Mark E. Mehaffey
www.mehaffeygallery.com
August 4-15, 2009

Mark E. Mehaffey is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Rocky Mountain Watermedia Society, among others. Mark retired from the Lansing, Michigan public school system as an Art Instructor and now is a watermedia instructor, juror, demonstrator and lecturer offering workshops and classes. He has received numerous awards and his paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States.

In Mark's own words
"I have been painting for over forty years. During that time my interest in the act of painting has never waned. However, the content of my work and my technical abilities have constantly been in a state of flux. This state of change is something that all artists deal with regularly, it is in fact invited. It is through change that growth occurs. To be timid, safe, complacent or overly satisfied does not push the boundaries of self.

As tangents occur in life so do they occur in my work. I allow myself the freedom to follow my tangents. One road I have been down many times is my technique of spray painting. The spray paintings allow me to explore shape and value patterns. Part of me relates strongly to hard edges and strong lights and darks. The process itself sometimes determines content, although I continue to push.

After spending hours and hours on a very controlled spray painting, I find myself dreaming of mists, clouds, rain and water. My brush seems to take on a life of its own as I try to express the feeling of a summer storm or fish hunting in the shallows. In my non objective work, I wonder if I can evoke strong feelings from a viewer by manipulating the elements of art. Can line, color, shape and value be juxtaposed to have the same emotional impact as a thunder storm?

Art is a communication -- a dialogue between artist and viewer. It is my hope to open and maintain that dialog. And I hope the viewer will be as involved as I am."

What's Included:

• Lodgings - 3 nights/3 star hotel in Paris, 8 nights at Petit Rousset
• All breakfasts
• 1 dinner in Paris, 7 dinners at Petit Rousset
• Transfers from Paris to Bordeaux by train, transfers from/to Bordeaux,
  transportation by private coach
• Entry fees for included sites, ample time to enjoy optional ones
• Private & Group Instruction & Critiques

Itinerary

PARIS

Day 1
Independent Arrival in Paris
2:00 p.m. Meet Mark in Hotel Lobby for Painting Strategy Session. Optional dinner together at nearby bistro.

Day 2
We’ll start the day with a leisurely walk in one of Paris’ most celebrated neighborhoods. With our knowledgeable guide, the past 1000 years of life in Paris unfolds. After lunch, you may wish to set up your easel or join Beverly for a museum visit.

Day 3
We’re off to the Tuileries Garden, the royal garden of the Louvre Palace laid out by the famous 17th century landscape architect Andre Le Notre. We’ll enjoy a morning of painting. After lunch, keep on painting or join Beverly for a Louvre visit. We’ll gather for dinner tonight and celebrate the good life, Paris style.

Day 4
Morning goodbye stroll around our neighborhood, time to grab a sack lunch & head off to the train station for TGV fast train to Bordeaux. Pick up at Bordeaux Train Station for two hour scenic drive to Petit Rousset. Welcome dinner.

PERIGORD

A sampling of our Destinations
We’ll explore small towns and tiny villages. We’ll enjoy a guided visit to a cave with prehistoric paintings; a medieval fortress; a Renaissance chateau; and a water mill where they make paper by hand, the old fashioned way.

Petit Rousset – Our home, an 18th century farmhouse, provides many opportunities for painting, sketching & relaxing – in the garden, on the terrace, by the pool, and in the new art studio.

Eymet – Our ‘hometown’ is a 40-minute stroll from Petit Rousset, past rows of grapevines, fields of sunflowers and meadows of grazing cows. This bastide has a perfectly intact 13th century center square which bursts with activity on Market Day. We’ll learn about the medieval conflicts that gave rise to the region’s many bastides.

Bergerac – The town made famous by the poet-Musketeer, Cyrano, is now the capitol of the wine-growing region. We’ll visit Old Town, with its medieval houses clustered along the banks of the Dordogne River. Nearby is the fairy tale Renaissance Chateau de Monbazillac. We’ll visit the chateau then taste the golden, mellow wine of the same name.

Les Eyzies – The capitol of Prehistory, we’ll visit a cave embellished with polychrome prehistoric paintings.

Beynac – We’ll visit the village with the Chateau at its summit. Built during the One Hundred Year’s War, the Chateau de Beynac perches high atop a cliff dominating the Dordogne River.

Sarlat – Founded as an Abbey Town, when Charlemagne visited, he brought a fragment of the True Cross with him. Nearly all of Sarlat’s restored town houses were built during its years of greatest prosperity, from 1450-1500, giving it a rare architectural unity preserved by the Loi Malraux.

Monpazier – Hailed as the most perfectly preserved bastide in Southwest France, the 13th century houses surrounding its totally intact market square, are identical in size, unique in appearance.

Final Day – After breakfast, depart for Bordeaux. En route, St. Emilion, a favorite of both medieval popes and English kings, in 1999 it was classed a world heritage site, the first vine-growing area to achieve this status. After free time in St. Emilion, coach drop off at Bordeaux airport and/or train station. Onward journeys after 4:00 p.m. are advised.