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PAINTING THE GREEN HEART OF ITALY: UMBRIA! with Nancie King Mertz
Nancie’s goal, as an instructor, is to help you create dramatic, expressive paintings. Examine space, perspective, and design through practical hands-on lessons that help you build confidence.
While the villages and villas located in one of Italy’s most picturesque regions provide the perfect point of interest in landscape work, the drawing must be right to create successful paintings, and through demos and one-on-one instruction, Nancie will help you achieve that quickly and reliably.
Nancie will begin each day with a demonstration offering her techniques and sharing pointers on perspective and composition. Students may observe or paint along. Thereafter, Nancie will assist students one-on-one as they paint during the day on location or in the studio, stressing individual attention rather than group lecture. Depending on your comfort and skill level, you can expect to complete one or two paintings each day.
All mediums are welcome in this workshop, however Nancie’s go-to for plein air is soft pastel. It’s easy to travel with and results are immediate, so it will be her medium of choice for the demos she offers. Nancie has had many years of experience with oil and watercolor too, so she can help painters if other mediums are their choice!
About Nancie
Nancie King Mertz, has spent her lifetime painting in oil & pastel. In 2025 she was awarded the highest distinction by the Pastel Society of America: 2025 Hall of Fame Honoree!
Her past awards include the Master Circle by International Association of Pastel Societies, Eminent Pastelist in 2018, and is a Master Signature member of Pastel Society of America & Chicago Pastel Painters. She juries & teaches workshops across the US and internationally and is on the faculty for the Plein Air Convention and the IAPS Convention. She was a 3 year Instructor of Art at Eastern IL University where she received her MA in Painting after completing her BFA in Painting at the University of IL. Her pastels are included in exhibits in the Butler Museum and museums in China and France.
Mertz has traveled to nearly 20 countries and around the US for inspiration, however, Chicago remains her favorite city to explore and paint, where she was twice named “Artist of the Year”. See her work on many of the Chicago-themed TV shows such as The Good Wife & Chicago Fire.
Nancie produces approximately 150 paintings each year, predominately plein air (on-site). Her work was featured on the cover of Pastel Journal in Feb. 2015, along with a 7 page article, and was a feature article in Plein Air Magazine in 2016 & 2018. She has won numerous painting awards, and has an Urban Set and Atmospheric Landscape Set of pastels and products in her name on Amazon. Liliedahl offers her instructional pastel videos.
Her husband, Ron, published her sold originals in Giclee prints & cards and together they owned ArtDeTriumph, 905 Ridgewood Rd, Rockford, IL until his passing in 2024. They moved their busy gallery and frame shop from Chicago to Rockford in May 2021 to open an immersive Learning Center, inspired in part by the wonderful experiences at La Romita! Nancie continues to run both the shop and their Learning Center.
As La Romita School caters to multiple levels of instruction and various forms of the arts, prices will vary by session, season, instructor, and offerings.