Larisa Anaya is a plein air watercolor artist based in Texas, USA. She has participated in numerous national and international watercolor and all-media exhibitions and events, where her work has received awards and professional recognition. She is a Signature Member of the Texas Watercolor Society.

Larisa is the founder of the Georgetown Plein Air Watercolor Artists Group, an organization dedicated to encouraging regular plein air painting and fostering artistic growth within the community. She also serves as the U.S. representative for Urbino in Acquerello, the annual international watercolor festival held in Italy.

Working exclusively in watercolor, Larisa embraces the immediacy and transparency of the medium. Painting outdoors requires both discipline and boldness — a willingness to commit fully to every wash. Her work reflects a deep appreciation for light, atmosphere, and the beauty found in everyday landscapes and urban scenes.

Sylvie Cesari has built her artistic identity around watercolor, a medium she has learned to master through a rigorous and independent self-taught journey that began five years ago. Drawing inspiration from the study of watercolor masters as well as advanced technical instruction, she has developed a practice in which theory continually informs experimentation.

In her studio, she favors cotton papers and extra-fine pigments to preserve the purity and vibrancy of her colors. Her technique often relies on wet-in-wet painting, a demanding approach that allows for delicate blends and transparent effects, creating soft, atmospheric compositions.

Sylvie Cesari’s work explores the boundary between representation and suggestion. Through her compositions, she seeks to capture simple emotions and create a sense of gentleness that invites the viewer to pause.

With their dreamlike quality, her paintings offer a moment suspended in time, inviting the viewer to experience the poetry of the present. Rather than revealing everything, Sylvie favors suggestion, leaving space for personal interpretation and imagination.

A passionate artist deeply committed to sharing her knowledge, Janine Gallizia has made watercolor the guiding thread of her artistic journey for more than twenty-five years. An internationally renowned artist, author and teacher, she shares her experience through her paintings, workshops and lectures, helping watercolor artists develop their own artistic vision.

Her teaching goes far beyond technical mastery. She encourages artists to observe, understand, make conscious choices and, above all, find their own artistic voice. Curious and generous in her approach, she enjoys bringing artists together and celebrating watercolor in all its diversity.

Co-founder of L’Art de l’Aquarelle / The Art of Watercolour magazine, Janine has spent many years promoting artists and sharing the richness and diversity of contemporary watercolor with a wide audience.

César Gordillo, a Mexican architect and watercolor artist, is known for his deep fascination with light and atmosphere. These elements transform each landscape into a unique sensory experience that goes beyond the simple representation of reality.

His approach to watercolor combines loose, expressive brushwork, painted alla prima, with a precise mastery of transparency. His work draws inspiration both from the Impressionist tradition and from the rich colors of urban and natural landscapes.

Throughout his career, César has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Mexico and internationally. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Alfredo Guati Rojo National Watercolor Museum, the Watercolor Museum of the State of Mexico, and the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

He is a two-time recipient of the Tlacuilo Trophy, awarded by the Mexican Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Museum. His work has also been featured in the international magazine The Art of Watercolour.

Even as a child, Lucien would draw to escape the boredom of school, which he left at the age of 14. Drawn to the visual arts, he went on to pursue artistic training at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg.

After completing his studies at the École Blot in Reims, he founded his own decorative arts business 25 years ago, L’Atelier du Peintre en Décors, specializing in the restoration of painted decoration and gilding.

Creativity has always remained an essential part of his life, whether through jewelry making, sketching, portraiture or painting.

Today, he continues to explore and refine his watercolor technique with great enthusiasm, finding both joy and inspiration in this demanding and expressive medium.

Founder of Les Rencontres de l’Aquarelle, Isabelle Lostis is a painter and watercolor artist. Through this project, she hopes to bring artists and watercolor enthusiasts together around a shared desire to discover, exchange ideas, and celebrate watercolor.

Her first encounter with the medium came at the age of 15, during an art class in which she reproduced a painting by Paul Cézanne. It was a true revelation. The fluidity of water, the transparency of pigments, and the dialogue with paper have fascinated her ever since.

