Your instructor, Chris Toy is the author of 6 popular cookbooks, a private chef, and has taught Asian-fusion cooking for several Maine community education programs. Cooking students will learn how to prepare a variety of recipes from Asia, Europe, and the Americas incorporating traditional and local ingredients. Each meal will actively engage cooks with the tools, techniques, and stories behind the dishes being created.

An award-winning Grand Victorian sea captain's home, The Homeport Inn and Tavern has 9 private suites tastefully updated with comfortable furnishings.  There is live music each evening in the tavern. 

The $495 tuition includes all lunches and dinners (beverages can be purchased through the tavern). Specially discounted rates including breakfasts, are available by contacting the Inn. 

Feedback from recent participants: 

“I learned so much from Chris that I can use immediately at home in my own kitchen"  "Great kitchen hints!'

Your instructor, Mary Laury is an accomplished watercolorist and highly esteemed teacher. She encourages all her students to believe they can be successful. Painting is an exciting medium; it flows and moves and does beautiful things. If you have never painted in watercolors, we will start at the beginning. If you have painted before, you will pick up some new tips and tricks as well. We all learn together!  

An award-winning Grand Victorian sea captain's home, The Homeport Inn and Tavern has 9 private suites tastefully updated with comfortable furnishings.  There is live music each evening in the tavern. 

The $495 tuition includes all lunches and dinners (beverages can be purchased through the tavern). Specially discounted rates including breakfasts, are available by contacting the Inn. 

Feedback from recent participants: 

“Great instructor!-Mary acts as a guide to develop our own style."  "Easy, no stress instruction." 

If you're a photographer who would like to make a difference in your community, then this meeting might be right for you. Join George Blumenshein to discuss ways to make this happen. He participated in just such a program out west and would like to brainstorm with local folks to explore the possibility of doing the same in our community. Taking portraits of homeless families, and shelter animals looking for placement are examples of projects done elsewhere.  This is an in-person class.

George Blumenschein Sr., a landscape photography veteran with over 20 years of expertise, skillfully captures the world's beauty through his seasoned lens. His images, frozen moments in time, transport viewers to awe-inspiring landscapes, showcasing a deep appreciation for nature's wonders.

If you have painted in watercolors before and want to jump to the next level while painting with a supportive group to go deeper into your work, we will paint and discuss the works developed in the class to ask questions and share thoughts. Composition, value study, and texture will be discussed. This class will include painting from references of places you love, some still life work from your own keepsakes, and perhaps painting outside when the weather permits. This is an in-person class; makeup class, if needed, 01/28/25.

Watercolor Materials list available here soon. 

Mary Laury served as the founding Executive Director of Schoodic Arts for All, an award-winning non-profit organization celebrating the arts and culture in Downeast Maine for over 20 years. The botanical subjects and dynamic nature of Maine are Mary's passions. An experienced teacher, she has taught painting and drawing in classrooms and in the field for many programs throughout her career, and has been recognized for her work by the Maine Arts Commission.