New Zealand Painting Retreat
March 5-11, 2013
with Michael Chesley Johnson PSA MPAC

Paint New Zealand En Plein Air with Michael Chesley Johnson

Join me (Michael Chesley Johnson) on New Zealand's Kowhai Coast March 5-11, 2013, for a week of plein air painting. Although there won't be any formal instruction, there will be demos and critiques. And there's a lot to look forward to in the way of land and sea excursions plus fine dining. I think you'll enjoy this painting holiday!

The workshop is being coordinated by fellow artists Adele Earnshaw and Joe Garcia. Adele is a native New Zealander and grew up in the area. She will be our guide for the trip and promises us a wonderful experience.

If you are interested in this trip, please let me know as soon as possible. I want to see if I can get enough people to make this work. I need at least 16-20 people. Tell your artist friends! Have them contact me if they are interested. And non-painters are very welcome on this trip! Email me at mcj.painter@gmail.com or call me at 575-267-2450.

(Don't think you can make the trip this time? Then let me bring back a bit of New Zealand for you! You can get a small painting from my trip for very little cost by signing up as a patron. If I get enough patrons, I'll stay a second week, and you can have your pick of painting created during that time! For more, please visit my blog post on this.)

If you don't know me, here's an introduction:

Michael Chesley Johnson is an oil and pastel plein air painter working in the American Southwest, coastal Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. He also specializes in teaching small-size plein air painting workshops in oil and pastel for the intermediate and advanced level painter. Elected a Master Pastellist by Pastel Artists Canada in 2008, he is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and a juried member of Oil Painters of America. In 2011, he is an invited artist for three plein air events: the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, the Sedona Plein Air Festival, and the Plein Air Invitational at Zion National Park.

Michael is the author of Backpacker Painting: Outdoors with Oil & Pastel, a guide to portable plein air painting, and Through a Painter's Brush: A Year on Campobello Island. He writes regularly for The Pastel Journal and is a Contributing Editor for The Artist's Magazine. Michael lives and paints on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, and in Sedona, Arizona. He has a summer studio gallery on Campobello Island, Friar's Bay Studio Gallery, and a winter studio gallery in Sedona, Arizona, Pumphouse Studio Gallery. He runs two programs, Paint Sedona and Paint Campobello. He is also represented in the Southwest by Windrush Gallery.

Price of the workshop is TBA, but it'll be around $2500 or so. No deposit is necessary yet.

Below is a proposed itinerary. This will also be finalized soon.

For much more information on the program, visit www.PaintingNewZealand.com

  • Transportation to and from the Auckland Airport to our retreat in Matakana, providing you are at the airport at the pre-arranged times.
  • 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 4 of 7 dinners.
  • Transportation to and from our painting spots; launch to Kawau Island; glass bottom boat at Goat Island; admission to Sheep World.
  • Accommodations: seven nights at the retreat, based on double-occupancy. We will stay in five baches - a 'bach' is a summer cottage - each with a kitchen, lounge, office area, two bedrooms, two bathrooms. Bedrooms have either a queen bed or two singles. Single accommodation may be available for an additional fee.

It does not include:

  • Airfare.
  • Alcoholic beverages with the exception of the welcome dinner and wine on artist's studio visits; personal snacks, coffee or tea in your own bach; transportation to and from Matakana if you cannot be at the Auckland airport for the pre-arranged meeting time on your arrival and when you leave; three restaurant dinners and optional activities such as rental of snorkeling equipment.

If you'd like to see images of the area, visit Adele's blog on painting in New Zealand, www.paintnewzealand.blogspot.com.

About Weather

It rains in New Zealand - that's why the country is so very beautiful. February and March have less rain than other times of the year. If it does rain, we will change the excursions to covered locations. For more on New Zealand weather and on New Zealand in general, go to www.NewZealand.com.

Proposed Itinerary

DAY 1

  • Everyone arrives. Students are picked up at the Auckland Airport at two pre-arranged times: one in the morning for students arriving from the U.S. and one in the afternoon for students arriving from elsewhere in NZ. The van will stop at a grocery store on the way to the retreat for students to get whatever they need. Lunch will be ready at the retreat for students that arrive on the morning van. The rest of the day is free for unpacking and napping. Rooms are ready with welcome packets, fresh flowers. Welcome dinner that night at the retreat.

