment is due 60 days / 8 weeks prior to departure – by 19 June 2012. If you are paying by check please ensure your payment is mailed in time to arrive in our office before this deadline. If you are paying by credit card, please call in your final payment by phone – Christine Coleman at Tel: 651-433-3893 (Christine Coleman Email: ccoleman@privatecustomtours.com )

Please make all checks payable to the Adventures Abroad and mail all checks to the following address:
Attention: Christine Coleman
Adventures Abroad
12727 181 St. N.
Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047
Tel: 651-433-3893

International Flights
If you need us to arrange your international flights, please list the names of all travelers, full details of US/CAN departure city, the date of your departure, US/CAN return city and dates - and any other relevant details (class of service, meal requirements, health issues etc.) that are relevant to arranging your flights. If you have arranged your flights yourselves, please send us full details of these flights so we can set up your arrival and departure transfers.

Travel Insurance
You may wish to protect your investment by obtaining personal travel insurance. As insurance is best explained by an insurance expert. You can access an insurance expert by visiting our website where the insurers website and full contact details are listed. The insurance expert will supply all the information you will need - the following link will take you directly to the page on our website that contains all insurance contacts http://www.adventures-abroad.com/rbcins.php We recommend that you purchase insurance on the same day that you place your trip deposit. However you have up to 10 business days to purchase your travel insurance before the pre-existing conditions caveat is applicable. If you purchase your insurance 10 business days or more after making your deposit, no pre-existing medical conditions will be covered. At point of deposit, you can purchase insurance to cover just your airfare and deposit, or purchase insurance to cover yourself for the full land and air cost. Whatever your purchase at the point of deposit can be upgraded at a later date.

We look forward to making travel memories with you!

Chris and Marc

More Fall!

This week I painted outside at Arcola Mills, a beautiful location on the St Croix River inbetween Marine on St Croix and Stillwater, MN that is open to the public for the month of October. Needless to say the painters are showing up to take advantage of this. I painted Monday by myself but then painted with Tony Hilscher on Tuesday and with Kami Polzin on Wednesday.

The color along the river up here is surprisingly still green. The make up of the tree population, mostly soft maples that survive the seasonal floods, has something to do with it. I'm interested in seeing if they ever do peak out or simply succumb to the season and just drop their leaves.

Yesterday I took out a new pastel rig that I plan to use for field painting to try out. It's just a shelf that I made of 1/4" ply wood that leverages on my tripod legs to hold the pastel box (a Dakota travels size box) and a board that attaches to my quick release plate for the tripod. It worked beautifully so I plan to have the dust sticks out more often now. I'll take some shots of the easel and get it on here soon.

I hope you are all enjoying the Fall... it's been an amazing one here. I'll be heading off to Fredericksburg, TX next week to help celebrate the opening of R.S.Hanna Gallery (and the wine festival of course), and then onto Scottsdale, AZ where I'll be teaching a pastel 'Field to Studio' workshop October 31- November 4 for the Scottsdale Artists' School. By the way, I think that there are probably still openings for that one if you're interested.


'ARCOLA FADING GREENS' oil - 12x12 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
This one has already been posted here but it's part of the past week so...
I like the square format and am going to do more of them. I have a couple of these 12x12's sitting in the studio now and a couple of 24x24's as well. This day I was dealing with the fall season that still looked like August or earlier. The greens were quite gray, a challenge.


'ARCOLA GLARE' oil - 9x12 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
Today Tony Hilscher and I just happened to show up at the same time to paint, so we did. As soon as I walked to the river the blast of light from the rising sun said to me... Paint that! It's a challenge that I hope to conquer some day. Was a beautiful day to paint.


'SLIVER OF LIGHT' oil - 11x14 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
I was lucky to meet Kami here today to paint. We were both talking about the lack of color in the trees, they should have been warmer than they were. There was some cloud cover in the sky on this morning so I thought that I'd back off of my view from the day before and try to capture that overall atmosphere. This is a very simple design, it's all about the sliver of light that broke through onto the surface of the water. I grabbed that right away and am glad I did because before long the entire surface of the river was once again a bright reflection.


