May is a beautiful month in the Shenandoah Valley. The trees are in full bloom and the flowers are starting to thrive. With everything turning green and the temperature rising near 80 degrees, it is time to get our paints together, pack up the easel and do some plein-air painting.

Our art classes starting in April were filled with talented painters. This year we made some improvements to the Shenandoah Art Destination fixing up the bathrooms, adding more easels and tables, stacked a giant pile of wood for the fire pit so we can sit outside in the evenings and, of course, expanded our wine assortment.

When I look outside the theme of this year should be COLOR. We added Henche’s color theories from the Cape Cod School of Art to our instructions and I can’t wait to see the paintings that will create. I am sure you will love it. We started to experiment with Mono printing and the results are great. It makes as much of a mess as dry point etching, but it is a lot of fun.

We are on our way to another successful year at the Shenandoah Art Destination. More than fifty students have already signed up for our courses until end October. Often they are friends of previous students. That means that our guests have had a great experience here in Virginia. A true ART VACATION!

Jan-Willem is currently painting for his personal show coming up in September in Nelson Gallery in Lexington. The Gallery’s theme in May is ”Here is looking at you Lexington” so he did some urban sketching and painted some local street scenes. That’s a good way to get to know our town and area that we are living in.

Nancy is sitting behind the computer taking care of all the administration, sending students reminders of what to bring, directions, etc. She is also trying out new recipes for our three course evening meals and has just planted our garden so we can grow even more organic veggies and herbs.

Any questions? Call 612.221.1140

Email: nancy@shenandoahartdestination.com

Shenandoah Art Destination, 325 Union Run, Lexington VA, USA. 24450

Established in 2010, The Shenandoah Art Destination is one of the only, art vacation retreat schools in the United States.  Home to students from all continents, the Shenandoah Art Destination offers rigorous art classes that include painting (oil and acrylic, watercolor, pastel), plein air painting, drawing, airbrush, drypoint, lino, mono printing and mixed media.
The Manors’s beautiful, 10-acre property is located in Lexington, Virginia, 50 miles north of Roanoke, VA.