with James Wisnowski
September 9 – 16, 2008
James Wisnowski, a Chicago native, is a graduate of the American Academy of Art and a signature member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America. In addition, he is a member of the Oil Painter’s of America, California Art Club, Laguna Plein Air Painter’s of America, Chicago Artists Association, and the Palette and Chisel Fine Art Academy. For 27 years he has taught his technique at the Palette and Chisel Fine Art Academy in Chicago , the Old Town Art Center in Chicago, the North Shore Art League in Winnetka IL., and Palos Verdes Art Center, CA
James focuses on the outdoor landscape in both oils and watercolor mediums, traveling and teaching his technique in workshops extensively in inspirational locations in Europe and the USA. Painting en plein air gives him a more immediate and intimate encounter with the subject, which allows him to translate the experience onto canvas. These paintings are then often used as studies for larger work done in the studio. His technique is a defined as a realist and a colorist, simplifying and emphasizing the light and color in order to communicate his vision of his environment as he sees it. James believes painting is a visual language with no need of verbal explanation. The images should express themselves through the painting.
Living in Chicago for much of his art career has given him a unique feeling for the urban cityscape. Through his work, he shares the rediscovered beauty that may be lost or forgotten in every day subjects. He shows the uniqueness found in simple ordinary neighborhood scenes, which are often overlooked. Recently relocating to California, the rocky coastlines, colorful fishing villages, and vineyards, as well as the urban scenes, continue to inspire his work.
Itinerary:
Independent Arrival in Bordeaux. Depart U.S.A. on overnight flight to any European gateway city. Catch a connecting flight to Bordeaux. If you fly into Paris, the TGV fast train is an option.
Day 1
3:00 p.m. Meet our Private Coach at Hotel Majestic, a centrally located Bordeaux hotel for the scenic, two-hour drive into the Perigord and Petit Rousset for our Welcome Dinner
A sampling of our Destinations
Our explorations of some towns and villages described below will be on bustling Market Days. We’ll visit other villages as serene as stage sets, waiting for us to bring them to life. We will also enjoy a guided visit to a cave with prehistoric paintings; a medieval fortress and a Renaissance chateau; wineries and a walnut grove; a truffle farm and a water mill where they make paper by hand, the old fashioned way.
Petit Rousset – Our home, an 18th century farmhouse, provides many opportunities for painting, sketching & relaxing – in the garden, on the terrace, by the pool.
Eymet – Our 'hometown' is a 40-minute stroll from Petit Rousset, past rows of grapevines, fields of sunflowers and meadows of grazing cows. This bastide has a perfectly intact 13th century center square which bursts with activity on Market Day. Little streets radiating off the square are dotted with houses made of wattle and daub. As we explore, we’ll learn about the medieval conflicts that gave rise to the many bastides in the region.
Bergerac – The town made famous by the poet-Musketeer, Cyrano, is now the capitol of the wine-growing region. At an earlier time, its fame rested upon its tobacco production. A museum of this now much maligned weed documents 15th century globalization. We'll visit Old Town, with its medieval houses clustered along the banks of the Dordogne River. Nearby is the fairy tale Renaissance Chateau de Monbazillac. We'll visit the chateau then taste the golden, mellow wine of the same name.
Les Eyzies – The capitol of Prehistory, we'll visit a cave embellished with polychrome prehistoric paintings.
Issigeac – A tiny hill-town, sleepy every day but Market Day, when meandering streets and pedestrian paths burst with activity.
Beynac – We'll visit the village with the Chateau at its summit. Built during the One Hundred Year's War, the Chateau de Beynac perches high atop a cliff dominating the Dordogne River. Now we marvel at the views of the valley below, but its imposing profile attests to its original military purpose.
Sarlat – Founded as an Abbey Town, when Charlemagne visited, he brought a fragment of the True Cross with him. Nearly all of Sarlat's restored town houses were built during its years of greatest prosperity, from 1450-1500, giving it a rare architectural unity preserved by the Loi Malraux.
Monpazier – Hailed as the most perfectly preserved bastide in Southwest France, the 13th century houses surrounding its totally intact market square, are identical in size, unique in appearance.
Molieres – An unfinished English bastide, surrounded by walnut trees. Try the walnut press for a taste of the celebrated Périgord walnut oil and learn how ‘terroir’ affects the quality of these delicious nuts.
Final Day – St. Emilion After breakfast, we depart for Bordeaux. En route, we visit St. Emilion, a favorite of both medieval popes and English kings. In 1999 it was classified a world heritage site, the first vine-growing area to achieve this status. After free time in St. Emilion, Coach drop off at Bordeaux airport and/or train station. Onward journeys after 3pm are advised. |
