Workshops - Leslie Fehling - Everyday Artist

One thing I enjoy almost as much as painting is sharing my love of watercolors and sketchbook journaling with others. My classes are packed with information and inspiration, and I hope my enthusiasm and organized approach to teaching helps all of my students to move ahead on their creative journey. Check the listings below for scheduled classes and workshops. If you’d like to schedule a class in your area, I’d love to talk with you. Just drop me a note via email.

US Workshops

Find Your Flow:
Sketching with Intention, Confidence, and Joy

April 22-26, 2024

5-day workshop at Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, Boone, NC

We’ve all felt it, those rare moments when we’re fully immersed and focused on what we’re doing, so absorbed in the sketching process that we lose all track of time. When we’re in the flow, work feels like play as we draw and paint with effortless confidence. So, how do we make those moments a regular part of our creative practice? Let me show you how in this five-day workshop filled with practical ways to make sketching more fulfilling, satisfying, and fun.

Day 1 starts with a series of quick no-stress warm-up exercises, using a variety of materials and sketching techniques to get your creative juices flowing. Then we’ll move on to designing uniquely personal sketchbook pages using my varied project ideas. You’ll be encouraged to set intentions at the start of every project to make the process flow more smoothly and help you accomplish measurable goals with every sketch. We’ll combine exciting page layouts, border options, and hand-drawn lettering to make one-of-a-kind sketches, and I’ll be there every step of the way with help and encouragement to ease you over the challenging spots. I’ll also offer drawing, watercolor, and lettering demonstrations to clarify and expand on each info-packed lesson. As a bonus, all of the great ideas you learn in class will be included in a comprehensive full-color spiral-bound class handbook that will keep things fresh in your mind long after the workshop ends.

Approaching the sketchbook page with mindful intention is a game-changer! It will help you to find your flow and sketch with confidence, so you can more fully enjoy drawing and painting the world around you.

Registration: Register on the Cheap Joe’s website. Questions? Email Meghann Williams, workshop coordinator, at meghann@cheapjoes.com.

FYI: Workshop pricing includes a catered lunch Monday-Thursday. A special hotel rate for students has been arranged through Holiday Inn Express in Boone, with breakfast included.

Sketching & Journaling in Santa Fe

May 4-9, 2025 (only 1 spot left!)

5-day workshop with French Escapade in Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe has a rich cultural history that dates back centuries. It has long been a center for the arts and is even recognized as a “UNESCO Creative City”. Could there be any more perfect place for an art workshop?

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains make a beautiful backdrop for this town filled with historic adobe buildings, colorful markets, and world-class restaurants. There’s so much to sketch in the city itself: bright blue doors, red hot chili peppers drying against adobe walls, and the distinctive regional architecture.

We’ll have a spacious studio at our hotel where I will teach lessons each day on drawing, watercolor, page design, and lettering. I’ll even show you some lettering styles that will fit well with a southwestern-themed travel journal. During our five days together, we’ll enjoy the amazing food that Santa Fe is famous for, and have a chance to browse shops selling local art and handicrafts. We’ll have an opportunity to visit the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and gain insight into the life and work of this reknowned artist. We’ll also visit historic sites in the city itself.

Small group workshops like this one offer a chance to get to know each other on a personal level. I get the nicest people on my workshop trips, so don’t worry about coming by yourself. I promise you will make new friends and have the time of your life! It’s the very best way to travel. My friends at French Escapade will take care of all the details – all you need to do is relax and enjoy all that Santa Fe has to offer.

Registration: Read more and register on the French Escapade website. Questions? Email Jackie at French Escapade or Leslie.

Illustrated Nature Journaling

May 7 - 14 - 21 - 28, 2024

July 1 - 8 - 15 - 29, 2024

4-week class at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA

Join me this spring for a look into the world of illustrated nature journaling. In this 4-week class, I’ll share inspiring examples from my own watercolor sketchbooks and offer ideas for creating a nature journal of your own. Then you’ll dive right in and construct an accordion-fold nature journal from watercolor paper and begin filling it with colorful sketches drawn on location at Phipps. Nature journaling offers a simple way to press the “Pause” button on our busy modern lives and reconnect with nature. It can help you to see your everyday world with new eyes.

Registration: Read more and register on the Phipps Conservatory website: May classes, July classes

European Workshops

An art workshop tour offers a fun, safe, and easy way to see Europe. All the logistics are taken care of for you on my European sketching trips, and the itineraries include the perfect balance of time spent painting, touring, shopping, and just plain relaxing. The destinations I have chosen for my workshops are places with incredible scenic beauty, a rich cultural and historical heritage, wonderful food and wine, phenomenal shopping, and friendly people who love American visitors. I hope you’ll join me on a European sketching adventure soon!

Sketching in the Cotswolds

June 10-18, 2024 (full - wait list)

& June 18-26, 2024 (full - wait list)

8 nights in Bourton-on-the-Water, Cotswolds, England

For workshop information, click here.
Email Leslie to check availability & register.

Illustrated Watercolor Journaling in Provence

September 14-21, 2024 (only 1 spot left!)

7 nights in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, France

Read all about this painting tour here. For workshop information & to register, click here.

Watercolor Sketching in Giverny

August 30 - September 6, 2025

7 nights near Giverny, France

For workshop information & to register, click here.

I’m Leslie. A painter, teacher, and lover of all things creative. A sketchbook artist who captures everyday life on the pages of my illustrated journals. I love sharing, connecting, and encouraging people to find their creative voice through sketchbook journaling. Read more about me, my art, and my life HERE.