NEW ART CLASSES special .....Guaybitos

In my studio with a student on the right.

NEW INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL   Your first class is 1/2 PRICE!
Want to take Art Classes this season in Guayabitos?  Here's a special introductory price to try it out.
Your first class is half price. Just $ 12.50 US at today's rates ..... 200 pesos.
Continuing classes at the rate of  $100. US (or peso equivalent ) for 4 - three hour classes in the medium of your choice. Watercolors, oils or acrylics.
I have been teaching beginners to advanced students for over 30 years and would be delighted to work with you. Let me know if you are interested. At the moment in my new studio I will be starting classes on November 2nd. - teaching the following days:

Monday morning at 9:30  to 12:30 pm for those who like watercolors.
Tuesday morning is oils and acrylics ....9:30 to 12:30 pm.

  I am located in the Paseo beside Oxxo in centro Guayabitos... the Paseo has Teriyaki Alex's restaurant and Aurora's  popular Beauty Salon.  Feel free to drop by the studio, Donna

Fresh Fish , the morning's catch.

Classes starting in Rincon de Guayabitos Donna's Studio

A morning walk at Rincon de Guayabitos.

  Welcome to all my students – past, present and future!
I will begin offering weekly classes in watercolors, oils or acrylics in my new studio in the charming town of Rincón de Guayabitos. Only 1 hour north of Puerto Vallarta.
These classes are designed for both beginners and advanced painters, and both short or long-term options are offered, depending on the amount of time you can devote or the length of your stay.
*We offer reasonable rates and I offer a reduced rate to students who sign up for 4 or more classes. Materials may be purchased for an additional fee. Classes are limited, so please book soon to ensure your space.
I look forward to painting with you here in friendly, sunny and beautiful Mexico!
STUDIO HOURS
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 9:30 am - 2:00 pm (as of November 2, 2015)
Monday Nov. 2nd - Watercolors  - 9:30 to 12:30 pm for beginners to advanced
Tues Nov. 3rd- Oils and Acrylics - 9:30 to 12:30 beginners to advanced. I will provide photos as we explore new subjects each week.
Cost of classes $ 30. US or save when you sign up for 4, at $100. US or peso equivalent.

Morning in the Palms 18" x 22" watercolor

NEW - 3 DAY WATERCOLOR WORKSHOPS IN RIVIERA NAYARIT

PALMS AND SHADOWS AT THE BEACH watercolor

I've just posted some exciting new mini workshops I'm offering this winter.  The new ones will be in Mexico's Riviera Nayarit at Rincon de Guayabitos, where we are now living full time. 
JAN. 15th to 17th 2016,   FEB. 12th to 14th,   MAR. 18th to 20th,  and  APRIL 15th to17th.
These will be 3 full day intensive workshops, designed to give a real boost to your painting skills. We'll work on watercolor technique, seeing and mixing color, composition, values, simplifying and loosening up... all taking place in the pleasant warm atmosphere of the tropical Pacific coast. Don't worry - it won't be all work! There will be time to lounge in the sun or swim, and at the end of the day plenty of time to kick back or go shopping. If you're interested in any of these workshops let me know as soon as you can.  They are limited to 12 students. All are welcome!

Here's a link to the workshop list. http://donna-dickson-art.com/3-day-watercolor-workshops.html 

2015 September 4th opening New Exhibiton Tom and Donna Dickson

Our show opens Friday 4th of September hope everyone gets a chance to see it.
It will be up for 5 weeks at our old location upstairs across from the Jardin, but now it has become Galeria San Francisco . #1 San Francisco across from Intercam in San Miguel.

 

"SPRINGTIME SAN MIGUEL" oil on panel 16 x 24" Donna Dickson

                                  

"CALLE TECOLOTE" oil on panel 20" x 17" Donna Dickson

These will be featured in our show. I will post a couple of Tom's as well. No more classes til I get to Guayabitos late October. I will return to San Miguel for summer classes in June 2016. We had a great summer here and had lots of wonderful students.

"LOOKING WEST" oil 22.5 x 24" by Tom Dickson 

             "FIRST LIGHT" oil 16" x 20" by Tom Dickson these will also be in our show.

We've had a great summer of painting and had fun putting this show together. Donna :))

plein air El Chorro July 29th Los Lavaderos

Woman hand washing at the old washstands in El Chorro. Los Lavaderos 

Watercolor from Los Lavaderos  We will meet here at  9:30am. Wed. July 29th.  Hope we find some ladies washing clothes but Monday is the traditional day for washing. The location is just before Juarez Park at the foot of Recreo, below the El Chorro buildings.  A tranquil place to paint with benches and no traffic to contend with. You may need a hat tho' as the sun shifts around. Washrooms in Juarez Park. Don't forget your camera for reference photos. See you there supposed to be sunny all week.

