Chasing the Painter’s Light

to the Tuscan Landscape!

with Alyssa DeLaBruere

 May 4-11, 2024   Sat-Sat

  Cortona, Italy

(Saturday-Saturday)

Alyssa attended the University of Vermont where she studied visual art and art history, concentrating in painting and printmaking, then continued to obtain her teaching certification in visual arts. As a teaching artist, Alyssa combines her love for art and artists with her passion to ignite and nurture the creative talents in others.

Meet Alyssa DeLaBruere

Hailing from Northern Vermont, Alyssa spends her time “chasing the painter’s light” across the United States and Europe. For the past decade, Alyssa spent her summers teaching painting, drawing and printmaking in the South of France in the beautiful Ardéche Mountains. From 2017-2020, Alyssa used her artistic gifts to be a voice for the US National Parks in her “Postcards from the Parks” project traveling across the country to plein-air painting the most scenic vistas in America to bring awareness and appreciation to protecting public lands. In 2019, Alyssa headed to Taos, New Mexico, for a year-long artist’s sabbatical in ‘Georgia O’Keeffe country’ culminating with a solo exhibition of her work pairing the American Southwest and the rugged landscape of Southern France. In August 2020, Alyssa moved to London to join the TASIS England Visual Art Team as a teaching artist, department coordinator, and gallery director. During her three years in the UK, Alyssa continued her explorations, traveling to remote beautiful landscapes in Ireland, Cornwall, France, and Italy. This work culminated in two exhibitions in England in 2021 and 2022.

Alyssa attended the University of Vermont where she studied visual art and art history, concentrating in painting and printmaking, then continued to obtain her teaching certification in visual arts. As a teaching artist, Alyssa combines her love for art and artists with her passion to ignite and nurture the creative talents in others.

Itinerary

5/4 Saturday – Florence to Cortona 

12:00pm Depart Florence airport (FLR) escorted group travel to Cortona

1:30pm Arrival and check-in in Cortona – free afternoon to explore

6:30pm Welcome to Cortona wine and aperitifs

7:30pm Dinner in Cortona

 

5/5 Sunday – Cortona 

9:00-12:00p Morning Workshop

Group collaborative warm-ups, teaching demos and approaches to landscape composition, quick sketches – resetting our brain and becoming acquainted with our space!

12:00 – 2:00pm Lunch and Explore

2:00-5:00p Afternoon Workshop

Outdoor sketching; learning to read the light and shadow, how to find your viewpoint for depth and dynamics for paintings, adding spot color, choosing our vantage points for tomorrow’s plein-air session

6:30pm – wine/aperitifs

7:30pm – dinner in Cortona

 

5/6 Monday - Cortona
9:00-12:30p Morning Workshop

Demo and instruction: How to use our quick site sketches map out to our paintings. Working from the general to specific and color theory!  Panel prep and drawing out our compositions

12:30-2:00pm Lunch

2:00-5:00p Afternoon Workshop

First full plein-air painting session with one-on-one support and critique

6:30pm – wine/aperitifs

7:30pm – dinner in Cortona

 

5/7 Tuesday – Day Trip to Lake Trasimeno & Isola Maggiore in Umbria

Early departure time TBA

9:30 – 12:00 Morning Workshop

Demo: Painting Skies and Water. Quick exercises in simple and beautiful ways to capture atmosphere and light in watercolor in our sketchbooks.

12:00 – 2:00pm Time for lunch and exploring

2:00-5:00p Afternoon Workshop

Full afternoon of plein-air painting session – emphasis on water, sky, reflection relationships

6:30pm – wine/aperitifs

7:30pm – dinner in Cortona

 

5/8 Wednesday - Cortona 
9:00-12:30pm Morning Workshop

Demo and instruction: Archways, doorways and creating depth – working with architecture – exercises, sketchbook work and planning for afternoon session.

12:30 – 2:00pm Lunch

2:00-5:00pm Afternoon Workshop

Full afternoon of plein-air painting session

6:30pm – wine/aperitifs

7:30pm – dinner in Cortona

 

5/9 Thursday – Day Trip to Montepulciano and Pienza

Early departure time TBA

9:30 – 12:00pm Morning Session

Walking sketchbook tour of this magical hill town with stopping points for a variety of sketches, watercolor/acrylic studies.

