Last Day, Greece Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 7 – Greece Art Trek:  Santorini
9″ x 12″ oil painting by Niki Gulley • “Cocktail in Paradise”
On our last afternoon, the sun came out and it and everyone had free time to do whatever they pleased. Some folks shopped, some relaxed by the pool, others continued photographing, and I couldn’t miss one last opportunity to paint our gorgeous Santorini view. Everyone had a lovely, rejuvenating afternoon!
Later that day we all gathered to share what we had painted and photographed during the trip, and sample some of the local wines and cheeses while we discussed the art. To cap off the day, we treated ourselves to a delicious seafood dinner with another gorgeous view of the ocean, catching up with new friends and savoring our last night. A perfect ending to a perfect trip!
Critique / Show and Tell

Dinner with an amazing view on our last night.
Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Paris and Provence, France so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing during lavender and sunflower season in France, and following in the footsteps of Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne, please join us for this amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.

E-mail – Niki Gulley

Painting and Photographing Sunset in Santorini with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 4, Evening – Greece Art Trek:  Oia, Santorini
7″ x 5″ oil painting by Niki Gulley
That evening the photographers joined us out at the lookout point to photograph sunset, so we decided to continue painting. Since we only had about 15 minutes to capture the actual sun setting, we had to sketch the scene in advance, anticipate how the light might look, and pre-mix our golden colors. Then as the sun was dropping, we quickly had to paint those warm reflected lights on the buildings and the water and the golden glow in the sky. While challenging, it was a lot of fun and such a beautiful setting to paint! Capping the evening off, we had a delicious dinner in town at the most picturesque garden restaurant and relived the highlights of the day.
Our photographers staking out their spots to shoot sunset.

Dinner that night.

Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Paris and Provence, France so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing during lavender and sunflower season in France, and following in the footsteps of Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne, please join us for this amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.

E-mail – Niki Gulley

Day 4, Greece Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 4, Greece Art Trek:  Oia, Santorini
9″ x 12″ textured oil painting by Niki Gulley • SOLD

On the fourth day of our Greece Art Trek, we headed to the other end of the island, to the beautiful city of Oia. The painters chose to set up our easels by the lookout point at the edge of town, with some painting the windmills and skyline to our left while I chose this sprawling view of the city on the right. With a far more complicated scene, we had to allow a full afternoon and evening to capture the view. After so much white and blue architecture, I loved how several of the buildings were painted oranges, yellows and pinks contrasting agains the stark alabaster.

Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Paris and Provence, France so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing during lavender and sunflower season in France, and following in the footsteps of Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne, please join us for this amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.

Please check out my website at NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionistic paintings.

E-mail – Niki Gulley

Last Day Venice Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Venice ©2013 Niki Gulley
8″ x 10″ oil painting

On the last day of our Venice Art Trek, St. Mark’s Square was packed with tourists and people dressed up in costumes for Carnivalé which we loved seeing, but we were hoping to find a quieter spot to paint. So we left the photographers and headed back into the local neighborhoods where it was very peaceful and picturesque. I liked the ornamentation on this bridge and the way the light danced across the water and the under side of the structure.

If you’d like to join us on one of our upcoming European Art Treks, please let me know. Closer to home I’ll be leading a Plein Air Painting Workshop sponsored through the Good Art Company gallery in Fredericksburg, TX, April 5-7.

ArtTreks
Tuscany, Italy – Sept. 6-14, 2013
Cinque Terre and Lake Como, Italy – Sept. 13-22, 2013
Provence, France – June 2014
Plein Air Painting / Photography Workshop
Led by Niki Gulley and Scott Williams
For more details, E-mail Niki Gulley or go to nikigulley.com/artreks.

Plein Air Painting in the Texas Hill Country
During bluebonnet and wildflower season!
April 5-7, 2013

These workshops are filling up quickly, so we encourage you to register soon!


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“Sunny Disposition” New Sunflower palette knife painting

“Sunny Disposition” ©2013 Niki Gulley
30″ x 48” textured oil painting on wrap around canvas
Festive, sun-filled blossoms dance in the gentle breeze, filling the field with sweet fragrance. This textured oil painting captures a carefree summer morning with sunflowers overflowing the foreground, filling up the field with joy under the sunny skies above.

If you’d like to join us in Provence, France (in June/July 2014) as part of our Plein-Air Painting / Photography Art Treks Workshops, please e-mail Niki Gulley.
Or, visit https://www.nikigulley.com/artreks to find out more about our upcoming trips.

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For more information on my textured sunflower and poppy field oil paintings, e-mail niki@nikigulley or go to NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings.

Deadline for Niki Gulley’s “Coloring Outside the Lines” Workshop

“Room with a View,” Tuscany ©2012 Niki Gulley
10″ x 30″ textured oil painting of our villa in Tuscany

Last night – Tuscany Art Trek

On the last evening of our Tuscany Art Trek, we gathered for show and tell (which everyone prefers calling it over a critique) with some wine and treats that we’d picked out throughout the week. It was so much fun seeing the spiral “stairway of art” grow each day as my student’s added their completed paintings to the display, and amazing to watch the progression in each’s work as they got more confident with their paint and letting their individual voices out. Scott assembled a slide show for each of the photography student’s top shots, and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to see Tuscany through each photographer’s unique perspective. It’s always fascinating to me how two artists (or in this case 9) can stand in the same place, and capture something completely different. 
We ended the night with one last delicious Italian meal, complete with truffles, bruschetta, homemade pastas and vin santo for dessert, enjoying the company of new friends. A perfect end to the trip!
My student’s paintings from the week on the spiral stairway of art.

If you’d like to join us for next year’s Art Trek to Venice in February, Greece in May, Tuscany in September or Cinque Terre / Lake Como in September, please visit NikiGulley.com/Artreks for more information. Workshops fill up quickly, so please let us know if you are interested. Registration deadlines for some of the trips are less than a month away!

If you’d like to learn how to paint with more color and freedom, please join me for my upcoming workshop, “Coloring Outside the Lines,” in Fredericksburg, TX, Nov. 2-4. Registration deadline is Oct. 15th. For details, visit nikigulley.com/art-classes.


If you have questions about the Art Treks workshops or are interested in purchasing any of my plein air paintings, please e-mail me at Niki@NikiGulley.com.