PAST EVENTS
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Fabulous Holland. June, 2-10. 2018
Mountains of Svaneti. Golden autumn
September 23 - October 1 2017
“They say that Georgians were the last to learn that God distributes lands among nations,
and when they came, there was nothing left. Then God gave them that place which I kept for myself. This is Georgia. "
Georgian toast
Photo by Lena Kharlamova
Svaneti. White mountains - black sea
02 - 12 June 2017
Italy. Plein air on the Amalfi coast.
01 - 09 May 2017
Season 2016:
Golden autumn in Kakheti and Rtveli -
Grape harvest festival October 1-9 2016
"A friendly open air means that you are going with friends, to visit new friends!"
E. Sitner, Ph.D., artist, participant of the plein air in Kakheti
Photo by Lena Kharlamova
PROGRAM:
Day 1. Arrival in Tbilisi, city tour.
Day 2. Plein air in the old city near the baths, Fig gorge, Sololaki streets, the ancient Narikala fortress. Visit to the thermal sulfur baths (optional)
Day 3. Departure to Sighnaghi, excursion to the Niko Pirosmani Museum of Painting, plein air. Cozy guest house with a blooming veranda.
Day 4. Plein air day in the city of lovers, Sighnaghi, panoramas of the Alazani Valley, master class on cooking khinkali, dinner.
Day 5. Departure to Velistsikhe, an old winery with a traditional cellar, where wine is kept in qvevri - huge clay jugs. + MK
for preparing churchkhela and bread in a round oven, wine tasting. Forbidden mountain lake Kvareli, lunch and open air.
Day 6. Plein air in the Gremi fortress 16th c. and / or Nekresi, a picturesque monastery in the clouds above the Alazani Valley.
On this day, we will participate in the main autumn action - Rtveli - the Harvest Festival. We will cut the grape bunches
and turn them into juice with feet in vats at a real family winery in Napareuli. This impression is one of the rarest and most colorful!
Day 7. Transfer to Mtskheta - the ancient capital of Georgia, excursion and plein air near the Jvari temple or in Mtskheta.
Day 8. Georgian Military Road.
Day 9. Free day in Mtskheta, optional plein air and voyage to local shops and art salons. Airport transfer
Elena Sitner:
More than two months have passed since we returned <...> from a magical friendly open air in Kakheti! And emotions and feelings never subsided, there was so much bright, joyful, kind - friendly! Friendly open air ... it means that you are going with friends, to visit new friends! And although our plein air was held not in a hot summer, but in a calm autumn, the emotions were unusually bright, the feelings were strong, and the watercolors were bright !!! Georgia is A TALE, and autumn in Kakheti !!!!!! is a fairy tale twice! A magical land, magical people! We saw Tbilisi and Sighnaghi, private wineries and factories, the closed fabulous lake Kvarelli, Kazbegi and Mtskheta, temples, monasteries, go-o-ry! Even handsome Kazbek met us without his usual cloud cap! We baked bread and made churchkhella, tasted wines and cognacs, pressed grapes and made khinkali! All this inspired and we were happy to transfer our impressions to watercolors and photos! <...> The organization was impeccable, the guest houses were wonderful, the owners and drivers of our transport were just family! Nastya and Ilya, Georgy, Manana, Ilya, Marina - thank you!
And separately about the participants of the plein air ... Girls-Tanyusha, Lenochka, Olya, Julia, you are the best !!! Painting, photographing, singing, just ... beloved! Thank you for being there and sharing this joy for everyone!
Georgia is beautiful, and there are so many beautiful places where we have never been !!!!! And a friendly watercolor plein air is such a wonderful way to get to know the country and people! In a word, up to new meetings and travels!
Yulia Filatova:
An amazing journey that does not resemble its goal, where there is an opportunity to learn something new through interesting thoughtful excursions with a guide, communication with new interesting people, see all the beauty of Georgia's nature, feel the local flavor and have fun. On such trips, you enrich yourself and develop your creative potential. Words cannot express my gratitude to the organizer Lenochka and all the wonderful people who took part in this. I will dream and plan my next trip!
Elena Kuznetsova:
Traveling with artists is a celebration of life , and traveling with artists across Georgia is a celebration of life in a square, not even in a cube, because it is volumetric)) The first time I had such a trip, and now all my aspirations go in the direction of endless continuation of this pure joy. Artists, especially watercolors (according to my feelings) are people of special beauty and reverent attitude to the world. Next to them, you acutely feel the harmony of space inside and outside, but there is no difference. Watercolor is like life, every stroke of the moment . Grateful to Lenochka @elena_dzyuba_art for an exciting and filling journey! To all our wonderful Elena and others no less wonderful for an incredibly spiritual circle. Our guiding star Anastasia @ nastya.ge for a delicate touch to Georgia, welcoming and abundant in people, landscapes, temples, streets, feasts, towns, houses ... And to everyone who met for warmth and spiritual generosity. It's funny, in everyone we met, you could see the artist . And even the co-pilot of the return flight was on the same wavelength with us. He informed us about the sunset on the port side and said that sunsets are never ugly)) And I again became convinced that the space around us is incomprehensibly built on the basis of our inner beauty. Dear-wonderful, I just want to be with you! 💜 And I will return to Georgia (I realized this on the very first day, as soon as I left the airport building in Tbilisi), I hope that together with you!)) #Georgianplein air2016
Plein air in Eastern Georgia. July 2-10, 2016
Program.
