Grants – Michael Lewis’s plein air education is rooted in the teachings of John Carlson, Edgar Payne and Carl Rungius with much influence from New Mexico painters, past and present.
Lewis is one of five professional artists teaching a workshop during the 2008 Plein Air Painters of the West Workshop Series this summer. His work titled "Leaseburg Shadows" appears on our front cover this month.
The series is being held at the beautifully renovated historic Mission at Riverwalk in Grants. Michael and Peggy Lewis have created a haven for artists. The historic building, built in the 1920s as part of a Presbyterian outreach program from South Carolina, is constructed of handmade adobes in the classic southwestern architechtural style.
“Landscape painters have a special connection with the natural world,” states Lewis. “They see, smell, hear, and taste nature in unique ways. Our greatest joy is opening a door to the outside, stepping out of a car, getting out of manmade objects and into the open air. There’s always a grin on our face when we take that breath of fresh air, smell the wet pine tags, see a fog roll through a valley. If you want a rich full life, become a painter.”
Michael grew up loving the smell of linseed oil on his mother’s pallet and studied in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona universities and with master painters. He has shown extensively and teaches workshops at the Mission on a continuing basis.
His workshop Aug. 18-22 will focus on the elements of representational painting including values, planes, perspective, design and color. Skills to be honed include drawing, analyzing subjects, mixing paint, understanding tools and developing meaningful strokes. Daily outdoor painting will include landscapes of rock bluffs, ponderosas, cedar, juniper tress and water in the beautiful areas surrounding Grants.
Other artists in the workshop series were:
Aaron Schuerr, Aug. 4-8, fundamentals of value, design and color and planning larger studio paintings from plein air studies;
Jie Xiangyuan, Aug. 11-15, a native of Hunan, China, Jie will present a combination of on-location demos, in-studio slide shows and on-site critiques during the five-day workshop;
Jennifer McChristian and Marc Hanson also taught during the workshop series.
For more information, call 505.285.4632 or visit www.papwest.com
Lewis is one of five professional artists teaching a workshop during the 2008 Plein Air Painters of the West Workshop Series this summer. His work titled "Leaseburg Shadows" appears on our front cover this month.
The series is being held at the beautifully renovated historic Mission at Riverwalk in Grants. Michael and Peggy Lewis have created a haven for artists. The historic building, built in the 1920s as part of a Presbyterian outreach program from South Carolina, is constructed of handmade adobes in the classic southwestern architechtural style.
“Landscape painters have a special connection with the natural world,” states Lewis. “They see, smell, hear, and taste nature in unique ways. Our greatest joy is opening a door to the outside, stepping out of a car, getting out of manmade objects and into the open air. There’s always a grin on our face when we take that breath of fresh air, smell the wet pine tags, see a fog roll through a valley. If you want a rich full life, become a painter.”
Michael grew up loving the smell of linseed oil on his mother’s pallet and studied in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona universities and with master painters. He has shown extensively and teaches workshops at the Mission on a continuing basis.
His workshop Aug. 18-22 will focus on the elements of representational painting including values, planes, perspective, design and color. Skills to be honed include drawing, analyzing subjects, mixing paint, understanding tools and developing meaningful strokes. Daily outdoor painting will include landscapes of rock bluffs, ponderosas, cedar, juniper tress and water in the beautiful areas surrounding Grants.
Other artists in the workshop series were:
Aaron Schuerr, Aug. 4-8, fundamentals of value, design and color and planning larger studio paintings from plein air studies;
Jie Xiangyuan, Aug. 11-15, a native of Hunan, China, Jie will present a combination of on-location demos, in-studio slide shows and on-site critiques during the five-day workshop;
Jennifer McChristian and Marc Hanson also taught during the workshop series.
For more information, call 505.285.4632 or visit www.papwest.com