Dates: TBA
Status: upcoming
Instructor(s): 
Up to 12 participants
This plein air painting class will spend time at each of these missions. The Missions of the West are compelling monuments built of Earth, Stone, Timbers, Sweat and Faith.
Taos, New Mexico
This plein air painting class will spend time at each of these missions. The Missions of the West are compelling monuments built of Earth, Stone, Timbers, Sweat and Faith.
Their sculptural walls and intimate details have inspired artists for many generations. Built of Adobe, and smoothed by centuries of the touch of human hands, they flow in undulating lines that are a delight to paint and photograph as they rise from the land like forms of nature, greeting the light. We car-pool to all sites and share a Dutch-lunch.
MISSION SITES VISITED
SAN FRANCISCO DE ASSIS
In Taos, New Mexico, this Icon of the Southwest, with its massive sculptural buttresses, has had a magnetic attraction to artists since the beginning of the 20th Century. Hundreds of painters and photographers, including Georgia O’Keeffe, have responded to its spell. Ansel Adams said that its presence was so powerful, its combination of Form, Line, Space, Light and Shadow so compelling that it convinced him to pursue photography instead of music.
Lunch in the courtyard.
SAN JOSE DE GRACIA
This ancient mission located in the charming mountain town of Las Trampas, offers a rustic simplicity set against a beautiful backdrop of rugged Ponderosa Pine covered hills.
Its unusual exterior features an outside choir loft supported by hand-adzed wooden beams.
Picnic Lunch.
EL SANTUARIO DE CHIMAYO
This lovely Family Chapel, built in 1813, is located
in a quaint village tucked into a cottonwood shaded valley.
It has been called the ‘Lourdes of New Mexico’
because it has long been a special destination for Pilgrims
who believe that its "sacred earth" has healing powers.
Lunch at historic Hacienda
LA M0RADA DE DON FERNANDO
There is a large cross in the courtyard of this church which was the subject of Georgia O’Keeffe’s many paintings titled "New Mexico Cross". The building itself has been lovingly restored and features a lovely arched adobe gateway.
Lunch at Caffè Renato
Painting instructor
Richard attended ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena in 1998 and in 2001, after receiving a portable sketch box easel as a gift, ventured out into the hills of Malibu to paint on location for the first time. He was hooked.
Instructor profile