12:00 – 2:00pm free time for lunch and shopping

2:00 – 5:00pm Afternoon Workshop

Plein air monotype printmaking exploration – spontaneous painting made on plates and pressed onto paper! (potential sources of inspiration for a future painting!)

6:30pm – wine/aperitifs

7:30pm – dinner in Cortona

 

5/10 Friday- Cortona 
9:00-12:30pm Morning Workshop

Choose your own viewpoint and complete our final painting using one of the medium and techniques we have explored throughout the week!

12:30-2:00 Lunch

2:00-5:00pm Afternoon Workshop

Final touches on our final pieces with one-on-one critique session with me. Followed by casual group exhibition and sharing and time admire all we’ve accomplished!

 

Final Dinner Celebration

 

5/11 Saturday – Departure

-Morning Check-out

-8:00am departure from Cortona with escorted return to Florence airport.

Note: Toscana Americana reserves the right to alter this itinerary. All times are approximate.
Note: Transfers are provided only for programmed meals and activities away from the hotel.
Note: All guests are responsible for handling their own luggage/baggage....we suggest to pack light.
Note: No refunds are given for any unused aspects of the itinerary or for any activities outside the above itinerary.

Testimonials...

“I had the pleasure of having Alyssa as my visual art instructor in France for two weeks. Her professionalism and talent are matched only by her warm and supportive personality. I look forward to working with her again!”

 

“The adult art workshops with Alyssa DeLaBruere have been such a source of restoration, relaxation, and blossoming creativity. Even with little to no beginning knowledge, Alyssa’s support helped me to experience the joy and pride of creating beautiful pieces of art and view myself as an artist.”

 

“I had the pleasure of working with Alyssa at an artist retreat in France in 2018. Alyssa’s creativity and compassion as an educator, especially for people who were new to creating art was invaluable. Alyssa has the skill and knowledge necessary to make anyone, regardless of ability find success as an artist.”

 

“Working with Alyssa never feels like work! She sets a tone that enables her team to be inquisitive and creative along with their clients, fostering a collaborative space for curiosity and inspiration for all!”

 

“Alyssa provides simply the best art education in the region. One of the things I have always loved about her teaching is that she connects learning the ‘how to’ of art with the ‘why’ and the "who's who" of art history, which I appreciate very much both as an artist and parent of children also under her tutelage!”

 

“I recently attended Alyssa's art workshop in the mountains of Southern France and loved it so much I attended again the following year as well! Not only is Alyssa an amazing artist in her own right, she believes all of us have the potential to be great and we are each a unique artist inside. She taught us how to release the inner critic and with joy and community as our foundation, we all learned to create from the heart.  Alyssa is a delightful, professional instructor with extraordinary skills who has an uncanny ability to bring out the best in each participant. It has been one of my greatest honors to have spent precious time with Alyssa in two workshops abroad and now to call her a friend for life.“

Participant Supply List...

Plein-air easel and water pot

Portable pan watercolor set and a small selection of brushes

Variety of pencils and eraser

Acrylic Brushes

-           small, medium and large flat

-           small and medium round

5 Wood or MDF painting panels (gessoed)– size varying based on preference from 9x12” – 12x16”, square format and panorama fine too to add to the challenge!

Acrylic Colors:

Raw umber

Burnt Sienna

Yellow Ochre

Cadmium yellow light or lemon yellow

Cadmium yellow medium

Cadmium red or Naples Red

Alizarin Crimson

Sap green

Phthalo Green or Viridian

Cerulean blue

Ultramarine blue

Cobalt Blue

Titanium white

Black of your choice

Buff titanium (optional)

Prussian Blue (optional)

Paynes Grey (optional)

 

Sketchbooks and Monotype printing supplies provided!

About Cortona...

Cortona is one of the true jewels of the Tuscan “hill towns.”    Cortona, which is often called the “City of Art,” has its origin as an Etruscan city that pre-dates Roman times with sections of its walls dating back some 2500 years.  As is typical of Tuscan hill-towns, Cortona is a walled city that, for purposes of defense, was built atop a prominent geographical point. The stone buildings and streets not only have the romance, style, and charm that are particular to Tuscany, but also speak of the lives and times Cortona has witnessed. An encounter with Cortona is an encounter with music & art, with history and with spirituality. Getting to know this timeless city is a real rediscovery of our past. Cortona offers testimony to its history as well as an enchanting view of the landscape enclosed by Lake Trasimeno and the Apennine mountains

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