Florence, Day 5 Tuscany Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

"Evening Stroll," Florence ©2012 Niki Gulley

25" x 19" pastel

Day 5, Florence - Tuscany Art Trek

After a leisurely day near our villa, we picked up the pace the next day and ventured into the bustling city of Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance. Highlights from the day include gazing at Michelangelo's David, visiting the Uffizi Gallery with all of its famous Renaissance paintings, marveling at the marble Duomo and baptistry, wandering the streets in search of leather goods and momentos, and dining al Fresco to cap off the day.

If you'd like to join us for next year's Art Trek to Venice in February, Greece in May, Tuscany in September or Cinque Terre / Lake Como in September, please visit NikiGulley.com/Artreks for more information. Workshops fill up quickly, so please let us know if you are interested. Registration deadlines for some of the trips are less than a month away!

Our Tuscany group overlooking the city of Florence.

If you'd like to learn how to paint with more color and freedom, please join me for my upcoming workshop, "Coloring Outside the Lines," in Fredericksburg, TX, Nov. 2-4. Registration deadline is Oct. 15th. For details, visit nikigulley.com/art-classes.

If you have questions about the Art Treks workshops or are interested in purchasing any of my plein air paintings, please e-mail me at Niki@NikiGulley.com.

NikiGulley.com

"Tell Me Your Dreams" oil painting by Niki Gulley

"Tell Me Your Dreams" ©2011 Niki Gulley

SOLD • 11" x 14" oil painting

Just sold! I absolutely love poppies and seeing them growing in mass! In this painting I wanted to show them in a different way than we're used to seeing poppies so I chose a low angle to show off the beauty of their simplified forms and the strength of such a delicate flower, while capturing the azure blue sky behind them.

If you'd like to learn how to paint nature, join us at the Dallas Arboretum and White Rock Lake this weekend for a 2-day painting and or photography workshop. Space if filling up quickly, so e-mail Niki@NikiGulley.com for more information and to register or visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=13.

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To see more of my contemporary landscape paintings, visit my website at NikiGulley.com.

Tuscany Painting Workshop with Niki Gulley

"Crimson Waves," Tuscany ©2010 Niki Gulley

oil on canvas • 18" x 48"

Inspired by the gorgeous rolling hills and prolific poppy fields in Tuscany, I chose this location to experiment with a different technique utilizing extremely thick paint (1/4" - 1/2" in thickness) and palette knives. I was extremely pleased with the results – a three-dimensional painting that explodes with color and energy.

If you'd like to join us in Tuscany for our next Plein-air Painting / Photography Workshop this September, e-mail me at Niki@NikiGulley.com. Space fills up quickly and we have room for only two more participants, with a final registration deadline of April 24th.

For more information, visit my website at NikiGulley.com

Also, I will be showing this painting at the Fiesta Arts Fair in San Antonio this weekend if you would like to see it in person, booth #74 at Navarro and Augusta Streets.

swschool.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64

I look forward to seeing you there!