New Zealand painting holiday

"Sandspit, New Zealand"

6" x 8" oil on board - painted on location

I've blogged about this before, but just in case you missed it.

In late February and early March of 2012 (15 months from now) Joe Garcia and I will be leading a Painting Holiday in my native New Zealand.  If you don't know Joe's work, then you must know his books, The Watercolor Bible and Mastering the Watercolor Wash.  Joe is a watercolor master....but don't tell him I said that.

Joe and I have been teaching together for years, including workshops on a river barge on France's Burgundy Canal, the Oregon coast, the Art Institute of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, and several workshops in a villa in Tuscany.  During an Italian workshop this past September, our students put in a special request for a non-workshop in New Zealand...a painting holiday.  So keeping our students' requests in mind, Joe and I have organized a trip of a lifetime!  Joe and Anne Garcia have travelled with me to New Zealand many times so they know the country well.  My sister and her husband are also helping out with organizing, cooking and acting as translators and guides.  Yes, New Zealand is primarily an English speaking country, but you still may need a translator!  

Unlike traditional painting workshops, this holiday welcomes non-painters.  Our daily excursions to the bays, beaches and islands will take us to places that are not only paintable, but also have activities for your non-painter partner; hiking, snorkelling or scuba diving, swimming and sight-seeing.  There's also a golf course nearby, horse-riding and other activities.   And for the painters....the pressure is off.  No studio demos and classroom time.  Instead, you can hike with your partner or sit and paint alongside me or Joe.  We're going to paint the places we visit - perhaps a full landscape or just a red pohutawaka leaf or sea shell.  We will spend the week talking art, painting and soaking in the scenery.   When you get back to the States, you can take your stack of watercolors into Kinkos and have them bound into a sketchbook to remember my country, Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud.  


The first holiday is scheduled from February 26 to March 4, 2012.  It's almost full, with one or two openings available, but if we have enough interest, we're going to have a second week, March 7-March 13, 2012.  New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere - so the seasons are reversed.  This will be late summer down-under.  

Price is about $2500, give or take $100.  This includes a week's accommodation, breakfast, lunch and 4 of 7 dinners.  It includes the planned excursions but does not include the cost of optional activities for spouse or partner.  It doesn't include airfare to New Zealand.  Airfare March, 2011 (2012 fares still not posted) are $1150 RT from Phoenix, Arizona - about $1200 from Denver - to Auckland.  We'll pick you up at the airport and drop you off there a week later.  If you'd like to see more of New Zealand (you absolutely must see more!) after or before the workshop, we'll provide you with more info on how where to go and how to get there!

For more information, click on this link.  It will take you to our online brochure that has much more information.