Art Retreat - Abruzzo & Molise Landscapes
Creative Holiday - this was the original idea when moving to Italy, sometimes it can take decades to evolve….
Exploratory Mark making in warm, inviting and unspoiled surroundings - the art of noticing - guided lessons and countryside wandering
I have a wealth of more than 15 years of lived experience, connections and collaborations here in Abruzzo. A vast knowledge of local cultural history. I have explored these mountainous and coastal roads with keen eyes and spent over a decade restoring an old farmhouse and land, using rustic and natural materials and above all showing care and respect for the environment. That close contact with natural materials and the shaping of a home and surrounding land gives a textured, sensory appreciation of this special terra.
Creating can truly be a cure for health and happiness. Significant scientific research details how engaging in the arts can improve the functioning of every major organ system in the body; it can have remarkable effects on our well-being, something I too need to elaborate on.
Come and spend slow days drawing and painting with guided practice and exercises - inspired by florals, or the olive strewn hillsides. We can venture further afield and absorb the vast bird reserve beaches and wooden fishing structures or take a stroll through medieval villages, sketching the lopsided rooftops or tight alleyways. Reflect on the warm mountain stone or curved coppi, take in the rich smells seeping from comfortable kitchens or the chatter of locals nattering in the park.
It will be an opportunity to experiment and lean into the rhythms, swoops and swells, tap into your intuition and ability to notice and discern. Dedicated time to build a sketch book full of glimpses and captured moments that could then on your return home lead to a whole new body of work. Or at the very least be a treasured reminder.
I would love to share my knowledge of the area and of making art and hope to create an environment of relaxation and reciprocation and give our hearts and brains a gentle venture into sensory processing, pattern recognition, downregulation and moving into flowing creation.
Greenest Region in Europe – Abruzzo boasts as holding 70% of Europe’s Flora and Fauna. Offering a rich resource for creating including wild orchids and iris’s. Auditory stimulation from a diverse collection of native and emigrating birds including the brightly coloured Oriole’s and Bee – eaters to our local little Hoopie and screeching owl. We are privileged to have the stunning orchestra from the Nightingale’s, and the Nuthatch certainly adds to the clamour! May brings the fireflies and we have a continual abundance of insects hovering close to the lavender and herbs.
The days could include a visit to my home village of Palmoli and the Marchesale Castle and Museum, we can sketch from the tower top the vast view of the Maiella and Gran Sasso mountains across to the coast and neighbouring region of Molise.
We can visit a Contemporary Art Museum that houses a long-standing artist prize and collection as well as changing temporary exhibitions along with a stroll through the beautiful historical coastal city of Termoli and its castled promontory.
A scenic drive around the hills to an almost uninhabited village called Civitacampomarano - home to the famous CVTA Street Art Festival, with more than 40 murals by internationally renowned artists
A potential to visit a printmaker and experiment with letter press or etching
Relaxing dip in the outdoor pool immersed in nature
Local wines and cuisine, the art days include lunch and a possible Sunday lunch at an Agriturismo
Pizza making, wine tasting possible to book
Help with booking accommodation, restaurant booking and with the organisation of collection and drop – off from the local airport in Pescara
Please contact me if this is of interest to you and a small group of friends or work colleagues or individuals, ideally I was thinking a small intimate group of around 5 to 6 people, happy to expand and accommodate other interesting ideas
This is the initial concept, packages and potential costs to be tailored individually
