 Your artistic pursuits will be punctuated by great meals and exploration of a region that is relatively unknown to foreigners. Emphasis will be on developing your own style. Students learn that careful observation of nature and honest regard of their emotions lead to unique individual pastel paintings. All materials will be provided. Home base will be a four-bedroom villa: St. Pierre-le-Rouge faces a rushing mountain trout stream, only a half-hour drive from two UNESCO world treasures: the tree-lined Canal du Midi and the turreted Twelfth Century walled city of Carcassonne. St. Pierre-le-Rouge is
within walking distance of two medieval villages and the ruins of a gothic church, all of which are ideal subjects for your work.
The Instructor: Mary Offermann paints still lifes and landscapes in pastels. She was educated at U.C. Davis and studied at the Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts Masters' Workshop with Wayne Thiebaud. She is represented by galleries on the West Coast and in France. Students particularly appreciate her enthusiasm, her sensitivity, and her candor.
Details: Class meeting in the morning, time to paint all the long summer day. Double rooms, marvelous meals.
The following dates are available in the year 2007:
In St Pierre-le-Rouge, France:
June 17 to June 23 and July 1 to July 7, 2007.
Workshop instruction, materials, excursions, and room and board: $1,650.00. Each workshop limited to eight persons.
Cancellation for any reason will be subject to a $100 fee. Cancellations made between April 1 and May 15 will result in forfeiture of 50% of total payment. Cancellations made after May 15 will receive no refund. I encourage you to purchase travel insurance.
A typical day at St Pierre-le-Rouge unfolds like this:
A buffet style breakfast is followed by poetry and readings from the journals and correspondence of great artists. Mary illustrates each day's lesson‹be it on composition, perspective, or value and color‹with a plethora of examples, after which students fan out over the grounds to stake a spot and paint with pastels for the rest of the morning. Mary comes by often to answer questions and offer suggestions.
Lunch, served in the shade of a massive chestnut tree, is the main meal of the day. Feast on cumin-lemon quail roasted over a wood fire, accompanied by fresh organic vegetables au gratin and a local chilled rose. Complete your meal with an apricot tart prepared that day by fabulous cook (and artist) Anna Oneglia. Conversation is always lively and eclectic.
Afternoon is free time: paint walk, nap in the hammocks, or read. You may wish to explore the region, a largely untouristed area rich in history and beauty.
Appetizers and aperitifs accompany the evening discussion of the day's work, and are followed by a French supper accompanied by a liberal variety of incomparable local cheeses.
Painting and drawing amidst the sensual beauty, slow living, and delicious food of St Pierre-le-Rouge will feed your soul and grant you confidence in your own individual expression. You can count on fabulous food and fascinating companions!
 
Contact me for information:
Mary Offermann
831 Hanover Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Tel: (831) 427 2568
FAX: (831) 426 7007
email: mary@stpierre.cc
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