2015 July 22nd plein air CUNA de ALLENDE at 9:30 am

                                                                          

On CUNA de ALLENDE  an afternoon small sketch in oil I painted in February. This is the street we will be painting this week.

                                                             

Esquina Vergel y Refugio Norte watercolor from last week.

 Trees growing in the intersection and growing out of walls!  This week WED JULY 22nd we will be painting on Cuna de Allende in centro. Weather permitting we will meet at 9:30 am somewhere along this 1 block short street probably closer to Cuadrante, but we'll see when we get there. If you are facing the big church the Parroquia ,the street on the right going past the side of the church is Cuna de Allende . It ends at Cuadrante where you find the outdoor cafe 10 /10 pie. It's a fun street to paint on with very little traffic. See you Wednesday. Fingers crossed for a sunny morning. Sometimes foggy early on but usually burns off.

La Casa Verde on a street called Arboles watercolor .The finished picture. I fine tuned it a bit when I got it home.

2015 July 8th Wed. Plein air corner of Vergel and Refugio

 This a great view of trees and street. You are looking up Prolongacion de Refugio from Vergel.

Hoping we'll get some sunshine. It has been raining almost everyday! So fingers crossed. We'll go ahead if it is cloudy but if it's looking like rain no. The brick colored store on the right makes great cakes and goodies!  Come prepared for any weather!  9:30 am on location. :)) Donna

A rare green casa on Arboles Street, from last week plein air. This is not quite finished here.

2015 JUNE 17 PLEIN AIR on Recreo

This is a scene I completed recently near the Oratorio Church where the buses come in on Insurgentes. oil on panel 14 " x 18" 

Meeting on south Recreo going towards El Charco and Juarez Parque for our plein air on Wed June 17th at 9:30  am   This is a fun street and a variety of scenes to paint along this street, the trick will be to find a scene you like and a place that isn't blocking the passage way too much to paint from Don't forget your camera, and supplies We will have shade on the east side of this street. If it's cloudy we may choose another spot but we will meet here first. If it's threatening to rain then we will cancel or paint indoors. Send me a message if you have any questions . You will need a small folding stool if you are doing watercolors.

Back in San Miguel at Galeria San Francisco

From Galeria San Francisco

 

Classes start Monday June 8th with watercolors at 9:30 am til 12:30 pm. Come by if you haven't already signed up. # 1 San Francisco upstairs overlooking the Jardin.

Platicando en la Esquina oil 18 x 18" 

 

here's a recent painting I will be showing in the July group show at  Galeria San Francisco.
Oil and acrylic painting begins June 9th  Tuesdays at 9:30 am to 12:30 pm in the studio of Galeria San Francisco.

Here's a great plein air sketch from Park Juarez done by artist Tom Dickson a while back. He also  happens to be my painting partner and husband for the last 45 years! Nice simple sketch paying attention to the dark and light values and warm hues in the background.

 

 

 

Plein air this first session will be Wed.  June 10th at  9:30 am and we'll go til about 12:30pm Bring a hat and your camera for reference photos. A viewfinder if you have one and all that you will need to paint on location. We can usually find a convenient bench to sit on in the shade. Let me know if you are coming. If you arrive early walk around the square checking out possible scenes to paint.

San Miguel SUMMER ART CLASSES 2015

Leaving Riviera Nayarit soon

ARRIVING  SAN MIGUEL IN JUNE   

The summer schedule is posted but I will repeat it below. We are reluctantly leaving our Paradise on the beach, but the days are getting hotter and the humidity is climbing. Last night in the wee hours it was 80F plus and 100% humidity or for those in the Celsius crowd 27 degrees! Soo... it will be much cooler in San Miguel and we look forward to our new temporary home in San Miguel. I'll post some of our recent paintings soon.
 SUMMER ART  Classes  JUNE 8TH watercolors 9:30 to 12:30 pm
                                           JUNE 9TH oils or acrylics 9:30 to 12:30 pm
                                           JUNE 10TH - plein air this week we will meet in the Jardin at 9:30 - so bring your supplies and easel with you. Don't forget sunhat and camera for reference photos.
Indoor classes will be held in the studio of Galeria San Francisco on the second floor at my former gallery #1 San Francisco across from Intercam. see you all soon. Donna

