For WSU...Printing, Cutting, Scanning...

In early April, I will be driving across the state to Pullman, WA, home of Washington State University.  I am so honored to have been asked by the School of Design + Construction to present a lecture, exhibit work, and teach a workshop!  So this weekend is full of scanning, printing, cutting, organizing images for the show, etc.

The Lecture on April 6 will focus on the two fellowships that have taken me to Europe the past two summers to sketch and paint.  The first, in 2013 was the Gabriel Prize, awarded to one architect in the United States each year for three months of learning about architecture on-site through drawing!  So perfect!! 
      My project was to study the use of perspective in the 17th c. landscape designs at Versailles and Vaux le Vicomte.
     The second fellowship was through NIAUSI/The Civita Institute for two months in the amazing hill town of Civita di Bagnoregio ITALY (where I also teach a summer workshop). There, the project was to create an illustrated walking guide to the architecture of the town--a project I'm still working on!

The Exhibit April 6-17 will feature, oh, maybe 100 sketches from the fellowships. Many of these are posted on my flickr page.

The Workshop April 18-19 is in three parts:  Saturday morning, April 18 is a lecture on how to sketch, is open to all at no charge.  Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning are small group hand's on sketching instruction--contact WSU to see if there are any open spots. Sunday afternoon is a Sketchcrawl, open to all.

Thanks so much to Bob Krikac from WSU for arranging this wonderful opportunity.  I hope that sketchers in the area might join us!

Portal to another summer adventure...

Wow...two weeks from this moment, I'll be wedged into a coach seat on a plane...heading to Rome.

With the Civita Institute's Astra Zarina fellowship, I'll be spending 2 months in the teeny Etruscan/Roman/Medieval/Renaissance (and it pretty much stops there) hill town of Civita di Bagnoregio ITALY, literally following the footsteps of other Seattle sketchers like Anita Lehmann and Dave Boyd who were there last summer.  The project:  to create an illustrated walking guide to the town, as tons of tourists show up and quickly walk from one end to the other, never knowing that they are in a really amazing, historic place.

I'll also be teaching the second annual DRAW CIVITA-- 5 day sketching workshop in July (and yes, there will be a DRAW CIVITA 2015)...
 http://www.stephaniebower.com/DRAW_CIVITA_2014Info.pdf  as well as joining the Urban Sketchers in Rome for sketchcrawls.  It will be great to see the Good Bones 2 sketchers Ben and Francesca who work for Rick Steves and are based in Rome--they are really good, brand new sketchers!  The plan is to also visit a few of the gardens that predate those I studied in France last year, the Villa Lante and Villa d'Este...lots of perspective there...

Then in late August, I'll board a plane again to join the Urban Sketchers community at the symposium in Brazil to teach a workshop called "180 Degrees", which will include lots of how-to information on basic perspective. I love these wide angle views, as they really put you in the space!  And if Paraty is anything like Barcelona last year, it will be amazing--so very, very well organized, an incredibly fun opportunity for any and all sketchers.

Look for a few posts to the Seattle Urban Sketchers blog, but if you are interested in following the daily posts, go to:
blog: www.stephaniebower.blogspot.com
flickr:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/83075812@N07/
or through Google+ (and I have no idea how to post a link to that site...)

It appears that lightening can strike the same place twice, I am so very, very grateful for these utterly amazing opportunities and adventures. My gosh, it honestly seems too good to be true.

180 degree view of Civita's Piazza in front of the Chiesa San Donato 2013

180 degree view of the Interior of Civita's Chiesa San Donato 2013

Walking through this portal into Civita is like entering a time machine,
as it throws you back many hundreds of years...and a
spell comes over you. It is such an amazing ancient place, perched
like an island high above the valley below.

Sketching Workshop in Italy~~

The details have been finalized and it's official--I'm so fortunate to partner with NIAUSI to teach a 5 day architectural sketching workshop in the incredible, ancient hill town of Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy next summer!

...small groups, lots of one-on-one instruction, focus on thoroughly understanding and using perspective, intro to watercolor, great food, use of the beautiful fully-restored and furnished NIAUSI apartments, Etruscan caves and Roman stone, the glorious colors of Italy in the summer, and one of the most dramatic settings on the planet...so inspiring!

For more information, go to www.stephaniebower.com or drop me an email. Ciao!!!