Meet the 2027 Artists: Three Live Panels on October 15 and 22, 2026 | Art Retreat in Italy
Choosing to book an art workshop in Sicily means choosing a teacher. At Sicily Artist Retreats, we want you to meet the artists before you commit, so we're opening our virtual doors for three live artist panels this October.
Each panel is a Zoom conversation with the artists leading our 2027 retreats. You'll hear how they paint, what they love about teaching, and what a week with them looks like. There's time at the end for your questions, and every panel is free and open to everyone.
Panel 1: Thursday, October 15
4:00 PM PDT / 5:00 PM MDT / 7:00 PM EDT
Our first panel brings together three instructors from the 2027 season, two working in oil portraiture and one in plein air pastel.
Manu Saluja is a figurative and portrait painter who has taught on the painting faculty at the New York Academy of Art for more than ten years. She won the 2019 BP Portrait Travel Award, and her work has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Her workshop (June 28 to July 4, 2027) explores painting skin across a range of tones, working from three live models.
Amanda Houston is an impressionist painter known for luminous pastel landscapes. She is a Master's Circle member of the International Association of Pastel Societies, and she spent nearly two decades as a designer at Nike and L.L. Bean before painting full-time. Her warm teaching style invites artists to paint the mood of a place. Her workshop runs September 19 to 25, 2027.
Kamille Corry is a realist figurative and plein air painter who trained in Florence and now paints between Salt Lake City and Florence. Her work has earned several international awards. Her workshop (October 5 to 11, 2027) brings a live model into the Sicilian landscape.
Panel 2: Thursday, October 22 (AUS / INDIA)
9:30 AM UK | 2:00 PM India | 6:30 PM Australia (4:30 AM EDT)
This session is scheduled for our friends in Australia and India, and open to everyone. If you're an early riser, or you're joining from the other side of the world, this one is for you. Join Lyn and Nitin for a relaxed conversation about their teaching and their paintings.
Lyn Diefenbach is an internationally acclaimed painter of florals, portraits, and landscapes in pastel and oil, with a career of over three decades and IAPS Eminent Pastellist status. Her workshop (May 1 to 7, 2027) combines plein air pastel, travel journaling, and studio practice.
Nitin Singh is an internationally exhibited watercolor artist known for loose, expressive plein air paintings of everyday life. He teaches through observation, simplification, and confident brushwork. His workshop runs October 18 to 24, 2027.
Panel 3: Thursday, October 22, 7:00 PM EDT
Ellen Eagle, Diana Buitrago, and Devin Cecil
Our evening panel gathers three artists for one conversation about their practice, their process, and what they're looking forward to in 2027. Diana joined us as our inaugural artist-in-residence, so she has plenty to share about what it's like to paint and teach with Sicily Artist Retreats.
Ellen Eagle is one of America's most respected pastel portrait artists, a Master Pastelist of the Pastel Society of America and its 2024 Hall of Fame honoree. She is the author of Pastel Painting Atelier, and her portraits are in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Her workshop runs September 26 to October 2, 2027.
Diana Buitrago is a Colombian-born, New York-based landscape painter in oils. She is a core instructor at Grand Central Atelier and teaches at the Art Students League of New York. Her plein air workshop (May 18 to 24, 2027) focuses on simplifying changing light.
Devin Cecil-Wishing is a core instructor at New York's Grand Central Atelier. He paints from life in the spirit of Dutch and Flemish Baroque, using historical pigments. His workshop (May 10 to 16, 2027) is on the Flemish still life.
How the panels work
All three panels run live on Zoom. Register once for each session you'd like to attend, bring your questions, and join from wherever you are. If you can't make a session live, register anyway and we'll send you the recording.
Ready to find the teacher for your art retreat in Italy?
Whether you're thinking about a week of portraiture, plein air, or something new, these conversations are a friendly way to get to know the artists behind the workshops. We'd love to see you there.
Sicily Artist Retreats hosts week-long, immersive art retreat in Italy. Come paint with us.
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