L'Atelier aux Couleurs
l'Atelier aux Couleurs: the Art Academy, also known as the "Tin Barn School", is an art school in California, founded by Camille Przewodek and Carole Gray-Weihman in 2003. The school is housed in the old downtown section of Petaluma, California in the actual painting studio that they share. In 2007, artist Alfredo Tofanelli became a partner.
L'atelier aux Couleurs: the Art Academy is unique in that it only offers painting classes and workshops by experienced premier plein air painters of today- painters of a diverse background, some who are classically trained and others who have been protégés of well known master painters.
L’atelier aux Couleurs workshops focus on painting landscapes, still-lifes and models from life, so attention is placed primarily on painting en plein air. Their workshops take place on location painting landscapes, village or town scenes and an occasional model or still-life outdoors. At times, emphasis is on indoor models or still-lifes with either artificial or natural light.
The workshop instructors strive to teach newcomers as well as experienced painters their own approach to painting en plein air. The teachers at l'Atelier aux Couleurs concentrate on working individually with students in order to maximize individual learning. Students come away more aware of surroundings, the effect of light and its movement, color shifts of warm and cool, and how design occurs naturally. The instructors’ focus is utilizing value, color, soft and hard edges, using the correct color palette for the conditions of the day and time, simplifying nature and seeing the big shapes, and various visual approaches to aid in producing a successful painting. For the advanced student that has a firm grasp of the mechanics of painting, the instructors will demonstrate the important elements of mood, passion and attitude that make a good painting even better. The students of l'Atelier aux Couleurs learn to see the big picture, knowing exactly what it is he or she is trying to achieve with their painting. Their goal is to not only provide the student with the highest caliber instruction, but also inspiration and a maintained level of excitement for painting that will carry them far beyond their workshop experiences.
Visiting Master Painters who have taught and continue to teach at l'Atelier aux Couleurs: Skip Whitcomb, Ray Roberts, Peggi Kroll-Roberts, Gay Faulkenberry and John Ebersberger.