Mary Wilbanks has received over 40 awards in National Shows and is a Signature member of the National Watercolor Society and Watercolor USA Honor Society.

Mary's work for the past years is non objective Acrylic Collage, and can be seen in Galleries and Publications.; She continues to draw almost every day, and carries a sketchbook on every trip. She currently teaches 3 day workshops at her studio, WAS-H in Houston and on painting trips to Mexico, Peru, and Costa Rica.

Her paintings are included in several publications. “The Gift” is on the cover of the Random House book Art and Healing. Her work is also published in The Best of Watercolor 2, The Best of Watercolor 3, and The Best of Watercolor Painting Texture. Examples of her work are included in Gerald Brommer’s Collage Techniques.

Mary taught painting at the Phoenix Art Museum for 4 years and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center for 3 years. For the past 10 years she has been teaching workshops in Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada and the United States.

On this trip you will learn to use a variety of materials to record your impressions. Along with your camera we will use pencils, pens, watercolors and water soluble pastels. A small watercolor pad and a sketchbook will be necessary,

In Athens there will be an opportunity to see several interesting and historic places. Our hotel is within walking distance of the Acropolis, the temple of Zeus, the Plaka, and a longer walk to the Museum of Archeology.

In Santorini there will be ample time to draw, paint and take in the beauty of this island. We will go to the Acrotiri ruins, the Cultural center, the town of Iya., and an optional day trip on a pirate's ship. Each evening after dark we will meet, talk of various ways to sketch and paint We'll discuss contour and gesture drawing, form shadows, cast shadows, perspective, and warm and cool colors. We will look at the day's sketches, and tell how you will use them.

Some will use these as direct references for painting, others will use the colors and shapes in abstract work, as I do. We will all realize the difference between traveling as a tourist and traveling as an ARTIST..

Santorini

SANTORINI...Great poets have sung its praises, a 4.000 year old history. And the eternal rock continues to stand, strong and majestic, rising proudly from the sea and guarding well the secrets of Atlantis...The volcano 3600 years ago: The wonderful beauty of the Santorini landscape and the deep blue sea filling the central caldera surrounded by red, black, purple, brown, and yellow rocks, speak of one of the largest natural catastrophes to occur during human antiquity in the Mediterranean. A feeling of awesomeness and forbidding remain with us today, some 3.600 years after this landscape was shaped by a tremendous volcanic eruption that devastated an island, reshaping it into the gorgeous scenery we visit now. The world famous island of Santorini is the southern most island of the Cycladic group in the Aegean Sea, and is located 63 nautical miles north of Crete. Its surface area is 73 sq. km. and its population, distributed among thirteen villages, just exceeds thirteen thousand six hundred people.

Glamorous Santorini, in the southern Aegean's Cyclades islands, curves round a giant lagoon, a caldera left by a volcanic eruption. The island's capital, Fira, clings to cliffs above, providing stunning views of the lagoon below. Santorini's nightlife has become as hot as its volcanic past. Ruins, including the volcanic ash- preserved town of ancient Akrotiri, amaze those with a bent for ancient history. Hydrofoils, ferries and catamarans connect Santorini to other islands and the mainland.

.Here is a live webcam of Santorini refreshed every 60 seconds http://www.santorini.net/caldera.html

Santorini

Parthenon