'BLUSTERY OCTOBER DAY' pastel - 8x10 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
Yesterday I took out the pastels. I'm going to be teaching a pastel workshop as I mentioned in a couple of weeks so I wanted to test out my new easel rig and get the groove going with the dust sticks. Good thing too... for half an hour I felt like a total newbie to pastel. I've been sloshing around oil paints with goofy brushes so much lately that it took some time to get back into the careful and controlled way of working required with the pastels. Things like not having the color you want, but remembering that I can mix colors on the surface, wipe them down, layer back over again and I may end up with something similar to what I'm looking for. My rig worked beautifully too.

Since Kansas some local Fall!

Since Kansas I've been in withdrawals but have also been out either painting or photographing our own magnificent fall color. The last couple of years I've been out of the area, San Miguel de Allende and Cape Cod, each fall during the peak of the color. I don't realize what that means until winter sets in and I'm anxious to revisit Fall in the studio and am at a loss because I didn't do my homework in either paint or pics or both! It is here and gone so fast that there's always a little conflict between painting two or three paintings or painting a taste of it and then taking several hundred photos. If I had my wish, I'd never step inside with a paintbrush again... everything would be painted outside on location. But we all know the things that step inbetween wishes and reality when it comes to outdoor painting.

Like this past week... I painted the painting below "Lake View" and it was as perfectly calm and gorgeous as you can imagine a Fall day to be. That was it, that day was the one. Good thing that I painted two paintings that day... that painting and "Oak Grove"... because the following three days came with quite a wind. Gusts up to 45 mph one of those days did a number on all of the leaves that had changed over and they're down now. The beauty is still out there to be savored, but there is something about walking into the maple forest at peak and being enveloped by the veil of golden light that cannot be photographed no matter how hard you try.

Ending this, I'm happy that I was here during the peak this year. I have enough inspiration stored within me and on my flashcard to last most of the winter. I hope that you were all able to make it out into the beautiful fall that seems to be surrounding most of the country this year too.


'Lake View' - oil - 11x14 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
I was lucky to be invited to paint on the property of some friends who live on a lake with a beautiful woodland not far from me. Everything was perfect this day, the light, the wind, and the temps. Not to mention that the Fall leaves were at peak and still all affixed to the branches! What a treat to be able to be outside at times like this it is.



'Oak Grove' - oil - 8x10 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
In the afternoon, following a lot of photographing in Wisconsin in the Interstate Park, I wandered back over into my neighborhood. There is an oak savannah near me that captures my eye every single time that I drive past it. It's on a corner of two intersecting roads that I turn onto every single time I leave town to drive south or west of here. This day the oaks were alive with color and I finally had to stop and try to grab it. I also want to paint this in winter, and will. The problem is that this is a large area of large oaks and some maples and putting that on an 8"x10" canvas hardly begins to make the statement about the impact that this location has on me visually. I hesitate to say how big the canvas for this location should be...



"Arcola Fading Greens" - oil - 12x12 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
We're lucky that one of the nicest pieces of property on the St Croix River is now open to the public for one month. This is not the case normally although many of us from the area have been able to paint it some in the past. The Minnesota State Park System is manning it with rangers and volunteers until October 30th from 9am-5pm. The turn out has been enormous from what they were telling me this morning. It would be incredible if this property became open on a regular basis. It's very special and provides a different view of the river than is available elsewhere. The color is not as advanced down in the river valley as it is along the hillsides. I guess the warmth of the water keeps things slightly delayed, and many of the trees are soft maples and they don't turn to the brilliant golds and reds of their hillside cousins the sugar and red maples. It was still a very nice morning until the sun faded away, and I met some nice folks who were there for the programs that the park provide to the public. I'll be back.

Painting in the Flint Hills of Kansas!

I was lucky enough to be invited by my friend Kim Casebeer to come and paint the Flint Hills of Kansas with a group of very fine fpainters last week, September 29 - October 2, 2011. Along to paint was Cally Krallman, Phil Starke, John Potoschnick, Susan Lynn, Dick Sneary, Joseph Loganbill, Debra J. Groesser, Judith Mackey, Michael Albrechtson, Kim and yours truly. We stayed at the Flying 'W' Ranch, a working cattle and dude ranch owned and operated by Josh and Gwen Hoy. We had wonderful facilities, bunk houses and Josh is a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) trained chef so the food was amazing and welcomed each morning and evening.

