Last Day – French Riviera Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 6, Villefranche – French Riviera Art Trek
SOLD • 12″ x 9″ textured oil painting by Niki Gulley
On the last day of our Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop that my husband, Scott Williams, and I led in the French Riviera, we all enjoyed a leisurely morning. The painters went down to the harbor and set out to capture the turquoise Mediterranean one last time, while the photographers shot around town and others visited the sights in Villefranche. Dining for lunch one last time along the waterfront, we gave everyone the afternoon to swim, shop or relax.
We gathered later that day to view a slide show of the photography students’ work and to show the paintings we created for the week. It’s always so much fun to see what everyone captured during the trip, with each student’s perspective so unique! That night we dined on a delicious dinner, sad that the trip was ending but glad that we got to enjoy it with new friends.
Dining near the waterfront in Villefranche.
Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Spain and the following year we will be headed to Tuscany, England and Ireland, so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing in Europe, please join us for one of these amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.
Please check out my website at NikiGulley.com, NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionist oil paintings.

Visiting Nice with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams, French Riviera Art Trek

Day 5, Nice – French Riviera Art Trek
stained glass windows by Marc Chagall
On the next day of our Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop that my husband, Scott Williams, and I led in the French Riviera we packed in a busy day. Starting out the morning on the far edge of Nice, we visited the archaeological and Matisse museum for anyone who was interested. Next, we dropped everyone off at the Marc Chagall museum, which had an incredible collection of his paintings and a few of his stained glass windows along with a fascinating video.
That afternoon, we went into the old city to tour, shop, walk along the boardwalk and dip our toes in the ocean. Dining on a delicious dinner in town, we headed back to Villefranche at the end of the day.
Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Spain and the following year we will be headed to Tuscany, England and Ireland, so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing in Europe, please join us for one of these amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.
Please check out my website at NikiGulley.com, NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionist oil paintings.

Day 4, French Riviera Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 4, Renoir’s House and St. Paul de Vence – French Riviera Art Trek
7″ x 5″ textured oil by Niki Gulley
On the fourth morning of our Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop that my husband, Scott Williams, and I led in the French Riviera we visited Renoir’s house along the coast. Seeing his studio and garden, along with some of his lesser known impressionist paintings was truly a thrill!
Next, we headed north to the Medieval town of St. Paul de Vence, where some of us took a fascinating wine tasting class while others explored and shopped. That afternoon the painters met up and we each chose a different subject. Some chose to paint the rolling hills and valley below, while I was intrigued by this balcony being overrun by Bougainvillea. The magenta color explosion was out of this world, and I just had to capture it!
Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Spain and the following year we will be headed to Tuscany, England and Ireland, so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing in Europe, please join us for one of these amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.
Please check out my website at NikiGulley.com, NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionist oil paintings.

Day 3, French Riviera Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 3, Villefranche and Monte Carlo – French Riviera Art Trek
12″ x 9″ oil by Niki Gulley
On the next morning of our Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop that my husband, Scott Williams, and I led in the French Riviera we all went in different directions. I took the painters to this beautiful scenic overlook while Scott drove the photographers along the corniches in search of the best vantages and photographs, while others relaxed at the pool at the hotel.
That afternoon, we explored the bustling old city of Monaco and later that evening tried our hand at the casinos. One person in our group even won $336 on the slot machines! That evening we dined al fresco on a delicious three course meal, enjoying the company of new friends.
A delicious dinner in Monaco.
Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Spain and the following year we will be headed to Tuscany, England and Ireland, so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing in Europe, please join us for one of these amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.
Please check out my website at NikiGulley.com, NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionist oil paintings.

Day 2, French Riviera Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 2, Eze and Villefranche – French Riviera Art Trek
9″ x 12″ pastel by Niki Gulley
On the second day of our Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop that my husband, Scott Williams, and I led in the French Riviera we spent the morning exploring the Medieval town of Eze perched on the mountainside high about the Mediterranean. With amazing views below, a massive other-worldly succulent garden, twisty stone passages and fascinating shops, there was something for everyone to see and do.
Bougainvillea in Eze – Photo by Scott Williams
That afternoon, we headed back to the hotel and while some of our group relaxed, my painters and I set up our easels in front of this beautiful ocean view, framed by tile rooftops and luscious palm and cypress trees. Our treat that evening was a boat cruise along Villefranche and the surrounding harbors. A perfect end to the relaxing day!
Enjoying the boat cruise along Villefranche harbor.
 
Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Spain and the following year we will be headed to Tuscany, England and Ireland, so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing in Europe, please join us for one of these amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.
Please check out my website at NikiGulley.com, NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionist oil paintings.

