I have recently returned from the mountains of North Carolina, where I was invited to participate in a plein air Paint Out. The event was sponsored by The Crossnore School, in celebration of its 100th anniversary. Twelve artists spent a week painting our hearts out, all over Avery County. The week culminated in a reception and auction to benefit the School. I have posted a recap of the artistic challenges of the week, so please take a look at my blog for "the rest of the story". And keep your eyes open for new paintings to come out of the studio, based on plein air studies of the beautiful mountain vistas. One of them is the painting shown on the right above. You can learn more about it here.

To all Francophiles, Happy Bastille Day on July 14! I have recently been working on a series of Parisian cityscapes. The paintings are derived from sketches I did on location during our last vacation. Some of these paintings will be on display in Atlanta this month, as Huff Harrington Fine Art hosts its annual Bastille Day Show. You are invited to the festive opening at the gallery on Saturday, July 13--details here.

I wrote in my blog that "Ribbons of Red" (image above) was accpeted into the American Women Artists 2013 Online Juried Show this spring. Thanks to all of you who have been reading my blog---and an extra special thanks to those who have taken the time to enter comments. I love to hear from you! It would be great fun to have a dialog, so if you have remarks to share, please know that they are most welcome.

Later this summer I will be traveling to France for an intensive workshop. Lots of plein air landscape painting is in the plan. I also hope to capture some village scenes. The above photo shows me (front right) painting in a small French village. It was taken at a previous workshop. As you can see, there are always onlookers, but that's part of the fun. If you are a painter, you know that the airline regulations and luggage restrictions mean that flying with paints requires lots of preparation. For some great tips, see the guide that Lori Putnam has written for traveling painters on the Oil Painters of America blog.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my news. I always welcome your feedback. If you have friends who might enjoy reading the Newsletter, please pass it along. I welcome new readers, and anybody can sign up to receive the Newlstters. Stay well, and stay in touch!

All images and text (c) 2013 Lesley Powell. I encourage you to forward this email as long as it includes this copyright notice. Please contact me if you would like to reproduce this Newsletter in any form.