We had the most unbelievably good weather, warm and no wind for the three full days we painted. Not a cloud either... we were wishing that one of those would show up to break up the pure blue sky. The color at this time of the year was rich and full of the warmer side of the palette and a treat to paint. Kansas surprised my notion of what I would find there, that being a notion that it would be flat and agricultural. There's plenty of that, but the Flint Hills contain a huge amount of woodland riparian habitat that is broken by prairie and some agriculture. It's a great combination of textures, vistas, color and elevation change for painting. There is something about the vast open landscape and a near absence of any sounds other than grasshoppers and birds that I love. I really enjoyed myself there and am going to be sure to include it as a painting location again soon.

I painted a total of 8 paintings, wiped one off. The larger piece here "Morning View of the Flint Hills", a 16x24 oil, was painted for 3 mornings for about an hour or slightly longer each session. The shadows on the hills in the distance disappeared fast as the sun rose. Being that they're about the only thing that gave definition to the landscape, I would only paint for a short period of time while they had some form shadow to them. I guess you could say that I would have painted about 11 or 12 paintings in the 3 days if I had been painting smaller each of those mornings. I'm glad that I took on this one though, and it's not that large, but painting something that is new means learning the language of the land in paint. It's an exploration and period of discovery which slows things down a little bit.

One last thing, if you go there be sure that you have good tires with a large number of plys. The non paved roads are covered in broken, crushed flint and guess what flint is really good for? Making knives and arrow or spear points. They will go through even a good new tire, we found that out with one of the painters vehicle. Driving slow on the roads is a help. For the beauty, it's worth the $13.50 that it cost our painter to have it fixed in Cottonwood Falls where the gentleman spends most of the time fixing "rock slices" in tires.


'Flying W Ranch' oil-8x10 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
This was the first painting I did when I arrived on Thursday afternoon. Parked the truck, got out the painting gear, wandered for a few minutes and then painted this one! I love this job.


'Morning View of the Flint Hills' oil-16x24 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
I spent 3+ mornings on this painting, about an hour or so per session, like I mentioned above.


'Flint Hills Autumn' oil-12x12 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
We had unbroken blue skies, which are nice, but for painting it's nice to have some clouds to play with compositionally. In this painting I waited and waited for one to appear, it didn't. Finally a jet flew over at altitude leaving a contrail for me to add to the sky. I probably would have anyway, that or a crow or three. But it's good when they help you out. This was a late morning painting, the landscape becoming quite flat by the time I painted it. I was counting on the design to help hold it together.


'Sunset on the Hills' oil-9x12 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
Josh Hoy loaded us all up in the back of The Plains Drifter, a 1956 grain truck that has had the bed converted to carry guests out into the hills on rides, and we went up to a high point to paint the end of the day. The color was astounding.


'Stock Pond' oil-11x14 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
I painted with Michael Albrechtson and John Potoschnick one afternoon on the Magathon Farm. We found some shade around one of the stock ponds on the farm, complete with stock. As we were painting some of the milk cows decided that they liked John and got very close, a noses' distance from him. All of his "Go away cow!" commands didn't do a bit of good. They wanted to watch his magic.


'Mike's Green Day' oil-5x7 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
This little monochromatic green painting, painted only with terre verte and white, is the result of a rather mischievous idea that I had for us all to do an 'all green' painting one morning. The reason is that Michael Albrechtson when showing us his work the night before was having a fit over his use of 'green', stemming from, according to him, his having been in the studio for a long period of time. We didn't think he was all that overtaken by green in the work, it looked quite good to us. But to help him along we pulled this little prank and that evening 7 of us laid out our green paintings all at once, much to his surprise and dismay! He got a kick out of it, good natured as he is, and we all had a laugh about it.