French Riviera Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 1, Rothschild Estate and Beaulieu – French Riviera Art Trek
9″ x 12″ pastel by Niki Gulley
On the first day of our Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop that my husband, Scott Williams, and I led in the French Riviera we spent the morning touring the gorgeous grounds and estate of Beatrice Rothschild. Composed of nine different themed gardens, each one managed to be even more beautiful than the one before with jaw-dropping views of the ocean below.
That afternoon, my painters set up their easels in the pictureasque nearby harbor or Beaulieu while the photographers and tourists joined Scott at another impressive villa and for a walking tour along the harbor. The beach was alive with activity and we set out to capture that energy with the colorful umbrellas and clear turquoise water set against the lush vegetation and unique stately homes in the background. A great day!
The gorgeous Rothschild villa and gardens.
Next summer we will be leading an Art Trek to Spain and the following year we will be headed to Tuscany, England and Ireland, so if you’ve always dreamed of painting, photographing and sightseeing in Europe, please join us for one of these amazing trip! Details will be coming soon on nikigulley.com/artreks.
Please check out my website at NikiGulley.com, NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionist oil paintings.

Upcoming Plein Air Painting Workshops with Niki Gulley

The Alhambra • Granada, Spain ©2013 Niki Gulley
5″ x 8″ watercolor

After teaching our workshop in Venice, my husband and I continued onto southern Spain and visited the city of Granada to see the impressive Alhambra castle. Since the walk up to this vantage point was quite strenuous and far from our hotel, I decided to pack light and take my small watercolor kit. The portability of the watercolors turned out perfect and I was able to create this painting before the light changed too dramatically, and still had time to watch the sunset afterwards!

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 and an afternoon class at the Dallas Arboretum, March 13th from 3pm – 7pm.

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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Plein Air Painting in Tuscany with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

9×12 textured oil painting by Niki Gulley

Day 1, afternoon location – Tuscany Art Trek

That afternoon it started to drizzle, so we picked a location that was covered where we could still paint and photograph. With the sky fairly overcast and the hues rather dull that afternoon, we used the cypress as our subject, but had fun playing with color. I think the results were even better than had it been a sunny day! Everyone’s paintings turned out beautiful, and that evening we treated ourselves to a fabulous tuscan dinner of pastas, pecorinos, meats and a little vino to treat ourselves. A great end to a fun filled day!

One of our photographers getting into the shot!

An amazing dinner with new friends.
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. The early deadline and to receive a $500 savings for the Venice workshop is less than a month away.



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 [email protected].

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US Classes and Workshops – nikigulley.com/art-classes.

Travel Art Treks and Plein Air Workshops – nikigulley.com/artreks/
Available Paintings – NikiGulley.com

Santa Fe ART TREK – one week away!

“Echo Park,” Santa Fe, NM ©2012 Niki Gulley
9″ x 12″ oil on board

 

Santa Fe is the muse of many famous artists and photographers, and that could be you, too! Join us for our Plein-Air Painting and Photography Workshop this August in Santa Fe, New Mexico.We will transport you to different picturesque locations, where you will be painting and (or) photographing scenes that inspired Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams. Santa Fe offers breathtaking vistas; sunny, dry weather, world class restaurants, galleries and shopping ensconced in a charming, 400 year old Spanish Colonial city that welcomes the new and exciting and never grows old. This is a not to be missed workshop in “The Land of Enchantment.”

Santa Fe Art Trek

Plein Air Painting and/or photography workshop taught by Scott Williams and Niki Gulley

Santa Fe, New Mexico

August 12 -18, 2012

See nikigulley.com/art-classes for more details

or e-mail Niki Gulley with any questions and to register.

Above: Students painting at Echo Park last year.

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To see more of Niki Gulley’s contemporary landscape paintings, visit NikiGulley.com.

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Art Treks: Tuscany – Day 4 with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

“Pienza” • 4” x 10″ oil by Niki Gulley

Day 4 – ART TREKS: TUSCANY
with Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

After a busy two days of exploring surrounding hill towns, on day 4 of our Tuscany workshop, we decided to slow down the pace and enjoy the beautiful 360 degree views surrounding our villa. Today each one of my painters painters picked a different subject, feeling much more confident about painting en plein air and expressing their personal vision.
I chose this view of Pienza for my demo, and decided that I wanted two main focal points to help tell the story of what I was seeing in the scene. I was particularly attracted to the hill town above with the church steeple rising above the rest of the village, and a simple stone house on the bottom right below. Unfortunately the trees had grown so large that they were slightly hiding the house, so with artistic license, I just moved them off to the right a little to see the house better! I arranged the composition through a series of diagonal lines to lead your eye through the scene. Then I painted in the sky and hills with a thin application of water mixable oil paint so that the paint could be drying in those areas while I started blocking in the hill town, densest foliage and farmhouse below with thicker paint. Lastly I added even thicker highlights to the buildings and details to the rows of crops to complete the painting.
One of my students, Rosemary Achepohl, and her palette knife sketches from our villa. Rosemary chose to work with 5×7 boards and a single subject and they turned out great! You can see her work and her husband’s paintings, Fred Achepohl, from our Tuscany trip in Grapevine, Texas, at grapevinemainstreetartgallery.com.

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If you would like to join us on future ART TREKS to Paris, France in May or Tuscany, Italy in September,visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=1420, which goes into detail about our upcoming Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshops. 

Or, if you’d be interested in learning how to paint “plein air” or improve your location painting a little closer to home, visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=13, which tells you about my upcoming Painting Workshop at the Dallas Arboretum and White Rock Lake, Oct. 29th and 30th.
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E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.