Before our workshop started in Lecce, we stopped over in Milan. The weather ranged from brilliant sunshine to pouring rain which made getting around a little difficult. The upside was the city looked amazing with the heavy skies, reflections and scattered umbrellas.
From Milan we made our way to Lecce to meet all the people for the start of our painting workshop. Our hotel was just outside the walls of the old town so it was an easy walk in to paint, sketch and wander around.
Lecce – Monastery DoorLecce Cafe
We left Lecce and moved on to Matera – the oldest continuously inhabited settlement on the planet. Really interesting city with great shapes and textures to paint.
Matera Matera
From Matera we travelled to Polignano a Mare – a beautiful town perched on cliffs above the Adriatic. From Polignano we took day trips to Monopoli, Gallipoli and Alberobello to paint and sketch. We also visited a local vineyard and were treated to some beautiful wines and a wonderful, home cooked Italian meal.
The textures and colors of Italy have made it one of my favourite painting locations. We spent a few days in Florence before heading off to Tenuta di Sticciano, between Florence and San Gimignano, for an 8 day painting retreat. I had a small, enthusiastic group of artists, a spacious studio and beautiful surroundings right in the middle of some of the best Tuscan villages and landscapes.
Early morning light on the Ponte Vecchio is one of the treats of Florence
Florence Cathedral built in the 14th century without power tools, cranes, laser levels or computers – just a lot of hard working, skilled craftsmen with a hundred years to get the job done.
Plain air painting at Tenuta di Sticciano
Our chef spoiled us with some fantastic traditional wood fired Pizzas
The painting studio at Tenuta di Sticciano was a great room. It was good to be able to display everyones work on the last day and enjoy what we had achieved with a glass of local wine.
Beautiful Tuscan sunsets from our accommodation…
…and some heavy Tuscan fogs before the sun rose.
Hats off to Tori who managed to swim laps every morning – undaunted by fog and low temperatures!
We visited a number of wonderful Medieval Tuscan villages, sketching and taking photographs which formed the basis for our paintings back in the studio.
Always lots of geraniums.
San Gimignano – Amazing textures, wonderful earthy colors and the worlds best Gelato’s
Beautiful brick and stone wall in Castellina in Chianti
We couldn’t have a painting retreat in Italy without including a red Vespa.
After the retreat in Tuscany Dianne and I caught the fast train to Rome. We made our way slowly through the Vatican Museum and enjoyed wandering around the city for three days.
From Rome we headed up to the hill town of Cortona. The town’s history goes back to Etruscan times and it’s location, on top of a steep hill surrounded by flat plains is spectacular. The highest point in the town is dominated by a Medici Fort which is now a series of galleries presenting some fantastic photographic exhibitions.
View of the only level street in Cortona from our apartment window.
Breakfast with a view across the plains to distant mountains was amazing.
Not far from Cortona by train is the city of Arezzo – full of narrow winding streets and in the Piazza Crande is the impressive 12th Century church, Santa Maria della Pieve
Our stay in Italy was over way too quickly. Europe to Australia without a stop over is not a pleasant trip. We arrived back in Brisbane airport full of great memories but feeling like exhausted zombies.
Cape Town, Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park were the three destinations for our African workshop with Travelrite. We were kept busy with painting, sketching, site seeing, game drives and river cruises. The wildlife was fantastic and the villages and cities picturesque and interesting. We had a wonderful group and enjoyed ourselves immensely.
In Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, every house is painted a different color
Bo-Kaap is also the home of some beautifully decaying old cars with rusting patinas, makeshift repairs, flat tyres and no rego.
Down along the waterfront is a hive of activity. Ship yards fishing boats, cargo ships and tourism all spread out along the waterfront.
Painting above the Haute Cabriere vinyard, Franschhoek
Haute Cabriere cellars
Sunset on the Zambezi River
Spectacular Victoria Falls from Helicopter
From the ground the falls are huge, impressive and very wet
Raincoats on a sunny day
From Victoria Falls we moved on to Botswana and Chobe National Park. We saw a great variety of birds and animals on two afternoon game drives and a chilly 6am drive, plus a boat trip down the Chobe River late in the afternoon.
Elephant sketch
Cape Buffalo
Black Backed Jackal
Male Kudu
Young lion – mum was sound asleep a couple of meters away
Zebras
We came across this pack of African Wild Dogs beside the road very early one morning
Cheetah – slowly through the grass
Red Billed Hornbill
Pied Kingfisher
Red Billed Oxpecker – on the back of an Impala
Lilac Breasted Roller
African Skimmer
Carmine Bee Eater
Carmine Bee Eaters
Hippos in the Chobe River
Happy looking Crocodile
We stayed right on the river at the Cresta Mowana Resort
Impalas are common throughout the National Park.
We were sad to be leaving Africa and saying farewell to our great group of painters and fellow travellers. Lots of places still unseen, so we will definitely be back.
From Marrakesh we flew to Toulouse where we had a couple of days to explore the city. We were then picked up by a driver and taken through the French countryside to Domaine d’En Naudet, the beautiful venue for our week long painting retreat hosted by Uptrek.
Winding streets of Toulouse.
Bridge over the river Tarn, Toulouse.
View of the countryside from the tower at Domaine d’En Naudet. The foreground trees are oaks planted to grow truffles.
Domaine d’En Naudet
The tower at Domaine d’En Naudet was originally built for protection then in the early 1800’s converted to a pigeon house. It now serves as tall, thin accommodation.
Our painting group gathered under the tower
We were spoilt with a huge, well lit studio with attached kitchen and bathrooms and views from every window. Our hosts, Sophie and Nicholas, spoilt us with cakes, pastries, biscuits, cheese, fruit and coffee while we were busy painting in the studio
One of the downstairs windows at Domaine d’En Naudet.
Our host Nicholas arranged for us to visit his nearby neighbour, Madeline. She lives in a wonderfull old Medieval house with attached barn. It was a magnificent, unspoilt building and a pleasure to sit and paint the rustic details
The town of Albi was a spectacular surprise
Ancient brick and stonework reveals the history of these fantastic old buildings. Centuries of alterations, renovations and repairs create an amazing texture and expose the skill of these tradesmen over the centuries.
A modern steel gate blends beautifully with the ancient brickwork.
Saint-Salvy Cloister – Albi
Painting Albi from across the river Tarn
Sainte-Cecile Cathedral in Albi sure is an impressive building – lots of intricate, intersecting curves built entirely of brick.
Next to the Cathedral Sainte-Cecile is the Toulouse Lautrec museum. Another massive, construction all built from brick with a great collection of Lautrec’s paintings drawings and posters.
Château Lastours sits on the banks of the Tarn River surrounded by beautiful vineyards. We had a tour through their winery one afternoon, and sampled some fabulous wines – all stopped with cork, unlike the screw caps that have taken over in Australia.
Château Lastours old store room
Old church in the grounds of Château Lastours
Not far from Château Lastours, on the way back to Domaine d’En Naudet, Nicholas took us to the village of Lisle-sur-Tarn. The village dates back to the 13th century and many of the old Medieval buildings are still intact. Taxes were paid on the footprint of a building, so it was common practise to build a small footprint ground floor, then cantilever a larger second story.
Southern France’s Occitanie region is a beautiful landscape filled with well preserved medieval towns and villages that make visible its long and fascinating history.
A wonderful place for a painting retreat.
Many thanks to Nicholas and Sophie for being such wonderful hosts, to Uptrek for organising the retreat and to the fabulous group of people who made the retreat so memorable and enjoyable.