Day 1. Arrival in Tbilisi, city tour.
Days 2.3. Tbilisi. Visit to the vernissage on the Dry Bridge, walk along the pre-revolutionary front doors with stucco and painting. Plein air in the old town in the area of baths, Fig gorge, Sololaki streets, botanical garden.
Day 4. Sighnaghi, house-museum of Niko Pirosmani, open air
Day 5. Transfer from Sighnaghi to Mtskheta, excursion and plein air near the Jvari temple or in Mtskheta
Day 6. Departure along the picturesque Georgian military road to Kazbegi, evening plein air near the Gergeti Sameba church (pictured)
Day 7. Transfer to Mtskheta, along the way, an open-air at the Arch of Friendship of Peoples and / or in the Ananuri fortress with stunning panoramas
Day 8. David-Gareji cave monasteries complex, plein air
Day 9. Tbilisi. Museums and art galleries, plein air and stroll. Airport transfer.
Photo by Lena Kharlamova
Svetlana Kostina:
Almost a month has passed since our watercolor tour in Georgia ended, and emotions are still overwhelming - everything was so cool! The trip was very busy. Indeed, very much! We managed to explore Tbilisi almost along and across, change several cities, climb to an altitude of 2200 m and descend into the clouds, visit a cave monastery with incredible landscapes around and still very, very much - all this in ten days, drawing in parallel 🎨😍 And all thanks to the ideological inspirer artist Elena, who gathered us all and came up with a route for Nastya, who tells with such love about Georgia that it is simply impossible not to fall in love with this country, and also to believe that she herself only recently moved here! .. Frankly, I doubted how successful a trip with strangers could be, and in vain!
Watercolor unites !! An excellent format for those who want to actively spend time in a foreign country, armed with a palette and brushes) ) With a smile, I remember the breakfast at the round table and I hope we will meet with many more than once!
Raisa Altshuler:
We returned from Georgia. It was a wonderful, bright, sultry, crazy trip. <...> it was a "friendly plein air", then we didn't have a teacher. We learned from each other. That was great! And as usual, we learned not only to draw, but also not to be lazy, learned perseverance, courage, learned to communicate, make friends, admire ... Thank you very much Lena for the organization, for the care, for the constant smile and good mood. Thanks to our Georgian guide Nastya for the indifference, for the wonderful excursions, for the sincerity and dedication. Thanks to our hosts, with whom we lived. I especially remember Revaz in Tbilisi and Manana in Sighnaghi. There were many more people who made a strong impression. For example, the owner of a restaurant in Sighnaghi and his beautiful flowery toasts about love. I remember the SUV driver who drove us to the Gergeti church. It was terribly scary, but his courageous appearance and beauty were somehow soothing. Our constant driver Georgy, his humor and friendliness, his impeccable <...> playlist. And also thanks to the participants for the company. Beauties, cheerful, lively ... It was a good trip!
Elena Kartashova:
Our program was very rich and exciting! We saw an incredible amount of beautiful landscapes, architecture, picturesque streets, monasteries and simply picturesque Tbilisi balconies! And the mountains !! This is a separate love story) All these impressions cannot be put into words, they are too small for them!
Georgia is beautiful and worth visiting .. and more than once! And yes, there is even a sea there, (by the way, there is everything, more than in Greece!)) To which we did not reach this time, so there is definitely a reason to return;) Helen, thank you very much for the organization, the interesting program, for cozy guest houses and, of course, for inspiration! I will look forward to new trips and meetings!
Anastasia Matyukhina:
What do we usually expect from travel? Unusual impressions, new emotions, friendly communication, inspiration .. We want to see as much as possible, get to know the country as best as possible, get to know local people, try the best national cuisine. And if your favorite pastime is watercolors, then the list is also supplemented by "draw-paint-draw! " Thanks to our organizers Elena and Anastasia, this trip to Georgia really became special, and we were able not only to see many beautiful and unusual places, but also to realize all our creative plans :) It is impossible to forget the beauty of the Georgian Military Highway, magic singing in Georgian temples, old ceremonial Tbilisi. .. And our cozy evenings and meeting the dawn with watercolors ! You couldn't think of it better. Thanks to everyone who organized this trip, and to all its participants! This was great!
Art Journey to the Rhine Valley April 30 - May 6, 2016
In May, we went to the picturesque foothills of the Bavarian Alps, the fabulous Rhine Valley. It was a great chance to get to know the country from the inside, because the route was developed by my friends from Germany, and the best guides became our guides - the inhabitants of the valley themselves. We saw and sketched a lot of interesting things: cities and ancient locks, cherry blossoms and the vineyards , which turned out to be in the valleys of the Moselle and Rhine rivers, a great many, of course, appreciated the unusually tasty German wines and powerful, otherwise you would not say, cuisine.
My landscape collection was filled with views of German towns - castles , of which there were 64 along our route - one opposite the other, Gothic roofs, half-timbered houses of the 12th century. size ideal for hobbits, literally drowning in cherry blossoms, which I (unexpectedly!) hunted for the entire trip and now plan to return. The feeling of unreality did not leave, it seemed that gnomes and other fabulous creatures lived in these places.
She brought sketches with her, ice-cold Moselle wine and a blue bird. North Rhine-Westphalia in May - a perfect yes!