contact & news > news
News

Fall Colors! One Workshop at CazArts
ONE DAY WORKSHOP
9:30 - 4:30 pm
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Ages/Skill Level: Adults of all skill levels - beginners welcome
Cost: Each session $150
Start taking pictures of beautiful fall colors now! This intensive, all-day Saturday watercolor workshop will take you through the steps needed to create a finished watercolor painting from your photos. We will work on composition, value, color theory, and technique. Demos and individual instruction will be part of the class. Please check the list of materials because not everything is available locally. Please make color prints of your reference photos. We'll take an hour at lunchtime, so there will be time for you to go out for a break, and feel free to bring snacks for yourself.
Lucie Wellner


Back in Circulation: Watercolors by Dan Shanahan and Lucie Wellner
at Manlius Library
October 1 - 31, 2025
Reception at 6:00 PM October 14, 2025
The show’s title “Back in Circulation” acknowledges that many artists will sometimes experience a hiatus from creating art; often one that is not of their own doing. After the hiatus, hopefully they return to making art again, which then has them hanging around other artists again, thus being back in circulation. This title seemed apt for a library show.
Dan Shanahan and Lucie Wellner have been friends for so long, it’s getting harder to remember a time when they weren’t friends. They met at Open Figure Drawing and often paint together outside.
Lucie’s outdoor paintings are from a 2024 trip to Brazil to the tiny town of Serra do Cipó in the state of Minas Gerais. The town is surrounded by a national park which has abundant waterfalls and rolling hills, but Lucie was drawn to the dirt streets with disheveled greenery, explosions of colorful flowers, brightly painted houses, and red earth.
Dan’s paintings include both “Plein air” and “Tête Pleine” – French for “out in the open air,” and “a full mind.” The plein air scenes are local to the Syracuse area. The fantastical watercolor paintings are local to Dan’s imagination.
Dan Shanahan

Focus on Color! at CazArts
6-WEEK CLASS - THURSDAYS
Thursdays, 6:30-9:00 pm
September 18th, 25th, October 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd
Ages/Skill Level: Adults of all skill levels - beginners welcome
Cost: Each session $185.00
If you're a beginner, you may consider the intro class on Saturday, September 6, 10 -2.
During this six-week watercolor class, you'll learn practical color theory and apply it to small paintings of your own. With more understanding of color, you'll create paintings that look the way you imagine them.
We'll begin with basic color mixing, and add more complexity with each class. We'll cover values, saturation, color wheels, triads, complements, and more.
Start collecting references now, and please print a few to bring to class. References can include your own paintings, studies, photos, and ephemera that contain colors you love (fabric, magazine clippings, postcards, objects, etc.) It's best if you use your own photographs, so the work is entirely of your creation, which is what everyone wants to see and admire!
If you're new to watercolor, there's an intro class where you'll learn about materials and basic techniques to get comfortable before we begin.
If you want to geek-out on the subject prior to class, read Walter Sargent's 1924 book: The Enjoyment and use of Color.
Please bring 100% Rag Cold Press, 140-pound watercolor paper. Anything of less quality will not be suitable and will make you sad. Paper will be available for purchase. Please take a look at the materials list in advance of the class because not everything is available locally.

Scale Up!
Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm (2025)
Cazenovia, NY
Tuesdays, 9:30am-12:00 noon
May 6th
May 13th
May 20th
May 27th
Ages/Skill Level: Adults of all skill levels - beginners welcome
Cost: $150.00 - Participants are expected to bring these supplies (PDF)
Register Here
If you're curious how to get started PAINTING BIG in watercolors, try it out during this 4-week class so you can see what it feels like.
-
We will work on large sheets of paper (22" x 30").
-
Each class will begin with a demo, followed by time spent painting. Individual help and instruction are part of the class.
-
Start collecting ideas now (photo references, sketches, or studies) and bring them to class.
-
Look over the materials list ahead of time in case something needs to be ordered online. The quality of the paper is very important to the kind of painting we will do – there will be a supply of paper available during class for $8.50.
-
Mounting boards will be made available to you. Bring some ideas and your biggest brushes and large mixing trays.

