Course Structure
We are in our ninth year with exciting programs for artists and their guests. Each year our mission is to give the very best in professional art instruction in a unique workshop environment. Beginners to advanced artists are welcome. Artists may work in oils, pastels, acrylics, or watercolors. We also have special programmes in drawing.

Our group size is usually around 10 artists, which ensures lots of individual attention. A supplies list will be sent to you when you register. Constructive critiques are held daily as well as a final critique of all paintings. In Italy, we provide day trips to points of interest where drawing instruction continues along with a little time for shopping and sightseeing.

Sicily: Land of Myth, Folklore & Tradition - April 18th to 25th
We are very proud to be in Sicily for the second year exciting plein air painting program in Sicily. We will paint in lovely formal gardens and at the seashore and sketch among the ruins of the Greek Theatre providing wonderful opportunities to experience this intriguing Island. Our guests will stay in splendid Taormina, a lovely jewel facing smoldering Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea of Homer and the Cyclops. We will dine on wonderful traditional Sicilian cuisine and come to understand why it is said “Without Sicily, Italy cannot be fully understood. It is here one finds the key to all things” J.W. Goethe

Amalfi: The Drama of the Amalfi Coast June 20th to 28th
Our 7-day workshop provides our guests with inspiring views everywhere you look, an excellent program of plein air painting instruction centering on the plein air painting techniques, entertaining excursions and fabulous cuisine.

The Amalfi Coast, an internationally protected treasure, presents one of the most spectacular vistas to be found in Italy. Perfectly preserved ancient villages spill down sheer cliffs to the azure sea. It is the perfect venue for a painter!! The justly famous Nastro Azzuro (blue ribbon) road passes through the enchanting towns of Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Ravello and to further beguile us - off in the distance is the island of Capri, once home to the Emperors. You will hear the sirens and the muses call. Our classes are in oils, pastels, watercolors or drawing; the instruction is designed for all levels. When you register you will receive a list of recommended paints and supplies along with some recommended reading on composition and drawing. Our artists normally paint two canvases a day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Our concentration centers on composition, drawing skills, the use of color and controlling its temperature, and achieving values in a painting.

Tuscany: The Land and the Light Oct 4 – 11, 2008
The artist will come away from this experience well versed in landscape painting techniques and will have also seen the very best Tuscany has to offer. Our guests will stay in Pope Pio II’s summer home built in the 15th century and which is now a charming three star hotel serving incredible Tuscan food. All rooms have private baths. There are not a lot of tourists; it truly is an artist’s retreat.

Constructive critiques are held daily and a final critique of all paintings occurs on the last day of the Workshop. We only take 10 to 12 painters at a time allowing for a more personal approach to your painting experience.

For a detailed itinerary of any of the above painting vacations please contact me either using the form below, or by telephone (you can find the number at the bottomg of this page).

Pricing
For pricing on any of our painting vacations please enquire using the form below. All courses include: 7 nights accommodation, transportation to all painting sites, art instruction, demonstrations and critiques as well as any excursions which are location dependent. The art instruction is normally 6 hours a day or 33 hours in total. We try to do a small canvas in the morning and one in the afternoon, or sometimes we will work on a larger one all day.

Accommodation
Sicily: Our guests will stay in splendid Taormina, a lovely jewel facing smoldering Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea of Homer and the Cyclops. We will dine on wonderful traditional Sicilian cuisine and come to understand why it is said “Without Sicily, Italy cannot be fully understood. It is here one finds the key to all things” J.W. Goethe. We have selected a delightful hotel with private garden and panoramic views near the historic center.

Amalfi: Here we will be staying at a 3 star hotel located right on the waterfront.

Tuscany: We will stay in Pope Pio II’s summer home built in the 15th century and which is now a charming three star hotel serving incredible Tuscan food. All rooms have private baths. There are not a lot of tourists; it truly is an artist’s retreat.

Tutor
Sam D'Ambruoso of Middlebury, CT has been professionally painting landscapes and portraits since 1972. With over ten years experience in teaching workshops and art instruction in the United States and in Italy, his artists' workshops in Tuscany, Amalfi, as well as Old Lyme, CT have been widely acclaimed by past participants. A graduate of Providence College, he has studied with the internationally renowned landscape painter, Thomas Beuchner of Elmira, New York; advanced landscape painting with Skip Whitcomb of Fort Collins, Colorado; portraiture at the Paier College of Art, Hamden, CT with Joseph Funaro as well as figure and portrait painting since the late 1980s with Dan Gheno at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art.

He has taught portrait drawing in area colleges as well as in an intense 10-week course on oil painting. He has on-going classes in Middlebury and Essex, Ct on general painting and portraiture. He is a member of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society and the Plein Air Painters of America. With respect to portrait and figure painting, he is a member of the American Society of Portrait Artists as well as the Connecticut chapter. He has been in regional as well as national landscape and figure shows. He is nationally listed as an official United States Coast Guard Artist. He was appointed for a two-year term to the State of Connecticut Commission on the Arts and served on its Executive Committee. Many of his paintings are in public and private collections worldwide. He is represented by the Brick Gallery in Essex and Stonington, CT.