'Road to Bazaare, KS' oil-14x18 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
I drove back up to the area where we had painted the sundown piece the night before and found this view to the east that was captivating in it's 'largeness'. This was an interesting painting to me. It's painted quite thin, just enough paint on it to grab the fast moving light and it's color. I used a lot of sketchy strokes, laid down fast and untouched. The effect is one that I like and am finding myself using a little bit here and there since.


'Hot and Bright' oil-8x10 ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
This was my last painting of the trip. I stayed an extra day to get one more morning's work on the larger piece above and then had lunch with some of the group before they departed. Following that I went to explore another area that sounded intriguing... Sharpe's Creek Road. It was a beautiful place. I took a lot of photos but decided to do this one last painting. It was 'hot and bright' and I was tired and ready to hit the road.

9/25/11 A day painting with friends at Crex Meadow Wildlife Area

Yesterday was a fine fall day up at Crex Meadow Wildlife Area in Grantsburg, WI. Gray skies, slight wind and the beginnings of Mother Nature's changing of her palette with which she paints our surroundings. The reds, oranges, yellows, warm greens and a variance of other warmer earth colors are all beginning to overtake the summer palette, except that the trees that border the bodies of water where the warmth of the water holds off some of the frost, are still holding onto their August green foliage.


The Painters soaking it all in before the day starts... Critical to seeing paintings.

I've mentioned that I've spent a fair amount of time up there, 30 miles north of me, painting now over the last few years. But this year I have really begun to concentrate on this jewel of a piece of earth. It's a place where a person can hike, bike, hunt, nature watch or paint without the fear of traffic or being told that "You can't paint there". You are free to wander anywhere that you please or dare, free to stop at any point on the many miles of gravel and dirt roads that spider web through the refuge and surrounding wildlife area. This is a real treat to have in the neighborhood and I plan to continue to make very good use of it.

Yesterday I contacted a several other painter friends in the area and 5 of us ended up making the trip up and spent the day painting. Mary Pettis, MaryAnn Cleary, Joni Jurek, Tony Hilscher and yours truly, all spent the entire day at our easels in front of the daunting but beautiful surroundings that Mother Nature offered up for our painting pleasure. We started the day with layers of long underwear, sweaters, coats and more but ended up shedding a lot of that by the end of he day. The ending was perfect, calm winds and balmy temps. This is one reason why we put up with the gnats and skeeters, wind, cold and other deterrents, to experience a day like we had outside from beginning to the end of the light... priceless!


'COLD SKIES' 9x12 Oil ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
Crex is primarily a sedge marsh, flat vistas without much more to break the distant horizon other than the slight rise in the ground elevation or a distant line of trees that make up the upland habitats that surround parts of the area. It's the kind of a place where you're tempted to just paint skies all day long. That's fine, but I find myself investigating the little nooks at the edges of the marshes, the islands that have scrubby growth on them, the expanses of sedge and other aquatic vegetation that all go towards interesting compositional elements for my work and what I'm trying to say in the paintings.


'A SLICE OF SUN' 8x10 Oil ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
Yeah it was chilly... and any sun that came out was welcome from both my physical and artistic sides. After painting the first one above I stayed right where I was and tried to grab this little happening across the pond. It didn't last long, a few minutes is all, but I tried to hold onto what I had seen and use the now overcast scene in front of me as the structural guide and my memory as the artistic guide. From here we took off for the north end of the park and the bathroom/picnic area for lunch.


'NORTH END FALL' 10x8 Oil ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
On our way to my next suggested location, we were driving through one of the upland habitats that was just beautiful with a mix of birch, maples, oaks and all of the assorted vegetation, well on it's way towards peak color. I couldn't help it, I had to stop. I should mention that the others all had limited or no experience up here. I've driven 95% of the roads with the park map and marked painting locations on it. I'm pretty familiar with what the lay of the land is now. So I assumed the 'tour guide' status and felt responsible for putting us in nice painting locations. When we drove through this area we were on the way to another open water spot that I thought would be good, a Ducks Unlimited project that is just beautifully designed for the benefit of the waterfowl's use. Oh... it was also the opening day for the Wisconsin Waterfowl Season. I knew that spot would be good at the end of the day, so we all agreed to stop in this little upland spot and paint.


