After her marriage to Bill Muller of Des Moines, she began to pursue her art when their youngest of 5 children entered school. While studying with Dimitar Krustev in Des Moines she began teaching art to help augment the family income. This in turn became a career coupled with her painting. Drawing about 1000 portraits in art festivals and fairs, studying with Robert Brackman in Connecticut, teaching watercolor at the Des Moines Art Center, being represented by several art galleries, and travelling in Mexico and Europe on painting trips has given her a full life and wonderful experiences.

Portrait commissions have become her major painting activity, while she struggles to work in as much landscape as possible. Teaching workshops in Iowa and other states, and entering local and national art competitions has allowed her to earn some awards and success in and beyond Iowa. Her volunteer efforts have centered around the teaching and development of art to inmates at the Mitchellville prison.

Mary welcomes you to one of the greatest wine producing regions of the world and a province known for its art treasures and hill top chateaux. We will stay in Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy and centrally located in the magical Cote d'Or. Beaune is famous for its numerous wine cellars, great restaurants and cafes, its 15th century "hospices" and masterpieces of Flemish-Burgundian architecture.

We'll visit the chateau of Gevrey-Chambertin located between Dijon and Nuits-Saint-Georges where we will paint in the vineyards of this 1000 year old chateau, take a tour or their cellars and taste some of their special grand cru and premier cru wines. We will be visiting a variety of locations discovering many of the profound cultural and gastronomic charms Dijon has to offer and the mountaintop villages of Chateuneuf-en-Auxois - home of some great views and even greater Boeuf Bourguignon.

We are lodging only a 5 minute walk into the center of the town of Beaune at the recently renovated Hotel Henri II.

The Marché aux Vins is in the center of Beaune and is the best way to sample many of the impressive wines of Burgundy. You pay around $12 for a wine-tasting cup (yours to keep) and get 45 minutes to sip, although the time limit is rarely enforced — especially if you look like a serious buyer. Plunge into the labyrinth of candlelit caves dotted with 18 barrels, each offering a new tasting experience.

Buses take us to the variety of painting locations we have chosen. Dinners will be in Beaune where we'll have a nice selection of some of the region's famous gastronomy. There's nothing like a meal of Boeuf Bourguinon accompanied by a hearty Burgundy wine to give you a taste of the very heart and spirit of this fabulous region! I'll be coordinating our travel plans and helping you to arrange air travel.

Your tour leaders are John and Barbara Lencicki. They are long time francophiles and have helped run numerous trips for me in France.