Don Andrews, Fairhope’s master watercolor artist, instructor, and author, during most months of the year, travels to far-flung corners of the world conducting painting workshops for eager students. During mid-January, however, Andrews stayed home and the students came to him at Bay Rivers Art Guild (BRAG), located just behind City Hall in Daphne.

BRAG regularly offers classes, exhibits, competitions, and summer camps for the Baldwin County community. But as Marilyn Ammons, President of BRAG, points out, this workshop was attended by a much broader audience; students from six states were enrolled. She said that “BRAG was delighted to have sponsored Andrews’ five-day workshop, ‘Interpreting the Figure in the Landscape.’”

A native of Mobile, Andrews is a graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design. He has authored articles in magazines, sections of books, and in his own books “Interpreting the Figure in Watercolor,” and “Interpreting the Landscape in Watercolor.” Andrews has produced several instructional DVDs and has written “Rough Sketches,” a collection of short stories based on his thirty-years’ experience as a workshop instructor. An active participant and former board member of the American Watercolor Society (AWS), he is the recipient of several prestigious AWS awards as well as many additional regional and national awards.

A top-echelon instructor like Andrews attracts veteran painters who are willing to travel long distances to participate in workshops. Several members of this class rented a house in Point Clear for the week of the workshop so that they could continue watercolor shop talk long after the daily classes ended.

Workshop participants Linda Baggett of Northport, AL, Sue Stubaug of Lakebay, WA and Virginia Howard of Metaire, LA, first met ten years ago at a watercolor workshop in Sedona, Arizona. Howard explained that they determined to keep their friendship alive by linking it with their desire to study watercolor attending workshops around the country each year. Over the years, more friends have been added to the group so that this year, eleven of the students in Andrews’ workshop came from Alabama, Washington, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

The Andrews class was the overwhelming workshop choice this year. Virginia Howard stated that while the quality of the instructor the was most important factor in the selection, opportunities for having a good time and enjoying each other’s company also ranked high in the choice of a workshop. The group has fond memories of a stay at St. George Island, Florida, when a few husbands accompanied them and did the cooking while the ladies painted. No husbands came along this year, so the group has enjoyed area restaurants, shopping, and reveled in the beauty of Mobile Bay sunsets.

“Since the arts are an important part of the cultural environment of Baldwin County,” said Ammons, “this workshop enabled BRAG to give something back to the community.” She noted that workshops like this not only spread the favorable news about Daphne and Point Clear—the whole Eastern Shores—as great destination places for art workshops and also contribute to the area economy.

The workshop students headed home with fond memories of the Alabama Gulf Coast. As for Andrews, he will soon leave his Fairhope home for journeys to Florida, Texas, Hawaii, and Guatemala where more workshops and more eager students await him.

Curt line: