Katel and I were talking about our season the other day and realised that our workshops can be SOOO different!
Lightbulb moment, let’ write about it!
If you’ve already been to a workshop with an artist, you know what to expect. It can be an easy decision to join us. If you found us online and you’re not sure about which workshop to join, you’re gonna love this post. If you don’t know exactly what a workshop entails, you’re gonna love this post. Grab a coffee, put your feet in front of the fire and spend 4 minutes dreaming about a workshop in South West France.
I don’t want to waste your time so let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way. If you’re an oil painter, don’t join a mixed media workshop. There’s a chance you might not enjoy it 🤣
Even so, within the world of one discipline, there are so many variables… My advice is simple – If you enjoy the style of a particular artist, find the answers to the following questions:
Do I like their teaching style?
Have a quick look on their social media pages, do they have any clips of them teaching? Check their YouTube channel for short demonstrations. Sign up to their free classes. Still haven’t found what you want? Buy one of their courses. If you’re always busy, just skip to the end and buy their course, watch it at 2x speed and then get back to being busy 😉
If you’re not sure about what teaching style you like best, our guests always seem to get on best with short demonstrations packed full of value followed by Q&A and then some personalised feedback. You can’t really go wrong with this formula!
Still not sure? Ask us!
What to expect from their retreat?
You can see a lot about what to expect from a workshop by looking at the individual pages for each of our artists (here).
PLEASE do not hesitate to ask us or the artist directly. We are EXPECTING you to reach out to us. It would be unreasonable for us to think that you’re going to fly halfway across the world with an artist you don’t know, to go and stay in a place you don’t know.
Every morning I’m literally sitting in front of the computer WAITING for you to ask me about a workshop. Most artists are doing the same. Write your thoughts down in an email, text or let’s arrange a time to call!
You should think about asking the following questions:
– How much time will we spend visiting locations?
– Is there/how much plein air painting?
– How much studio time will we get?
– How are logistics organised?
– What is the food like?
– Can my non-painting partner join me?
– How big is the group?
– How much 1 to 1 time should I expect?
– What is going to be the focus of the workshop?
– Do I need to bring my own supplies?
The list doesn’t end here, but it definitely covers the basics.
Culture & History
There’s also the cultural side of the workshop to consider. It ties in well with the art and it’ll definitely inspire you. We focus on giving you real access to normal life in the Perigord & Quercy. Not just the touristy highlights but the nitty gritty details. local food, wine and history is just the beginning. We’ll show you how the locals lived historically but even how they live now (if you know, you know😉). There will also be a few surprises thrown in along the way.
We know how much of a big deal it is to come across the world so we’ll do the best we can to incorporate any specific requests you might have.
Apart from that, it’s also good to know that to expect depending on the time of year. April and May is perfect spring weather (although you might need a raincoat in case of showers). Poppies and wildflowers blooming, vivid colours everywhere you look and amazing sunrises and sunsets. Plein air painting is definitely at its best in the spring and autumn!
June is lavender season (we have over 5000 plants in our field). July is full of sunflowers.
Then comes the fall, greens turn to yellows and golden browns. The vineyards are ready to be harvested. Deep purple grapes, green leaves and a lowering sun in the sky. The days are shorter but the contrasts are beautiful! another amazing time of the year for plein air painting.
The Bottom Line
Workshops are a lot of fun. True story: Our neighbours once asked us if we were hosting some kind of comedy workshop because they could hear so much laughing coming from the terrace! It was just our guests enjoying themselves (This was your group, Kim!)
You can make amazing friends, meet like-minded people, and create memories that will stay with you forever. Strangers arrive at our workshop on day 1, leave with tears in their eyes on day 10 and then send us photos when they’ve met up in another part of the world 3 years later (i’m talking about you, Lisa & Karen).
That said, make sure you know what you want and what you’re getting into before booking. Allow yourself to get excited by the thought of a once in a lifetime experience and follow up to make sure that you’re going to get what you want from the workshop.