Alicia Blach Perigord Retreat 2027
19 – 28 August 2027
10‑Day Painting Retreat | 8 Days of Instruction |Â
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Paint from Feeling. Create with Presence.
Set in the quiet beauty of the French countryside, Awakening Your Creative Senses is a 10-day immersive painting retreat for artists and creatives who want to slow down and reconnect with their intuitive voice.
This retreat invites participants to paint what they experience rather than what they see. Through guided studio sessions, sensory exploration, and time spent absorbing the rhythms of village life, artists are encouraged to work from curiosity, trust, and emotional awareness.
Sight, sound, touch, taste, and memory become the foundation of the work. France itself becomes a collaborator. Its light, textures, flavors, and pace quietly shape both the creative process and the paintings that emerge.
This is not about productivity or perfection. It is about presence, courage, and rediscovering a personal creative language.
Daily painting sessions
Delicious Homemade Dinners
Daily Excursions
To Beautiful Locations
About the Artist & Instructor
Alicia Blach is an artist and art educator with over twenty years of experience guiding others through creative exploration using color, texture, and intuitive process. Her teaching philosophy centers on curiosity, play, and painting from the inside out.
Alicia creates both abstract and representational work inspired by landscape, memory, and emotion. Her retreats are designed to be welcoming, thoughtful, and deeply human. Participants are supported individually while also benefiting from the shared energy of a small, intentional group.
This Retreat Is For You If You Are
• An artist or creative seeking deeper connection to your work
• Curious about intuitive, process-driven painting
• Ready to slow down and create without pressure
• Drawn to meaningful travel and immersive experiences
Join me in France for ten days of painting, presence, and rediscovering your creative senses.
A Day with Us Looks Like This…
Your day begins with a peaceful breakfast of freshly baked French pastries, homemade yoghurt, and seasonal fruit—best enjoyed in the sunlit conservatory as the day gently unfolds.
Around 9 am, we set off—early enough to enjoy our destinations while they’re still quiet, with the morning light casting everything in a perfect glow.
Spend your morning soaking up the atmosphere of a new place: wander through charming side streets, discover hidden corners, or settle into a quiet spot to sketch and take it all in. When you’re ready for lunch, a beautiful spread awaits—think crisp salads, savoury quiches, homemade cookies, and a glass (or two) of wine, served picnic-style in the shade.
Afternoons are for creativity and rest. Back at the studio, you’ll have dedicated time to paint, unwind by the pool, take a nap, read, sunbathe, or simply enjoy good conversation in a quiet corner.
Evenings are a highlight: a delicious, three-course meal made with local ingredients, prepared by Katel—whose cooking alone is worth the trip. With wine flowing and good company around the table, it’s a chance to relax and connect.
After dinner, the time is yours. Watch the sunset, return to the studio for more painting, take a dip in the hot tub, or explore the nearby paths under the stars.
Our retreats are designed to be flexible, inspiring, and restorative—so you can get exactly what you need out of your time with us.
Some Excursion Locations
Excursions may include but are not limited to the following
Rocamadour
Part of the Camino Trail. Historical & religious significance. Breathtaking village perched on a cliff.
Sarlat
One of the most well preserved medieval towns in France. Amazing market with local produce.
Beynac Castle
Home of Richard the Lionheart, perfect for a picnic by the river and plein air painting in the shade.
Saint Cirq Lapopie
One of the most beautiful villages in France. Incredibly picturesque. Perfect for shopping & painting.
Example Itinerary:
Flights – You can fly into Paris or Toulouse and get the train to our local station from there.Â
Day 1:Â Transfers from the local train station in the early afternoon. Welcome snacks, introductions and time to explore. Evening meal at home.
Day 2: Canoeing down the river Dordogne to see some incredible sights, picnic lunch with an amazing view. Observation and sketching exercises, color collection and palette exploration. Painting inspired by place and atmosphere. Dinner at home.
Day 3: Visit to Chateau des Milandes, picnic lunch by the river overlooking a chateau. Touch-based explorations, texture hunting and mark-making studies, layering techniques and surface development, creating expressive abstract compositions. Dinner at home.
Day 4: Visit to Sarlat market. Sensory exercises inspired by food, spices, flowers, and local culture, taste and aroma-inspired color studies, translating sensory experiences into paintings. Restaurant in the evening.
Day 5: Visit to Rocamadour, Listening and observation exercises, painting to music and environmental sounds exploring rhythm, movement, and gesture in painting, sketchbook reflections. Dinner at home.
Day 6: Guided tour of a fortified watermill, picnic lunch, sketching and sensory observation, gather inspiration through color, texture, and place, reflect and journal about the day’s experiences. Dinner at home.
Day 7: Visit to Saint Cirq Lapopie, picnic lunch, sketching and photography for inspiration, studio exploration based on discoveries from the day, individual guidance and creative development. Dinner at home.
Day 8:Â Painting/exploring the panoramic landscape at Domme. Excursion to a local cultural or scenic destination, individual painting time with personalized instruction, refining compositions and strengthening artistic voice.
Day 9: Final studio session. Completing artwork inspired by the retreat experience, group sharing and reflection, closing celebration dinner.
Day 10:Â Transfers to the local train station in the morning.
There are equally lots of other activities we can organise depending on your group. More plein air painting, more studio time, more guided excursions.Â
Fill out the form below for pricing and more information relating to the retreat.