2015 May 4th Greetings from the beach at Rincon de Guayabitos

Vendors on the beach. Afternoon at Rincon de Guayabitos

Hope everyone is enjoying lots of great painting weather. It is superb here and we are seeing so many things to paint! We have just the month of May in Guayabitos and then we will be in sunny San Miguel once more for the summer.
Here's  the summer  schedule for classes in June in San Miguel : same location as before (#1 San Francisco)  http://www.galeriasanfrancisco.com/about/

but now in the new joint art space,  called "Galeria San Francisco" here's a link to the site 
Classes are starting  Monday June 8th, 9th and 10th and will continue through to September 
Monday watercolors -9:30 til 12:30 pm
Tuesday oils and acrylics -9:30 til 12:30 pm
Wednesday plein air in any medium 9:30 to 12:30pm  location will be announced each week on this blog and of course weather permitting.
Prices for classes have gone up now that I am renting the teaching space from Galeria San Francisco , but still reasonable.
  Here's a sunset sky to inspire.

Gold and pink sunset. This would be fun to paint.

 Let me know if you're in my neighborhood in May at the beach. I have a new space rented for teaching in Guayabitos  -  regular classes start in the fall. But if you're here let me know and we can paint together.

Farewell party at the Gallery March 28 2015

The Final party for all my great students at Galeria Dickson. We had a wonderful wrap up party and lots of laughs. Kind of sad but a new adventure for everyone. All are invited to come look me up at the beach "Rincon de Guayabitos" in Nayarit . I will be offering classes there and workshops - (during the cool San Miguel winter) it will be nice and warm at the beach. Swimming in the ocean and art classes what could be better! Guayabitos is 1 hour north of Puerto Vallarta by bus. There are flight from Leon and Queretero to PV.  I will post more about the classes once we get things set up at Guayabitos. -In the meantime I will be back in San Miguel for the wonderful summer, June July and August for classes in oils , acrylics and watercolors. My new website donna-dickson-art.com

Galeria Dickson closing but also transforming!

Jacaranda in the Plazuela  8" x 10" oil from our last session on Tuesday. Mar 24th

Galeria Dickson will be closing with a Farewell party on Saturday March 28th for all my wonderful students. Big changes happening. Galeria Dickson will be incorporated into Galeria San Francisco. Both galleries will be become one large gallery under the ownership of Susan Santiago in her Galeria San Francisco representing several other artists plus ourselves.
http://www.galeriasanfrancisco.com/
 Tom and I will be heading for RINCON DE GUAYABITOS  shortly.  GUAYABITOS it's about 1 hours drive north of Puerto Vallarta. A beautiful friendly beach community nestled beside La Penita. in Jaltemba Bay..
Look for regular art classes and workshops being held there in the future. Remember it's warm all winter!
Check out my new web site for further details. www.donna-dickson-art.com
We'll be in San Miguel painting from June to September. Adios everyone it's been a great year . Saludos Donna

Last plein air til summer Tues March 24th - 9:30 am

   Jacaranda 10"x 8"  oil on panel

This is the painting I did last week on our Tuesday in Guadalupe . Linda , Nancy,  John and I enjoyed a perfect morning after all the rain and cloud from last week.
This week we'll be meeting at the little plaza on Insurgentes between Hidalgo and Hernandez Macias. There's little juice stands set up and it's a quiet spot off the street behind the kiosks. Also if all goes well the Jacaranda back there should be in bloom. I don't have a photo that I can lay my hands on but you'll be able to find it easily. Weather forecast is clear with a high of 26 C so all should be fun.

This is the location between Hidalgo and Hernandez Macias.on Insurgentes. It's called Plazuela de San Jose something like that. But just look for the juice stands. See you there at 9:30 am. Bring a  sun hat and camera!

It's a go!! Hoping fog will lift ! Jacaranda 2 March 17th at 9:30am

I

Jacaranda in Guadalupe a colonia or neighborhood of San Miguel

A great scene on  Calle Colegio Militar

Weather permitting and lately that has been a big question mark...We'll try to tackle some Jacaranda in Guadalupe.  We'll meet on Colegio Militar just up the street from Margarita Ledesma the street that El Pato is on. There are some nice scenes. Here's some photos to inspire you on this very wet rainy Sunday. I will post if it's cancelled, but there looks like a possibility the weather is improving by Tuesday. Look for this on Colegio Militar.  Let me know if you're planning to attend call 154 4291 if weather is uncertain. Donna

X marks the area we'll be painting P is for El Pato art supplies on Margarita Ledesma, Just off Calzada de Aurora which goes to the Fabrica De La Aurora  

9:30 am Tues Mar 17th 2015

" Jacaranda " CANCELLED too cloudy!! Tues. March 10, 9:30 am

It's Jacaranda Time ...a chance to break out your lavander colors! Not my photo sorry I think Dawn  Gaskill took this lovely one.

