WORKSHOPS

That is a truism that recurs to me over and over in my classes. I learn by demonstrating, explaining, listening to students and viewing their varied responses to the subjects before us. I work best with small numbers and I believe the students do also.

The student who is the real pleasure to teach is the one who comes ready to experiment and absorb. While my loose, wet products need not be the way a student painter always needs to paint, my methods should be in the painters’ repertory of methods to use as needed or desired.

My philosophy is that there is always something to paint; it is up to the painter to see it. It is not what we paint but how we paint it. So, in my workshops there is no insistence that we all paint the same thing, much less all paint alike. I want to take the student on a creative journey, a roller coaster ride of exhilaration and celebration of the wonderful experience of flinging water and pigment onto paper and seeing it turn into something of themselves and with which they are pleased. If I can assist others to enjoy the experience as much as I, I am pleased.

Alix H. Travis, November, 2009

For a detailed discussion of Alix’s painting process see www.AlixHTravis.Wordpress.com

LOOSE CONTROL! watercolor workshop no. 1 that celebrates the "water" in watercolor
WallKill River School, Montgomery, NY, Spring, 2010

Paint directly from a generous collection of colorful fruits and vegetables fresh from the market and piled in front on the table in front of the painters! Alix Hallman Travis will demonstrate her rapid, loose and fluid painting style, employing large brushes and a basic palate of transparent watercolor. Travis will demonstrate, then guide the students in their early paintings, finally painting alongside the workshop artists. Throughout, paintings will be displayed in mats for our critical consideration and appreciation of the various styles on display. Artists should expect to complete three to four 10x14” paintings during the five hours of painting.

Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 9:30-3:30, with a tea break and 1hr for lunch.

Bring your bag lunch or order out.

$100.00

To register contact: https://Wallkillriverschool.com/Wallkill_River_School.html

LOOSE CONTROL! watercolor workshop no. 2 that celebrates the "water" in watercolor
WallKill River School, Montgomery, NY, Spring, 2010

Paint directly from a generous collection of cans and bottles taken from the shelves of her kitchen pantry. Alix Hallman Travis will demonstrate her rapid, loose and fluid painting style, employing large brushes and a basic palate of transparent watercolor. The shapes of these cylinders, cones, rectangles are the same as those found in nature. Under Travis’ guidance student artists will turn these mundane items, with their colorful contents, labels, shapes and reflective surfaces into paintings of sculptural beauty, with special attention paid to positive and negative spaces. Throughout, paintings will be displayed in mats for our critical consideration and appreciation of the various styles on display. Artists should expect to complete three to four 10x14” paintings during the five hours of painting.

Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 9:30-3:30, with a tea break and 1hr for lunch.

Bring your bag lunch or order out.

$100.00

To register contact: https://Wallkillriverschool.com/Wallkill_River_School.html

LOSING CONTROL!, en plein air watercolor workshop, Halcottsville, NY, Sept. 30-October 3, 2010

Join Alix to paint Halcottsville, NY, one of the most painted of the quaint villages surrounded by the Catskill Mountains covered with glorious fall color. This 19 th century village, remote in time as well as in its mountain location, lies along the East Branch of the Delaware River. At Halcottsville the river widens into a millpond and spills over a stone dam. In this plein air workshop, Travis will apply her recognized, rapid, wet, loose, and expressive watercolor brushwork to the village landscape of houses with porches, a steepled church and flowing water, all nestled in a hollow surrounded by mountains. A scenic railroad chugs through each day.

Under Alix' influence and using a basic palette and a minimum of brushes, students will be assisted to "lose control" and quickly capture the light, color and distinctive architecture of this treasured place. painters should expect to complete at least three ¼ sheet paintings each day.

The day will begin outside with a painting demonstration followed by students practicing loose and wet techniques under her tutorage. From there painters will quickly move to their own preferred site and begin painting. Distances are very close and easily walked; little "toting" is required.

This workshop is appropriate for painters with some experience painting in watercolor.

Workshop size: 6-8

Workshop cost : $300 includes welcome meal, box lunches and tax. Accommodations, transportation and supplies are at participants' expense. A list of area accommodations and suggested materials is available on request. Halcottsville is accessible by bus and by car on NY State hwys 28 and 30.

A deposit of $150. is required to secure a place. The deposit is 100% refundable up to 60 days before the workshop, 50% refundable after 30 days before workshop, not refundable within 30 days of the workshop. Payment accepted by check or paypal.

Contact: Alix Hallman Travis

ahtravis@yahoo.com or 607 326-7073