DAY 2

  • Continental breakfast provided at retreat.
  • 9 AM: Orientation with Michael.
  • 11:00: Leave for a short sightseeing trip of the area on the way to Leigh Fish & Chips shop for lunch.
  • 12:00: Fish & Chips at Leigh (Lunch is included in the fee.)
  • 1:00 to 5:00: Goat Island. (See link to the online brochure above.) Painters and non-painters take a 45-minute trip on the glass-bottom boat.
  • Afterwards, painters will paint in the area. For non-painters, there's also a two-hour hike through rain forest. Snorkeling ($15 equipment rental) or scuba diving with equipment rental is available there. Goat Island is a protected marine reserve with an incredible fish population. Students will have about 3 hours of painting time.
  • 5:45 PM or thereabouts: Dinner at the Matakana Pub. (Students pay for their own dinner)

DAY 3

  • Continental breakfast provided at retreat.
  • 9 AM: Go to Sandspit, a local beach with very paintable vintage baches and old caravans.
  • This is where we take the launch to Kawau Island at 10:30, returning to Sandspit at 3. Box lunches provided. Students can paint on Kawau (gorgeous scenery!). There are hiking trails for non-painters. The area also has wallabies and kookaburra, both Australian species that were introduced to Kawau Island in the 1800's. (The only place in New Zealand where you'll find wallabies.) Launch returns us to Sandspit at 3. We visit a couple of wineries on the way back to the retreat.
  • 6 PM: Dinner at retreat: perhaps rack of lamb on the barbeque, kumara salad, green mussels, traditional NZ desserts. (This dinner included in fee.)
  • 9 PM: Adele will take a small group to listen for moreporks (native owl) and look for the Southern Cross.

Day 4

  • Continental breakfast provided at retreat.
  • Trip to the Farmers Market in Matakana for those interested. (Just down the road). A great place to shop! It's the best Farmer's market in NZ.
  • Return to the retreat and paint in the area until lunch.
  • LUNCH at the retreat.
  • 1:30 PM: Kauri Park in Warkworth where we take a bush walk, sketch and paint. You can paint in this area or elsewhere.
  • 4:30 PM: Possible trip to the house where Adele lived in as a child and where an artist couple now live. Adele is hoping to get her OK to visit her studio and see her work while we sip wine.
  • 6 PM: Drop off students in Warkworth where they can choose from various restaurants to eat dinner. (Students pay for their own dinner.) Meet back at the bus and head back to the retreat.

Day 5

  • 9:30: Vans to Tawharanui (beach/regional park) for the day – take your togs! (swimsuits)
  • Tawaharanui ridge walk for non-painters – 4 hours.
  • Picnic lunch and a little bit of wine.
  • Painting, hiking, bird watching, all day.
  • See if we can stop at artist Lindsay Scott's for wine and tour of her studio on the way back.
  • 7 PM: Dinner at the retreat.

Day 6

  • Continental breakfast at retreat.
  • Buckleton's Beach for painting and walking around the rocks at low tide. Beautiful private little beach with great walks around the rocks. (There for about 3 hours.)
  • Back to the retreat for LUNCH.
  • A trip to Sheep World for the 2:00 show. (Dog/sheep demonstrations....well worth seeing!)
  • Painting in Warkworth (Adele's hometown) for the afternoon. Lots of paintable landscapes including the wharf/boats on the Mahurangi river. Students are on their own for dinner. They can choose from four or five restaurants in Warkworth.
  • Meet back at the bus for the trip back to the retreat.

Day 7

  • Continental breakfast at retreat.
  • Perhaps painting around the retreat.
  • Lunch.
  • Afternoon off for students to pack, etc.
  • Farewell dinner at the retreat.

Day 8

  • Continental breakfast at retreat
  • Trip to Auckland. We can drop students off at the airport mid-day or for those flying back to the U.S. on the night flights, we can take them to the Auckland Museum to see the Maori exhibits and attend a Maori concert (students pay for this) before taking them to the airport. The Auckland Museum and concert are well worth seeing.

I hope you'll join me!


Michael