Watercolor: Four Different Approaches
Thursday Evenings, 6:30 -9 pm (2025)
Cazenovia, NY
May 1st
May 8th
May 15th
May 29th
This is an amazing art space! Come enjoy it and paint with me.
Ages/Skill Level: Adults of all skill levels - beginners welcome
Cost: $150.00 - Participants are expected to bring these supplies (PDF)
Register Here
Four Ways to Begin a Painting - How to begin?
There is no "one way" to paint.
This course will introduce four different ways to approach a watercolor painting, providing you hands-on experience with different methods. Painting in different ways will give you the feel of the techniques so you'll understand how to start any painting.
Each class will begin with a demo that focuses on one of the methods, followed by time spent painting. Individual help and instruction are part of the class.
Start collecting ideas now (photo references, sketches, or studies) and bring them to class. Please note that for most sessions, it would be best to prepare a detailed drawing to bring to class.
Look over the materials list ahead of time in case something needs to be ordered online. The quality of the paper is very important to the kind of painting we will do – there will be a supply of paper available during class for $2.25 per 11x15" sheet.
The four methods we will cover:
1. Follow the Bead and Pull the Puddle
2. Precision
3. Layers
4. Wet-In-Wet with Negative Painting

Caz Arts Class at Carpenter's Barn
Watercolor: Six Different Approaches
Thursdays, 9:30 am to noon (2025)
Cazenovia, NY
March 11
March 18
March 25
April 1
April 8
April 22
This is an amazing art space! Come enjoy it and paint with me.
Ages/Skill Level: Adults of all skill levels; however, beginners are encouraged to take the introductory workshop on Saturday, March 8.
Cost:$185 - Participants are expected to bring these supplies.
There is no "one way" to paint. This course will introduce six different ways to approach a watercolor painting, providing you hands-on experience with different methods. Painting in different ways will give you the feel of the techniques so you'll understand how to start any painting.
Each class will begin with a demo that focuses on one of the methods, followed by time spent painting. Individual help and instruction are part of the class.
Start collecting ideas now (photo references, sketches, or studies) and bring them to class. Please note that for sessions 2-5, it would be best to prepare a detailed drawing to bring to class.
Look over the materials list ahead of time in case something needs to be ordered online. The quality of the paper is very important to the kind of painting we will do – there will be some sheets available at class for $2.25.
The six methods we will cover:
-
White Paper With Expressive Brush Strokes
-
Follow the Bead and Pull the Puddle
-
Control
-
Layers
-
Abstract with Realistic Focal Point
-
Wet-in-wet With Negative Painting


Introduction to Watercolors
Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm (2025)
Cazenovia, NY
March 8, 2025
Ages/Skill Level: Adults of all skill levels
Cost:$65 - Participants are expected to bring these supplies.
Get familiar with materials and basic techniques of watercolor painting. The end goal is to enjoy the time spent discovering and painting, and to gain enough know-how to paint with confidence on your own or as a good primer to take a more advanced class.
We will review watercolor materials, color mixing, and several essential techniques. Bring snacks for a lunch break at noon.
Please review the materials list in advance because not everything is available locally. The kind of paper we will use is very important – there will be some sheets available at class for $2.25.
Cazenovia Counterpoint Invitational Art Exhibition 2022| July 1 to July 30
St Peter's Church | 12 Mill St, Cazenovia, NY 13035
20 East | 85 Albany St, Cazenovia, NY 13035
25th season of the festival of expressive arts by The Society of New Music.
In Nature |July 1 to August 12, 2022
Monarchs, Milkweeds, and Roses at the Edgewood Gallery in Syracuse, NY.
I was so honored to have a show there, and also that my paintings are in the company of gorgeous ceramic pieces by Jen Gandee and extraordinary bead work by my mother, Magdeleine Wellner.
216 Tecumseh Rd, Syracuse, NY 13224
Tuesday - Friday | 9:30 am - 6 pm
Saturday | 10 am - 2 pm
Sunday & Monday | closed

Cazenovia Counterpoint Invitational Art Exhibition 2022|July 2 to July 30
Cazenovia, NY
All exhibitions and receptions at the Cazenovia College Art Gallery are free, open to the public, and handicapped accessible. Cazenovia Counterpoint is presented by Society for New Music -24th year. Shown at The Cazenovia College Art Gallery in Reisman Hall 6 Sullivan St., Cazenovia, NY
Solar Painting 2018
click on the image for more photos
Overlays of plants, paper cutouts, and transparencies on solar-activated dye
The summer was spent Solar Painting -- working with sun-activated dyes.
Flowers, leaves, transparencies, negatives, and paper cut into intricate shapes were all used to create layers of shapes and tonalities.They were placed on top of paper that had been painted with solar activated dye. All of it was put in the sun to develop into fascinating images.
Every piece was surprising when the layers were peeled off, revealing the results of Central New York's combination of unpredictable sun, clouds, haze, wind, and shadows of trees.
The more I worked with it, the more possibilities seem to crop up, including holiday cards.
Check out this article about Cyanotypes from the 1800's.