'END OF A SEPTEMBER DAY' 12x16 Oil ©2011 Marc R. Hanson
Of course you can't count on the weather to do anything that you expected it to do. It didn't, it was a lot more overcast all day long than we thought it would be according to the official weather sources we checked. But...we had sun at the end and were excited by what that late light was doing to the landscape. So we get to the spot, the D.U project marsh and it is lit up so nice that there are 5 drooling painters all biting at the bit to go at it. No sooner did we set up than the overcast closed in and cut off most all of the sunlight. Every once in awhile there would be a slash of light off in the distance on the sedges that spread out for hundreds of acres in front of us. Being seasoned painters we knew that we'd just have to make the best of it and went to work. I grabbed ahold of the darkened foreground in cooler light against that sliver of sun off in the distance and did my best to try to capture that sensation that I had when it happened.

So it was a good day with 4 paintings being painted. Came home hungry and tired and slept like a baby. A good day.

July, August, September...

I really can't believe that my last post was early July! But then again it's been a crazy busy summer full of traveling to paint and teach. I have a pile of work to post here so rather than get into much detail about the last few months I'd rather show some of the images from the summer and talk about the recent past with them a little bit.

First of all... We, Sargent and I, have a new housemate. Her name is Frida. We rescued her at about 12 weeks. She's an adorable little sweetheart of a kitten. Even Sarge is beginning to see it that way.


I'M VERY HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT I HAVE JOINED A NEW GALLERY IN TEXAS... R.S.Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX

I was forunate to have been awarded the Bronze Medal Award at the Oil Painters Of America's (OPA) 19th Annual National Juried Exhibition in Idaho for the painting "Right Or Left?"...


"Right or Left?" 24x30 oil
Available at R.S.Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX

All of these paintings are available, unless marked 'NFS' or at specific galleries and are linked to the galleries that they're hanging in.

Here we go... The first four are just random field studies that I've painted this summer.


'CORNER LIGHT' 8x10 Oil 2011©Marc R. Hanson
Available at R.S.Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
I discovered that I had a tube of Gamblin's 'Chromatic Black' in my paint bin. So I took it out to see if it would be of interest to me when mixing some of the deep summer greens. It works very well for that, it's in my paint box as a 'occasionally used' color now. I used it extensively as my 'blue' when mixing the greens in this painting. There's a lot of scraping and palette knife work here too, a tool that I find myself using more and more now.



'TREE ISLAND' 8X10 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson
This little study was just painted this past week along the river below me in the Interstate Park, Minnesota side. I was looking at a very bright backlit scene that silhouetted the tree shape nicely. That was the starting point conceptually for this one. The silvery light and strong darks attracted me too.



'TEXAS!' 11X14 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson NFS
This is the first and only painting that I did in Texas during a trip there in July. Now that I am joining the R.S.Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, Tx I hope to be there painting a lot more. There is something about that landscape that is very, very attractive to me. It reminds me a lot of the northern California Sierra Foothills near Loomis where I went to high school and where my mother and brother and his family still live. It's the dry grasses and large oaks spread across rolling hills that do it for me I guess. It was hotter than blazes there, 109º F!!! Of course they've experienced terrible fires there this month, totally devastating. But it's finally beginning to rain from what my friends there are saying... Hallelujah!!!



'THAT'S MY BOAT!' 8x10 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson
Available at Addison Art Gallery in Orleans, MA.
In June I went out to Cape Cod to paint with friends Shannon Runquist, Paul Schulenburg, Elizabeth Pollie, Frank Gardner, Jerome Green, Sara Jane Doberstein and Peter Kalill. There was an exhibit held at Addison Art Gallery sponsored by the Cape Cod Museum of Art celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore by President John F. Kennedy. We painted all over the National Seashore area and in the harbors. This was a small boat at the harbor in Wellfleet, Ma.


THE NEXT GROUP OF PAINTINGS ARE ALL DEMOS OR PAINTED DURING MY SUMMER MENTORSHIPS AND WORKSHOPS...