Red purple or blue purple in the Jacaranda ?? Depends on the time of day.Usually more red in the morning.  We'll be meeting weather permitting at 9:30 am in San Antonio.....Prolongacion de Pila Seca  see MAP attached. I've had my trusty scout Heather checking out our next scene.

A close up of area.

 

X marks the spot If you get in the area  of Prolongacion de Pila Seca near Vergel , you'll find us.







Forecast is for possible thunder showers but we'll have a look see come Tuesday. If you're coming shoot me an email.  

Look for this tree , gracias to Heather Collins.
Looks like a no go this morning! :( mas rain & cloud....
Stay tuned for next week we may pick a different site. D

2015 March 2nd The washstands at El Chorro 9:30

What a great week of plein air painting, and a wonderful group of painters, eager to improve their plein air skills.

La Valentina just off the Jardin 8" x 10" oil. I put a few touches on this one yesterday. I had many "starts" from this week. The weather was superb , sunny every day. Some windy ones but not too bad. I'll post a few pics from the workshop.

Martina, Lynn and Emily in the Jardin Day 5, we were joined in the Jardin with another workshop group lead by Ann Blair Brown, Frank Gardener and Thomas Kitts,  33 students and 6 teachers ....plein air central!

Up at Cruz del Pueblo, some of our group spread out here, David,Liz , & our assistant painter Heather in green hat, Irma, and Lynn, Emily  and Martina below.

In the jardin, our sun lovers Elena, and Ian doing some great drawing and watercolor.

El Chorro washstands, We'll meet here Tues at 9:30 am Our sunshine seems to be holding!

The wash stands are at the bottom end of Recreo , almost at entrance to Juarez Park. Bring a hat , camera,  snacks, coffee or water, view finder etc. This will be fun. See you there. Donna

2015 Tues. Feb 17 Plein air in the Jardin

Al Lado del Jardin by Tom Dickson west side of Jardin SOLD

This is the west side of the Jardin, which is where we will be meeting on Tues afternoon at 2 pm We can locate by the arches either under them or near them. We'll scout around but that's the general location .. weather permitting , the forecast is partly cloudy. Hopefully it will change to sunny by then. Really overcast we won't bother, it will be too dull. Hope to see y'all on Tuesday. This will be the last plein air for this month as we will be doing our plein air workshop the following week. Back on schedule 3rd of March.

Here's a view from last week on Chiquitos late afternoon

Donna, Pat, Heather and (Mary hidden) behind Heather on Chiquitos last week

Patti, Donna and further down the street Nancy and Al on Chiquitos. We had a great group, and great weather.

2015 Feb 10th plein air on Chiquitos 2pm

One of the house fronts on sunny Chiquitos!

Unusual rain spouts on Chiquitos

Late light on Chiquitos looking towards Hospicio

So we'll meet Tues at 2pm on Chiquitos Feb. 10th.   It's a narrow street but no too much traffic. let me know if you're coming. Thanks  Chiquitos is up one street from Recreo running between Correo and Hospicio , only 1 block long Thus the name Chico!

2015 FEB. 3rd 1:30 pm. Calle Garita above Barranca fountain

On calle Garita looking towards the Fountain at Hospicio and Barranca
 UPDATE NOTE  It looks "iffy" for today, mostly cloudy.  :( :(
We'll wait and see but Thursday is supposed to be clear, maybe a morning scene on Thurs as an alternative. I've got classes in the afternoon but morning free. Let me know if you're interested.

This will be a bit of a challenge but an intriguing vista.There are a few spots along this street that look great so we'll be able to spread out along the calle. Maybe next week we'll hit Juarez park and the Candelaria flower displays. So we'll meet here this Tues Feb. 3rd at  1:30 pm (that's when I took this photo, walking down to the gallery.) We'll have to quickly lay in the lights and darks. Bring your camera, view finder etc. 
*special note about this location in centro Garita starts out as Cuadrante (by the restaurant "10/ 10 Pie" and going uphill, turning into Hospicio, then when it jogs at the  Barranca  fountain it continues uphill becomes  Calle Garita. Very easy to see when you look at a map of San Miguel. Garita runs between Barranca and Salida a Queretero  Donna

We did paint  with Nancy and Wyllis Heaton and here's Tom's plein air from way down the hill at the fountain

"SUNGLEAM" oil on panel 10" x 10" by Tom Dickson.

Donna and Wyllis Heaton on location