From 2003 onwards, she developed her practice under the guidance of several artists before beginning to exhibit her work in Brittany, around Dinan, in 2022. In 2023, she joined Janine Gallizia’s Apprendre à exposer program and later took part, as part of the team, in organizing the international exhibition The Dawn of Impresionnism, held in Dinan in October 2025.

For Isabelle, watercolor is above all an adventure built on connections — with the medium, with other artists, and with the public. It is this belief that inspired her to create Les Rencontres de l’Aquarelle, a project where sharing, learning from one another, and inspiration lie at the heart of every encounter.

Claire Parker is a watercolor artist, ceramicist, general practitioner and, more recently, a travel sketchbook artist — several creative and professional paths that together form her own unique balance.

With a scientific background, she has always cultivated a keen eye for the world and the people around her. Over the past six years, she has found the time and space to devote herself more fully to her artistic passions.

In the summer of 2020, she took an online course with Janine Gallizia, which gave her the missing keys she needed to truly flourish as an artist.

Her work was soon selected for major watercolor exhibitions and festivals, including Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, Aquareliège and Fabriano in Acquarello.

In 2026, her work received the Sennelier Prize at the Caussade exhibition and the Travel Sketchbook Prize at the Aubigné exhibition.

Sketching from life has gradually led her watercolor technique towards a freer, more joyful and spontaneous style — one that better reflects her personality. She is passionate about sharing her love of art with others, in a spirit of discovery, enjoyment and creativity.

From Pixels to Paintbrush

After more than eight years working as a 3D artist for Marvel, Netflix and Paramount, he felt the need to step away from the screen and reconnect with the physicality of traditional art.

He has carried the visual discipline developed through those years into his painting — a medium where every mark matters, each brushstroke is unique, and there is no “undo” button.

Back to His Roots

Originally from Perros-Guirec, in the heart of Brittany’s Côtes-d’Armor, his career as a 3D artist took him from Dublin to Montreal, working on major international productions.

Today, he has chosen Dinan as the place to return to what truly matters. Painting Brittany is a way for him to reconnect with his roots after years spent abroad, and to capture through his brush the strength and raw poetry of the landscape he calls home.

Laurent has always placed the sharing of emotion at the heart of his creative journey. Although he began his career in a technical field, he first turned to music composition as a means of expression, laying the foundations for his artistic sensibility.

At the same time, the visual arts — a constant presence since childhood — gradually took on a greater role through his travels. His sketchbooks, filled during journeys alone or with his family, became his favorite space for experimentation. His work was first exhibited publicly in May 2025, in a joint exhibition with ceramic artist Marc De Vos.

Since then, Laurent has embraced a collaborative approach, seeing interaction and exchange between artists as an essential driving force behind his creativity.

It is through this spirit of exchange that he naturally brings together musical and visual composition. After taking part in around ten exhibitions, his constantly evolving style now explores movement and freedom. Combining the unpredictable nature of water with spontaneous brushwork, he offers a vision of watercolor that breaks free from convention.

His work draws on a wide range of influences, from the light of Turner and Sargent to the dreamlike worlds of Roger Dean, enriched by the guidance of contemporary masters such as Janine Gallizia, Adrien Coppola and Nicolas Lopez.

Through his paintings, Laurent reveals the poetry of the elements. He invites the viewer to experience his deep, instinctive connection with nature — sky, earth and water in all its forms — transforming the landscape into pure sensation.

Watercolour artist, teacher, interior architect and sketchbook artist

Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and with a deep love for France, Katerina Safantevskaia moved to Haute-Savoie in 2018, where she now lives.

A graduate of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, she worked for many years in Russia and abroad as an interior architect.

Since 2020, she has devoted more and more of her time to her passion for watercolour. Her work quickly gained recognition, with paintings selected for festivals and receiving several awards. She was soon invited to teach and now takes great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and expertise with her students and workshop participants.

An enthusiastic traveller, Katerina draws inspiration from nature, landscapes, scenes of everyday life and architecture, which she sees as endless sources of harmony. She particularly enjoys painting and sketching en plein air, a practice she considers invaluable for any artist.

