ALONSA GUEVERA: FRACTALS OF MEMORY: WORLD BUILDING THROUGH LANDSCAPE PAINTING

Alonsa Guevara is a Chilean-born, Los Angeles–based painter known for her vibrant, imaginative works that weave together figures, nature, and dreamlike elements. Her paintings often blur the line between reality and fantasy, drawing inspiration from personal memory, cultural heritage, and the natural world. A graduate of the New York Academy of Art, she has exhibited internationally and received residencies and awards that support her ever-evolving practice.

Primarily a painter, Guevara also works across sculpture, installation, sound, and video performance, creating immersive environments that invite viewers into worlds both familiar and otherworldly.

She holds an MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art (2014) and a BFA from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (2009). Her achievements include the Muralist Award for LAMI & San Pedro Waterfront Arts District (San Pedro, CA), the Tashkeel Art Residency (Dubai), the Eric Fischl ’66 Artist-in-Residence Teaching Program (USA), the NYAA Fellowship Award, and the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant.

Guevara’s work has been featured in Forbes, Time Out NYC, VICE, and The National News (UAE), and exhibited internationally at institutions such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), Southampton Arts Center (New York), Cheng Xi Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, China), and the Museum of Visual Arts (Santiago, Chile). Her most recent solo exhibition, Counting Leaves (2023), was presented at Tashkeel Gallery Alserkal in Dubai.

Your Week in Sicily With Alonsa

In Sicily, Alonsa will share her creative approach in a welcoming and inspiring setting. You’ll spend significant time working together in a professionally equipped studio, where participants can dive deeply into their own projects with guidance and feedback. Balanced with this focused studio time, the workshop also includes group discussions and excursions that take us into the island’s stunning landscapes and lively culture. Alonsa will encourage participants to experiment, take risks, and discover their own unique visual language while soaking in the beauty, history, and rhythms of Mediterranean life.

Overview

• Arrival: Sunday, September 28th, 2025 with Orientation and Welcome Dinner in the evening.

• Studio days: Monday, September 29th - Friday, October 3rd, with Farewell Dinner on Friday evening.

• Checkout/Departure: morning of Saturday, October 4th.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (except on Wednesdays; the hotel's restaurant is closed)

• How to Reach Us: Pickup from Palermo (PMO) airport See our pickup policy

• Materials needed for the workshop: Oil paint, acrylic paint, brushes, primed surfaces.   

• What we provide: solvent, medium, rags, brush soap, studio easels, support boards, sandpaper, pencil sharpener, kneaded eraser, chalk, palette knives, and jars at no additional cost.  Please see these provided items.

• Rentals: Sicily Artist Retreats provides Paint Pass and Plein Air Kit rentals.  You are welcome to bring your own materials or rent ours. Paint Pass gives you unlimited use of paint for a flat fee. Plein Air Kits provide equipment for the field.  

• Purchases: In addition, painting surfaces (like paper and linen) are available onsite to purchase.

• Rental Car: Car rental is not necessary but recommended if you'd like to explore the area after class.

  
  

Workshop Details

This workshop focuses on world-building through painting, blending landscape and imagination to create rich, layered compositions. Using both acrylic and oil, we’ll explore techniques for seamlessly combining these mediums while incorporating classical oil painting methods. Students will paint from life in plein air sessions and work from photographs, using nature as a foundation for personal storytelling. Through guided exercises, we’ll unlock creativity and connect with internal narratives while exploring oil painting techniques such as wipe-out drawing, Alla Prima methods, and glazing. The workshop emphasizes the process of image-making, capturing the textures of nature through varied techniques. Students will develop a strong understanding of color theory, value structure, and composition. With live demonstrations and personalized instruction, each participant will receive the guidance needed to strengthen their skills and bring their artistic vision to life.

Daily Itinerary

Arrival Day (September 28):

• Morning pick-up from the Palermo Airport

• Check in at Baitan begins at 10AM

• Orientation at Sicily Artist Retreats Studio

• Welcome Dinner at DeVita Restaurant

Day 1 (Sept 29):

• Breakfast

• Welcome and introduction at the studio  

• Discussion on personal artistic journeys and storytelling through painting.  ⁃ Surface preparation: applying gesso and acrylic.  

• If time permits, we will do a Small Painting Exercise in acrylic and oil: Monochromatic painting.

• Transparent vs. opaque, warm-up exercise to connect with others and oneself.  ⁃ Clean up  

• Lunch break at studio  

• Afternoon Transfer to the Via Del Vento seaside park

• Small Painting Exercise in acrylic and oil: Grass painting, wipe-out technique: temperature  and value structures.  

• Group reflection.  

• Transfer to hotel  

• Dinner Baitan

Day 2 (Sept 30):

• Breakfast

• Transfer to Segesta  Archeological Park

• Class begins with group reflection on artistic identity and creative blocks.  

• Guided meditation to connect with subconscious imagery.  

• Drawing Exercise: Drawing from memory.  

• Introduction to using photographs as references and integrating memory into painting. 

• Small Painting Exercise in acrylic and oil: Sky, ground and something else. 

• Lunch break at Segesta

• Return to studio to paint: Introduction to oil glazing techniques on top of acrylic.  