'ST CROIX SWIRLS' 11X14 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson
Available at R.S.Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX



'PEONIES' 8X10 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'TAYLOR'S ROCKS' 12X16 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'GARAGE GARDEN' 11X14 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson


THE NEXT GROUP OF PAINTINGS ARE PIECES THAT I PAINTED IN JULY AT THE DOOR COUNTY PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL IN WISCONSIN...


'COOL MORNING' 9X12 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'FLAMING LACE' 11X14 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'MOONLIGHT BAY CULVERT' 11x14 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'MORNING BRIGHT' 11X14 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'WISCONSIN BARNS' 12X16 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson


7
'WHITE SOX' 9X12 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson


THE FINAL GROUP OF PAINTINGS ARE OF A SELECTION OF FIELD STUDIES PAINTED OF A SUBJECT THAT HAS BECOME NEAR AND DEAR TO ME THIS YEAR. THE LOCATION IS A 30,000 ACRE WILDLIFE REFUGE MADE UP OF SEDGE MARSH, UPLAND AND PRAIRIE HABITAT IN NW WISCONSIN NEAR GRANTSBURG... AND IS CALLED 'CREX MEADOW'. THIS EXPANSE OF LAND IS A HAVEN FOR CRITTERS AS VARIED AS WOLVES AND SANDHILL CRANES TO BLACK BEARS AND TRUMPETER SWANS. EAGLES, OSPREYS, ASSORTED OTHER WATERFOWL AND FUR BEARING ANIMALS ABOUND. THEY'RE ALL THERE BECAUSE OF THE SPECTACULAR NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT HAS BEEN PROTECTED WITHIN THIS ECOSYSTEM OF CREX MEADOWS. I HOPE TO CONTINUE TO DO STUDIES, PHOTOGRAPH AND PAINT LARGER PAINTINGS ON LOCATION WHENEVER I CAN. EXCEPT FOR THE LAST TWO PAINTINGS BELOW, THESE ARE ALL FIELD STUDIES PAINTED ON LOCATION.


'OVERHANGING DARKS' 12X16 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'LILY'S' 8X16 Pastel 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'SEPTEMBER REFLECTIONS' 9X12 Oil 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'REISINGER LAKE I' 3.5X4 Gouache 2011© Marc R. Hanson NFS



'REISINGER LAKE II' 3.5X4 Gouache 2011© Marc R. Hanson NFS



'UPPER PHANTOM FLOWAGE I' 3.5X4 Gouache 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'UPPER PHANTOM FLOWAGE II' 3.5X4 Gouache 2011© Marc R. Hanson


I had a hard time photographing these two larger studio pieces... But you get the idea.


'BEYOND SHADOWS' 24X24 Oil - Studio - 2011© Marc R. Hanson



'TOWARDS THE END' 24X24 Oil - Studio - 2011© Marc R. Hanson

Scottsdale Artists School Pastel Workshop 10/31-11/4, 2011

I'll be teaching a Pastel Only workshop at the Scottsdale Artists School this fall...

MARC R. HANSON...
WORKING WITH SOFT PASTEL IN THE FIELD AND STUDIO
Location: Scottsdale Location
Oct 31-Nov 4, 2011

(480) 990- 1422
http://www.scottsdaleartschool.org

Considering the different challenges that using soft pastels in the field versus in the studio presents the artist, this class is designed to give the students a chance to explore both situations under my guidance. Over the course of the five day class the students will spend approximately half of the time in the field, and the other half in the studio. In the field we will focus on shorter term studies and the issues of pastel working en plein air, along with all of those principles involved in all picture making. Students should expect to complete at least four to six plein air pieces during the outdoor segment of the class. Back in the studio we will work from either those studies, or from our own reference materials to produce one or two larger studio pieces.

Lectures about materials and technique, the elements of painting, including an AV media presentation, will reinforce the material discussed and taught during the week. I will also demonstrate a couple of different methods that I use to begin pastels in the field and studio, and will carry out at least one large studio demonstration, start to finish. Some experience with using pastels outdoors is recommended; otherwise the class is open to new and veteran pastel painters.www.marchansonart.com