October 2016 – Hudson River Valley Art Workshops

Intrepid Watercolors with Alvaro Castagnet

October 26, 2016

“Alvaro’s demos were very worthwhile. He is a gifted artist. The meals at the inn were extraordinary! It was an excellent experience.” – Nancy

Alvaro Castagnet was here last week teaching a 5 day plain air watercolor workshop. He was here at the right time to catch all the fall colors at the peak!

Even though one day was on the rainy side, this intrepid group still went out to a local farm to paint for the day and only had to escape to inside a barn for a short period of time. It was a great opportunity for Alvaro to do an interiors demo! 14700851 10154657843746670 8882449106067811472 o On another day the group went down to paint riverside by the Hudson River in the town of Athens. Lots of great subject matter and they also enjoyed discovering the local brewery, Crossroad Brewing Company, for lunch.

A floor “gallery” of the maestro’s paintings both during the class demos, and well as on location at many of Alvaro’s international travel spots. A merry and spirited time was always had around the dinner table every night, but the final dinner on Friday night was especially festive. There were toasts, speeches, singing, and dancing. 14692043 10154662354171670 832096763521836365 o Do miss your opportunity to discover this experience next year when Alvaro returns to teach a 3 day workshop in July.

Not-So-Basic-Basics with Skip Lawrence

October 13, 2016

“Skip’s class is always great. He’s a serious teacher with a great sense of humor who guides students to create great art no matter what or how they paint.” – Betsy J.

Skip Lawrence has been teaching at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops every year at the same time in the Fall for decades. If you haven’t taken at least one workshop from Skip, you owe it to yourself to give it try and discover why Skip’s students come back year after year to learn from this master. About half the students from this year’s class signed up for his 2017 workshop before they left. So don’t delay sign up now before you lose the opportunity.

The crisp autumn air is just starting the color to creep into the leaves around the inn grounds.

This was the vegetarian dinner option one night – Chili Verde topped with feta and avocado.
There was a wide range of media used by the students.
This is also a group that knows how to let loose and have some fun in the after hours studio time!

Ripping, Tearing, Painting with Elizabeth St Hilaire

October 5, 2016

“I loved the convenience of working on our art about any time. I learned a lot from Elizabeth and enjoyed her teaching style – informative, creative, open-minded, joyful, laid back, approachable. Loved her art, technique, & style!” – Jody B.

What a fun week we all had with Elizabeth St Hilaire here to teach her Paper Painting workshop. Lots of ripping and tearing going on, as well is lots of painting, stamping, printing, and splattering. The workshop began with a slew of techniques for creating unique painted papers to use as the palette of colors for paper paintings.

Fish prints, anyone?
Jody came all the way from Colorado to take the workshop with her daughter, Molly. Jody is a cattle rancher, as you might guess from her subject matter!

The perfect Fall weather made the back lawns of the inn a great place to take a break and stretch you legs.

Pumpkin pancakes are back for the Fall as one of the daily specials for breakfast during the week. If you missed your chance at coming to this years workshop, Elizabeth will be back again in June of 2018!