Pennsylvania
Nature's Canvas: Intermediate Watercolor Workshop in the Laurel Highlands
Program No. 25008RJ
Break out your watercolors for this immersive five-day plein air workshop in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands and enjoy a field trip to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kentuck Knob.
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5 days
4 nights
12 meals
4B 4L 4D
1
Check-in, Welcome Dinner, Orientation & Introduction
Mount Pleasant, PA
2
Understanding Landscape Painting, Plein Air Experience
Mount Pleasant, PA
3
Kentuck Knob Plein Air Experience
Mount Pleasant, PA
4
Latrobe Art Center, Gallery Showing
Mount Pleasant, PA
5
Breakfast, Final Critiques, Program Concludes
Mount Pleasant, PA
At a Glance
Immerse yourself in the tranquil beauty of woods and mountains and let your creativity soar! In the heart of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands, enjoy expert instruction in plein air (outdoor) painting to enhance your intermediate skill level. Each day offers a new experience as you engage your senses and respond to the immediate environment, discovering how the play of light and shadow and shifting weather affect how you interpret your subject. This five-day workshop will present artists with a variety of subjects — including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kentuck Knob — balance the development of technical skills with the creative aspects of painting, helping artists with intermediate experience become stronger creators.
Activity Level
Easy Going
There is minimal walking and standing on this program.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Enjoy workshops and lectures presented by local plein air artists as well as the opportunity for individual instruction and constructive critiques.
- Explore regional arts centers and sites, like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kentuck Knob and the Latrobe Art Center to experience other artists’ work and participate in onsite discussions and workshops.
- Walk along scenic nature trails through lush outdoor landscapes and have the opportunity to take part in activities like yoga classes.
General Notes
Participants will be asked to bring their own painting supplies including paint, brushes, paper and sketch books. Easels will be provided.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Jared Cullum
Jared Cullum is an award-winning author-cartoonist and plein air painter living in Pittsburgh, PA. He has written and illustrated story and concept art for young adult and children’s stories for Jim Henson Productions, IDW, Insight Editions, and others, specializing in a hand-painted watercolor style. Jared regularly posts lessons and demonstrations on the YouTube channel “Jared Loves to Draw,” and is an avid outdoor painter and teacher of plein air and figure watercolor painting.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Amy Craig
View biography
Amy Craig is a member of Laurelville's Guest Services/Program department. Amy has worked in a variety of jobs and fields, including customer service, owning her own photography business, and health care. She has a great love of travel, adventure, and new experiences. Amy has been married to her husband Scott for over two decades and has two daughters. In her free time, she enjoys photography, paddle boarding, finding new restaurants and fun activities, singing on her church's worship team, and relaxing by a fire.
Jared Cullum
View biography
Jared Cullum is an award-winning author-cartoonist and plein air painter living in Pittsburgh, PA. He has written and illustrated story and concept art for young adult and children’s stories for Jim Henson Productions, IDW, Insight Editions, and others, specializing in a hand-painted watercolor style. Jared regularly posts lessons and demonstrations on the YouTube channel “Jared Loves to Draw,” and is an avid outdoor painter and teacher of plein air and figure watercolor painting.
Suggested Reading List
(2 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Nature's Canvas: Intermediate Watercolor Workshop in the Laurel Highlands
Program Number: 25008
Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob
This is the first thorough guide to the design and history of "Kentuck," a splendid mountain house in southwestern Pennsylvania designed in 1953-1954 by Frank Lloyd Wright. Inspired by Fallingwater, the famous house only seven miles away that Wright designed above the waterfalls of Bear Run, local businessman I. N. Hagan and his wife, Bernardine, commissioned the 86-year-old Wright to design this home. Kentuck, constructed on an isolated knoll, or knob, is now owned by Lord Palumbo of London and is open for public tours. This vivid account tells the story of how the house came to be, detailing the many complexities faced by the Hagans—from the delights and difficulties in dealing with Wright to the problems with topography and architectual plans. In fulfilling Wright's vision, the Hagans and their contractor managed to construct a building of great beauty, dignity, and serenity. More than fifty photographs, drawings, and diagrams accompany a detailed descriptive text to illustrate how the peculiarities of the plan, based on the equilateral triangle, resulted in a house that generates countless vistas, indoors and out, and spatial effects of great charm and intimacy. Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob brings to life an unusual work of residential architecture. It is the perfect introduction to Kentuck, and for those who have visited there, a lovely reminder of this luminous but modest house.
Kodi (Book 1)
Jared Cullum brings a fresh watercolor style that's brimming over with personality. His characters come alive in their world. The gorgeous story of two friends separated by everything in the world -- except love. Readers and animal-lovers of every age will want to relive this journey over and over again.