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From Jan 27th to Feb 23rd 2018 I led the inaugural Travelrite Antarctic and Chilean Fiords Painting Workshop Holiday. I had spent the previous twelve months organising this amazing new trip with Travelrite and was delighted to be the first tutor to take 30 people on the cruise of a lifetime.
nnnMagellanic penguin chicks (Stanley, Falkland Islands)
We began on board the Van Zaandam cruise ship at Santiago, Chile and worked our way down the edge of the country to Chiloe, Castro, Punta Arenas and then into the Chilean Fiords, through the Beagle Chanel and down to Ushuaia in Argentina, exploring Tierra del Fuego on the way. We sailed around Cape Horn, into Drakes Passage and across to Antarctica. We had the most interesting crossing with 8 metre swells. Painting on board was aided by Stemetil anti sickness pills for several members who had to suddenly dash out of the room on various occasions. However we painted on often holding on to whatever was available. The 4 days cruising the Antarctic Sound were, in contrast, in perfect conditions and there was often not the need for coats. However we were extremely fortunate to experience this location in such supreme conditions as these conditions are rare. The experience was overwhelming and everyone was mind blown with the scenery. The icebergs, wilderness, majesty of the Antarctic continent and beauty were beyond belief. They say we had the best weather for years and we were very lucky as the ship following us hit a storm and cancelled their crossing. After our amazing experience in the Antarctic we headed back across Drakes Passage, again holding on to whatever was available for stability, to the Falkland Islands and toured Stanley. Then it was off to Argentina and Uruguay where we stopped at Montevideo and Buenos Aires.
We had a fabulous time experiencing gauchos and tango dancers, old parts of towns and we had special trips to see penguins and seals. It was fabulous. We painted vast and varied subject matter both on board the ship and en plein air. There was never a spare moment during the month long trip and everyone was enthralled and painted wonderful paintings following my own method of Five Steps To Watercolour technique.
Please enjoy some photos of my paintings and snapshots of people and places we saw along the way. Salute Chile, Antarctica, Uruguay and Argentina! What a wonderful part of the world. The southern hemisphere is awesome.
