Retreat Schedule for 2023-24
Please join us in the charming Mexican back country unspoiled by mass tourism, The settings offer a true adventure and unique opportunity to have fun while learning from the experts. Please read below about details of upcoming workshops. Make sure you browse our About and Gallery page to learn about our facility, magnificent jungle settings, surrounding villages and their people, flora and fauna and much more. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email Jane and Dallas at janerom@shaw.ca
January 10 - 20 , 2024 Fearless Painting Doug Swinton		Take the fear out of painting and decision making. We will be doing 20 minute studies and learning to make fast decisions without the agony. Simplifying composition, colour choices and brush marks we will develop these studies into finished works. Working both from sketches, photos and outdoor studies you will paint a minimum of 4 paintings a day. Loosen up, get colourful and have fun. To read More about this retreat click here :)
Big brushes and bold decisions. Faster, Looser, Bigger, Bolder
February 15 - 24, 2023 Catching the Light with Gaye Adams Discover the joy of painting the living, breathing landscape		When we paint from photos, much nuance is lost to us, and a sense of place and experience and energy is often sacrificed as we are painting a moment frozen in time.  Painting the landscape from life in real time can feel daunting, but it is also exhilarating and  serves as a super highway to improving your painting skills. This workshop will lay out an approach for capturing the atmosphere, mood and light in the transient landscape.  It will break down the process into bite size chunks that will empower painters to start and complete a field study in a limited amount of time. To read More about this retreat click here :)
March 1 - 8, 2023 Mexican Plein Air Adventure with Gaye Adams Discover the joy of painting the living, breathing landscape		In this week long exploration of rural Mexico, we will paint the mountains, the beaches, the jungle and the countryside. Painting on location can feel daunting, so the focus of the workshop will be on developing a process for doing field studies, right from choosing what to paint to developing a solid plan and approach for successfully completing the painting before the light changes. To read More about this retreat click here :)
March 15 - 22 , 2023 VIBRANT PAINTINGS In ACRYLIC and OIL with Marla Blackwell		Join Marla in a fun and energized week of painting in acrylics or oils! This will be a non-intimidating class on learning the basic fundamentals of how to capture the essence of painting. Discover more colours you love by mixing primaries and adding black or white.  The possibilities are endless and so is the subject matter…landscape, waterscape, figures, buildings.  Want to loosen up your style…..no problem!  Marla will demonstrate her technique on painting more freely and ‘painterly You'll learn perspective, composition and how to design the painting in your own and unique style and color palette! Lots of demos and one-on-one instruction. Watercolor painters are also WELCOME! to read more about this retreat please click here....
TBA Figure and Portrait Drawing in Charcoal Henry Yan		Students will learn the methods of practicing figure/portrait drawing, improving their skills in drawing human proportions, anatomy, shading and rendering for 3-D forms.  From short pose gesture and anatomy studies, to long pose painterly approaches, different techniques introduced in Henry Yan's Figure Drawing-Techniques and Tips, will also be explained and practiced in class.  to read more about this retreat please click here....
Learn from the Master! The way to do accurate drawing with painterly approach.
TBA Exploring Still Life in Oil with Laura Robb		This workshop is for students who are serious about improving their skills of observation and want to understand how to make use of their palette to its full advantage. The instructor will explain and show through demonstration studies how certain effects of light and depth can be achieved. She will also try to help identify materials or procedures a student may be using that are getting in the way of their progress. We will discuss composition, technique, principles of light and shade, and a range of other painting related topics. to read more about this retreat please click here.... "Your paintings have always inspired me, and I love to look at them. They have so much mystery, nuanced colors, unexpected and fugitive shapes, interesting edges, and so much more that can only be described pictorially." (M. Artal )
Advanced Techniques for Capturing Light and Depth in Your Paintings
Other Information
Meals All breakfasts and lunches are included as well as all dinners and snacks. There are local restaurants as well as 2 kitchen facilities on site for your own use if you wish. All our meals prepared from scratch using mostly local organic ingredients.	What to bring with you Art supplies, Mexican Pesos, Camera, binoculars, sun screen of your choice, sunglasses and swimsuit, ear plugs if you are a light sleeper,all your meds, supplements, water bottle, a photocopy of your passport, long sleeve top and long pants.	Accommodations Spacious colorful rooms with comfortable beds; most rooms have private in suite bathrooms and showers. Some are double occupancy. Assigned on First Come First Serve basis	Transportation We have a van and a SUV to transport you to and from Puerto Vallarta, as well to our painting locations. The vehicles are also used for casual trips to local villages and beaches.
Internet We have Internet at the Casa but sometimes it is unavailable in the area. There is an Internet at near by Hotel Casa Manana (10 min walk from the house) where you can use WIFI	Emergencies In the unlikely case of medical emergency, we will take you to a doctor or a hospital. More then likely you would have to pay with your credit card for your appointment or treatment and then get reimbursed by your Insurance Company.	Insurance Please make sure you have your travel insurance in place prior taking the workshop. That should cover any medical expenses as well as luggage loss, etc.	Safety The area where Casa Buena located is very safe and people are layed back and friendly. Most populations are Mexican, but there are a few Expats live there as well.