• Group discussion.  

• Clean up  

• Optional Sunset Aperitif  

• Dinner Baitan  

Day 3 (October 1):

• Breakfast  

• Transfer to Trapani, to the Medieval mountain town of Erice

• Class begins  

• Drawing Exercise: Plein air sketching through thumbnail drawings.  

• Creating dynamic compositions with movement and balance.  

• Beginning of Final Painting Exercise: Acrylic composition.  

• Lunch break at Erice.

• Continue Painting in Erice for the afternoon.

• Continue Final Painting Exercise: Plein air oil painting, value structure to create form.  Group discussion.  

• Clean up and transfer to Marsala

• Dinner Baitan  

  
  

Day 4 (October 2)

• Breakfast  

• Transfer to the Stagnone Lagoon to view the Egadi Islands and visit the Ettore Infersa Salt Flats.

• Return to studio  

• Class begins:  

• Final painting exercise continues, incorporating symbolism and narrative elements.  We will search for elements in nature and photographs.  

• Lunch break at studio  

• Afternoon class resumes at studio 

• Clean up  

• Optional sunset aperitif

• Dinner at Baitan

Day 5 (Oct 3):

• Breakfast 

• Transfer to Studio  

• Class begins  

• Final Painting Exercise Continues: highlights, contrast and final details.  

• Lunch break  at studio

• Class resumes:  

• Group critique and discussion.  

• Reflection about how personal experiences manifest in the work. Sharing artistic  discoveries and future directions.  

• Clean up  

• Farewell event--wine tasting at Donna Franca

• Dinner at Baitan 

ALONSA'S MATERIALS LIST 

Alonsa Guevara www.alonsaguevara.com alonsa@gmail.com

• For Small Painting Exercise: Mix Media Paper Pad, 9 x 12 inches (160 gsm or more). We will

use at least 3 sheets of paper.

For Final Painting Exercise: Canvas or panel, 16 x 20 inches.

• Brushes: this is a suggested list, you can bring the brushes that you feel comfortable with.

- Bristle brushes (Filbert or Brights) number 10, 16

- Synthetic soft brushes (Filbert or Brights) number 2, 4, 6, 8,12, 20

- Two Small Synthetic soft brush (Round) number 2 or smaller.

- One Flat Wash brush around 2 inches (to prepare the canvas).

• Oil Paints (Gamblin recommended)

- Titanium White

- Cadmium Yellow Medium

- Hansa Yellow Light

- Cadmium Red Light

- Quinacridone red

- Permanet Alizarin Crimson

- Ultramarine Blue

- Phthalo Blue

- Sap Green

- Transparent Earth Orange

- Burnt Umber

• Acrylic Paints

- Acrylic White Gesso (I recommend Golden or Liquitex acrylic gesso)

- Ultramarine Blue

- Primary Yellow or Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue

- Quinacridone Red

- Burnt Umber

- Titanium White

• Other Supplies (Starred items are available at Sicily Artist Retreats Studio)

- *Palette (wooden, paper or plexiglass)

- *Palette knife small

- *Linseed Oil

- *Medium holder (small cup)

- *Rags (available at hardware store) or old cotton shirts to use to wipe out.

-For drawing: Black ballpoint or ink pen, any pencil, and eraser.

-For Drawing Exercises: Sketchbook, any medium portable size around 7 x 10 in (18 x 25 cm).

- *3M Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape or Frog tape (green or yellow tape).

WHAT'S INCLUDED

For your convenience, essential materials for the workshop are available for rental or purchase to facilitate your travel. In addition, you'll enjoy several excursions to gorgeous local sites during the week.

Refreshments are available during studio breaks.  Delicious home-cooked farm-to-table lunches are provided on studio days.  Box lunches are provided on most excursions.  Dinners are provided at the hotel except on Wednesdays (when the hotel's restaurant is closed). You will have the option to eat at a local restaurant or pizzeria with Alonsa and other participants on this day.  This dinner is not included. .

ACCOMMODATION

You will be staying at Baitan, a boutique hotel along the Stagnone Lagoonin the historic Contrada Spagnola, just minutes from Sicily Artist Retreats' studio. Baitan is one of the newest boutique resorts in Marsala. Family-owned, it prides itself on its warm, attentive service, cocktail bar, wine cellar, and restaurant.

We also like Baitan’s respect for tradition: the architecture is Sicilian vernacular, like the centuries-old building around it, and the name itself comes from Marsala’s ancient Greek name, Lilybaitan. If you have free time during your workshop, and crave something more active than an Aperol spritz by the water, Baitan’s staff will be happy to arrange a kitesurf lesson or a guided horseback ride for you.

You’ll be right on Marsala’s new scenic bikepath, which takes you past the salt flats and vineyards of the Stagnone lagoon to the Bay of the Phoenicians, where cactus grows half in the water and half on the rocks, and violets and pine needles line the asphalt. Take a sketchpad in your backpack!

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From start to finish you will enjoy the extraordinary cuisine of the region influenced by the unique flavors of the Mediterranean including garden-fresh vegetables, ancient grains, and seafood. Accommodations, daily ground transport and most meals are Included in your package, including a celebratory welcome dinner with Alonsa.