Katerina is also a member of several prestigious art societies and organisations, including SBABB, ARL and the Eurasian Art Union.

A self-taught artist, Marie-Christine discovered watercolor in 2017. Since then, she has regularly studied with international watercolor artists to refine her technique and broaden her artistic approach.

In 2022, she began exhibiting her work in group exhibitions. The connections and exchanges with both visitors and fellow artists have since become an important part of her artistic growth.

Watercolor offers her a natural way to express the emotions inspired by nature and landscapes. In her work, she explores the transparency of color and the fluidity of water, allowing pigments to flow, blend and reveal the light. Rather than faithfully reproducing a subject, she seeks to capture and suggest its atmosphere.

A professional watercolor artist since October 2025, Marie-Christine also teaches the medium, guided by her belief that art is accessible to everyone. Sharing lies at the heart of her approach, and she encourages her students to discover and express their own creative impulse.

Marie-Christine also takes part in local and national exhibitions, as well as international watercolor events.

Site : www.mariechristinesergent.fr

Instagram : @mcsaquarelle

Facebook : Marie-Christine Sergent-Elain

Visual artist Martine Trellu lives and works near Rennes, in Brittany. After completing a Master’s degree in Visual Arts, she has devoted the past thirty years to teaching art to a wide range of audiences, through both regular classes and workshops held in various locations, including Oléron and the Loire Valley.

She first discovered watercolor during her travels abroad and went on to study with renowned watercolor artists including Cao Bei An, Eva Karpinska, Marc Folly, Eric Laurent and Claudio Bertona.

Martine has exhibited regularly throughout her career. Her exhibitions include Avis d’éclaircie and Chine in 2008, Escapades in 2011, L’Orangerie in 2012–2013 and 2017, and Portugal, impressions de voyages in 2014. She also exhibited as part of the French delegation at the international watercolor festival in Fabriano, Italy. In 2017, she presented two further exhibitions, Terres noires de Mars and Carnets de voyages.

In 2019, she was awarded First Prize by the town of Guidel at a watercolor exhibition. Together with her husband, Gilles Trellu, she presented Terres d’ombre in Montauban-de-Bretagne, followed by Jaune de Naples on the Île d’Arz in 2022. In May 2026, she was Guest of Honor at the Montgermont Watercolor Exhibition.

Her work has also appeared in several publications. She was featured alongside the Société des Aquarellistes de Bretagne in the September 2012 issue of L’Art de l’Aquarelle. Her watercolors can be found in three books published by Éditions Ouest-France in partnership with the Société des Aquarellistes de Bretagne: Le Tour de Bretagne à l’aquarelle (2009), Vestiges maritimes en Bretagne (2016) and Bretagne intérieur (2021).

As an artistic advisor, Martine is actively involved in organizing the Montgermont Watercolor Exhibition in collaboration with the town council.

Working as both a ceramicist and watercolor artist, she pays particular attention to texture: the grain of clay echoes the grain of paper. Her artistic practice is rooted in an exploration of material and color.

Claude Kiechel, known as Melka

Melka is a painter and a self-taught observer of art. Over the years, she has explored countless museums and exhibitions and immersed herself in art books. Above all, it was the drawings of Renaissance artists, Van Gogh and Picasso, the pastels of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, and the watercolors of Turner, Delacroix, Cézanne, John Singer Sargent, Egon Schiele and Zao Wou-Ki that awakened her desire to create.

These artists first led her towards drawing and pastel. From an early age, she was constantly sketching and experimenting with pencil. From 2017 to 2019, she attended life-drawing classes at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. She believes that a strong command of drawing is essential, while readily admitting that it remains an ongoing journey. For her, learning never stops.

She discovered watercolor in 2003 through a course with Janine Gallizia, and immediately found in it a sense of freedom. Watercolor is an unforgiving medium, yet one that fascinates her through its transparency and immediacy.

With every brushstroke, Melka strives to translate what her eyes perceive and the emotions she feels onto paper. Her artistic journey is an ongoing quest — one she continues to pursue with curiosity and passion.