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Painting Provence and the Côte d’Azur with Debra Huse and Lisa Skelly
Château Near Avignon, June 21—29, 2024
If you are a color enthusiast and naturally drawn to the aesthetic quality water, this workshop is for you. We will be painting the gorgeous countryside of Provence with two exceptional artists, Debra Huse and Lisa Skelly.
Debra and Lisa are two artists who are also gifted instructors who spend their days painting the coastal region, especially of Southern California. The warmth of the light in California is rivaled only by a few regions in the world, and Provence is one of them. Bask in the golden hours that will take your breath away, feast on the bounty of the region and learn from a pair of friends, business partners and masters of color.
We invite you to enjoy a fantastic program of learning and strengthening your painting skills while based at our charming, historical château near Avignon. Spend 9 Idyllic days painting the landscape in Southern France with a special visit to the Calanque, a breathtaking series of inlets where cliffs drop down into crystal clear teal waters.
Experience the expertise of not one, but two sought-after instructors, both are members of The American Impressionist Society and the California Art Club.
Get ready for some painting and an immersive experience in the Provence, France. This once-in-a-lifetime inspiring and instructive workshop will be unforgettable.
The workshop experience is open to artists of all levels. Debra and Lisa will take turns in leading the sessions, so that you can learn from both of them. There will be demos, one-on-one painting sessions and critiques. You will explore different approaches and create art using the principles learned. You will also be plein air painting on the historic Château’s Estate. Sound like heaven? We thought so.
Between both Debra Huse and Lisa Skelly, you will experience a comprehensive learning experience for painting that you can use and refer to and further your own work. Both are skilled figurative, still life and landscape painters. We will have live models on-site painting them in and out of the studio. Both Debra and Lisa are familiar with the European landscape.
The instruction and accommodations are in an 13th-century château estate. See more images here. You will be able to venture out with the group and capture landscapes and scenes of life in France in the surrounding countryside. In addition to obtaining painting skills, you’ll also enjoy an immersive French experience.
You’ll be able to explore the neighboring villages, visit vineyards to taste the local vintages, and shop at local outdoor markets as part of your retail therapy.
A retreat in Provence with a special trip to the Calanque national park near Cassis featured above.
Debra Huse
Debra Huse is an award-winning artist based out of California. She spends her time capturing the light and luminosity of California either on the coast or on her boat. She is a master of color and imbues her work with the vibrancy she sees and feels from her home in California.
Founder and Artist at Huse Skelly Gallery, Debra founded this award-winning and nationally acclaimed Plein Air Gallery in 1998. She gathered some of the top Plein Air Artists in the country and curated a collection of their artwork to exhibit and share with discerning collectors that wanted to collect the finest in Plein Air Artworks.
Debra is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning Artist herself and through her classes and online workshops reaches students around the world and helps them to hone their painting skills.
Affiliations and Memberships:
American Society of Marine Artists, Signature Member
American Impressionist Society, Signature Member
Laguna Plein Air Painters, Signature Member & Emeritus Board of Directors
Pastel Society of America, Signature Member
Dean’s Advisory Council, Indiana University Eskenanzi School of Art, Architecture & Design
California Art Club
Hoosier Salon
Oil Painters of America
Southern California Plein Air Painters, Founding Member
Rolling Hill Vineyard by Debra Huse
“Debra Huse takes a loving look at the quintessential California lifestyle: the beaches, boats, gardens, and people, all partaking of the “good life” in the Golden State. An astute observer of everyday life, Debra presents her subjects immersed in the
unique light and warmth of coastal Southern California. A true “plein air” painter, her paintings are direct and honest views of what is all around her.”
Lisa Skelly
Lisa Skelly is an award-winning soft pastel artist who is deeply inspired by the beauty of nature. Through her paintings, she captures the essence of the natural world, with a particular focus on seascapes, landscapes, waves, skies, and clouds. Lisa’s medium of choice is pure pigment, which she expertly manipulates to create vibrant, lifelike images that transport viewers to the heart of her scenes.
Drawing on her lifelong love of nature and her training in fine arts, Lisa’s work reflects her passion for the outdoors and her deep appreciation for the power and beauty of the natural world. By using soft pastels, she is able to convey the fluidity and movement of waves, the depth and texture of landscapes, and the ever-changing drama of the sky. Her paintings are both realistic and ethereal, capturing the essence of each scene in a way that invites viewers to lose themselves in the moment.
For Lisa, painting is not just a creative outlet, but a way of connecting with the world around her. Her work is a celebration of the natural beauty that surrounds us, and an invitation to slow down and appreciate the wonders of the world. Through her soft pastel paintings, Lisa Skelly invites us to step into a world of color, light, and movement, and to experience the power and beauty of nature in a way that is both uplifting and transformative.
CEO and Artist at Huse Skelly Gallery, Lisa is honored to be the steward of this treasured Plein Air Gallery since 2018. Debra Huse passed the torch to Lisa, the award-winning pastelist and now owner of the Huse Skelly Gallery. Lisa takes great care to present the gallery as warm, welcoming and available for all to enjoy.
She represents the top Plein Air artists in the country and helps collectors fall in love with, and acquire, beautiful pieces for their own collections. She feels it is important to nurture and guide the next generation of Plein Air Artists and to create a space where art students and accomplished artists as well can find beginning or advanced classes and workshops.
Lisa Skelly is a member of
The Pastel Society of America
The American Impressionist Society
The California Art Club
Signature Artist LPAPA
SoCalPapa
“I Feel it Coming” by Lisa Skelly
This Workshop Includes:
- 9-Days of learning with Debra Huse and Lisa Skelly in Provence.
- Ongoing demos, discussions and evenings with the instructors.
- All Inclusive: Tuition, fine food, wine, château accommodation and ground transportation. We eat out an own expense – one/two lunches and one dinner are scheduled. Airfare not included.
- Paint, sketch and enjoy the good life in beautiful Provençal surroundings.
- Daily painting locations: Private vineyards, charming villages, markets (more painting and excursion locations varied upon location of the workshop).
- Balanced itinerary of painting, exploring and relaxation for artists of all media – all levels!
- Travel, live, learn and paint side-by-side with Debra, Lisa and fellow artists.
- Plenty to do for non-painting partners! A limited number of non-painting partners accepted. Discount available for non-painting companions