Croatia Art Experience 2010
Last Call for sign-ups is August 3

There's still space in the October 3-12 Croatia Art Experience on the lovely island of Korcula, near Dubrovnik. Daily live demos by Steve Hill at stunning sites around the Adriatic Sea will teach you to paint with confidence and new skills.

The food at Lovrics comfortable B&B is unmatched (3 meals per day included with accommodations, workshop fee and ground transportation for @ $2200 U.S.) . . . the friendly people who run the place are like family.

October is the perfect month to be there, as it's still nice and warm, the grape harvest is in full swing, providing perfect subject matter to paint. Colorful wooden boats are everywhere and since Croatia has over 1100 islands, there's always some great compositions on the water. We even take a one day excursion by private boat (included in the workshop fee) to a small island with a beautiful Franciscan Monastery nestled in a turquoise bay. Beautiful stone walls line the fields and some great winding streets in the villages, lined with ancient buildings, entice visual expression and are waiting to be painted by you.

August 3 is the deadline for sign-ups for this year's workshop. Go to www.slikamilina.ca for registration and details about the art experience, or contact me. The painting here, "Cavtat Harbor" is one I did from the 2009 trip, where we all stay the first night at Dubrovnik, before heading to the ferry for Korcula.

The new exhibit of Northwest Masters at La Conner Seaside Gallery's opening reception is Saturday, May 22nd, from 5-8 p.m. I am one of three artists featured with new plein air pieces in the upstairs gallery, together with Ned Mueller and Mehde Fallahian, in a special exhibit: “Chasing the Light”.

My invitation piece here is titled: “Evening Light, Fisherman Bay”, which won an award in the Associated Arts of Ocean Shores 41st National Juried Fine Arts Show, in April, 2010. It was painted en plein air in August, 2009 on Lopez Island, at Fisherman Bay Peninsula.

I will also have many smaller paintings from plein air trips (all at very affordable prices) from Portugal, France, Croatia, Italy, Carmel, CA, Boise, Idaho (my home town) and, of course, the San Juan Islands. Hope to see many of you at the opening this Saturday!

The gallery is located at: 112 Morris Ave., La Conner, WA

I have again been juried into The 17th Annual Carmel Art Festival, which will be held May 13-16, in Carmel, California. All artists paint (rather furiously) for 2 days and turn our best 2 pieces in (framed) for jury on Friday evening. The festival opens to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday and runs through Sunday, the 16th. There are 60 artists participating in this multi-national event.

The juried pieces are displayed Saturday and Sunday, in a large, covered outdoor pavilion at Davendorf Park in Carmel, where they are put into a silent auction. A live auction on Saturday afternoon follows for pieces receiving more than 10 silent auction bids, with an awards ceremony held after the auction. A “quick draw” for award winners is held on Sunday, from 10-12. Attendance numbers in the thousands and it's a great way to see plein air painting in action, meet the artists, and enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather of the Monterrey Peninsula.

An on-line “Absentee Bidding” process is now in place for this festival. To get on the mailing list, email Hella at: cafauction2010@yahoo.com

To see the 2010 schedule of events, go to their web site: www.carmelartfestival.org

The image here is a piece I did at Point Lobos, during last year's festival. It is titled: "Beach Anatomy" and will also be in my upcoming show at Agora Gallery in New York this July 13th. www.agora-gallery.com

We have added a new category to my web site, to be able to post upcoming workshops, dates and details. I am offering 3 pastel painting workshops on Lopez Island this year, plus my annual 10 day plein air, multi-media workshop on Korcula Island, Croatia, this October. View the current classes

The painting here, is one I have just finished from reference photos taken less than 300' from the bed and breakfast where we all stay during the Croatia workshop. It's titled “Days End, Lumbarda, Croatia” and will be framed and available soon at my home gallery on Lopez Island.

I want to send a big thank you to friends and patrons who came to the new exhibit “Early Spring” of The Northwest Masters at La Conner Seaside Gallery last Saturday. We had a large turn-out of about 300 people throughout the day. It was great to see folks from the San Juan Islands, Anacortes, Mt. Vernon, La Conner and the Seattle area! It was also very encouraging to the artists that some gallery sales actually happened on opening night!

My original painting pictured here “Spring Blooms” sold to the Lambiel Museum on Orcas Island, during the opening. It is the museum's second acquisition of one of my pieces.

This exhibit hangs until mid-May and has a great mix of new work to enjoy. See my previous blog for the invitation, list of artists and show dates. Gallery Hours are: Friday-Monday 11-5.