This retreat will take you to the very places where Van Gogh and Cézanne painted many of their masterpieces. You will be inspired by the rich locations of Arles, Saint Remi, and Aix-en-Provence. Hosts Tali Farchi (NL) and Shay Avivi (IL) are accomplished painters and teachers, providing art instruction to enrich your creative process, they’ll share information about these artists' lives and how they worked. The ArtisTTable has hosted hundreds of artists of all levels and backgrounds. During this retreat, we will stay in the center of Arles giving easy access to this historic city. This all-inclusive retreat boasts delicious meals, exclusive day trips, and lots of art-making. It will be a trip you won't forget.
 
Location: Arles Provence, France
Instructor: Tali Farchi and Shay Avivi
Cost: $3,100
Sponsor: Artist Table
Website, email, 0031624903316

Join us in the South West of France and have a creative life experience. You’ll enjoy inspiring locations, daily painting demonstrations, personalized instruction, and encouraging support with Cindy and Theresa. We show you how to simplify and design your subject, draw confidently, jazz up your colors, paint with serendipity and experiment with new techniques. Create colorful paintings en Plein Air and celebrate your own unique point of view. We look forward to sharing this dreamy adventure with you.
 
Location: Cordes-sur-Ciel, France
Instructor: Cindy Briggs and Theresa Goesling
Cost: $3,590
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

A unique art workshop/art tour open to artists of all levels and media (oils, acrylics, watercolors, etc.). Seven days of plein-air painting, art history/theory lectures, and gourmet cuisine in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence followed by four days visiting Barcelona’s top art sites and enjoying Catalan cuisine. The price of CAD 4275 (around US$ 3330) includes instruction, 11-night double accommodation, 11 breakfasts, 6 healthy lunches, 6 gourmet dinners including wine, transportation from the Manosque train station to our lodge, transportation to all painting sites (Banon, Simiane-la-Rotonde, Rustrel, etc.), TGV train ticket Avignon-Barcelona, transportation and entrance fees to all museums and sites on schedule (Cézanne’s studio, La Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Miró Museum, etc.). Limited single rooms for a supplement.
 
Location: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence & Barcelona, France
Instructor: Prof. Yves M. Larocque
Cost: US$ 3330
Sponsor: Walk the Arts
Website, email, 800-611-4789

The most enjoyable painting I do is when I paint outdoors. There is an intimacy and sense of “being there” that only occurs when you take the time to slow down and record your surroundings in watercolor- and what surroundings we will have! Join me in the French Alps for a truly memorable week! We will tour daily with an easy schedule of demonstration, one on one critique, and group discussions designed to build your confidence and ability alike. You may paint or explore or do both on any given day. I will be there to guide you through my approach to painting en plein air and help you take your watercolors to the next level!
 
Location: Haute-Savoie, France
Instructor: Iain Stewart
Cost: $3,590
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Join me as we visit Monet’s house, studio, gardens and ponds. This wonderful week is entirely devoted to filling our sketchbooks with the very scenes that inspired the greatest Impressionists: not just Monet, but also Renoir, Pissarro and Cezanne. And, we crown this glorious week with a day at Auvers-sur-Oise, where Van Gogh spent his final days. And what better way to record this memorable week than in our sketchbooks? I’ll share my techniques for capturing the texture and colour of the Normandy Region’s storybook villages and narrow lanes. We’ll sketch gardens and ponds, romantic scenes along the Seine River, and a charming medieval mill. I’ll show you how to keep your watercolour sketches loose, fresh and vibrant.
 
Location: Giverny, France
Instructor: Shari Blaukopf
Cost: $3,590
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Join me as we visit Monet’s house, studio, gardens and ponds. This wonderful week is entirely devoted to filling our sketchbooks with the very scenes that inspired the greatest Impressionists: not just Monet, but also Renoir, Pissarro and Cezanne. And, we crown this glorious week with a day at Auvers-sur-Oise, where Van Gogh spent his final days. And what better way to record this memorable week than in our sketchbooks? I’ll share my techniques for capturing the texture and colour of the Normandy Region’s storybook villages and narrow lanes. We’ll sketch gardens and ponds, romantic scenes along the Seine River, and a charming medieval mill. I’ll show you how to keep your watercolour sketches loose, fresh and vibrant.
 
Location: Giverny, France
Instructor: Shari Blaukopf
Cost: $3,590
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

While learning the importance of oil painting techniques (values, edges, composition, etc.), the joy of actually painting France en plein air won’t get lost on Kathie! Her enthusiasm for painting the rolling vineyards and lavender fields with you will be contagious! Kathie will walk through her process of narrowing down the choices of subject matter and then demo before it’s time for you to get your brushes wet too… and she will be right alongside cheering you on with personal instruction and encouragement! There is a reason why you want to paint. Kathie will work to help you tap that desire by throwing herself into the entire experience and beauty of Provence!
 
Location: Venasque, France
Instructor: Kathie Odom
Cost: $3,590
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

While learning the importance of oil painting techniques (values, edges, composition, etc.), the joy of actually painting France en plein air won’t get lost on Kathie! Her enthusiasm for painting the rolling vineyards and lavender fields with you will be contagious! Kathie will walk through her process of narrowing down the choices of subject matter and then demo before it’s time for you to get your brushes wet too… and she will be right alongside cheering you on with personal instruction and encouragement! There is a reason why you want to paint. Kathie will work to help you tap that desire by throwing herself into the entire experience and beauty of Provence!
 
Location: Venasque, France
Instructor: Kathie Odom
Cost: $3,590
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

The wonderful views and landscapes of Provence seem to be just made for watercolor. Complex juicy color transitions, bright sun and all the incredible villages of Provence are just begging to be caught on the tip of your brush. But every view, every subject that you want to transfer to your paper requires a different approach. Sometimes it needs the use of a different technique, or a serious change in the set of colors. Understanding how to properly build a project to achieve the best result with the least effort is the key to success. An excellent program of relaxation and enjoyment of Provence will be combined with informative work in the open air to create vibrant and sunny watercolors.
 
Location: Venasque, France
Instructor: Michael Solovyev
Cost: $3,590
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Join David on a Watercolor Journey, in the beautiful Provence. You will be learning the most valuable watercolor concepts and techniques. This workshop will save you countless hours of trial & error by demonstrating approaches in an easily understood manner that will open new doors of discovery and creativity. David will discuss outdoor equipment options, considerations when choosing a composition, value study options to help prepare for the painting process, and provide numerous demonstrations and individual attention. Regardless of your level of experience, you’re almost guaranteed to leave with a handsome work of art, and the skills, concepts, and confidence to take your paintings to a higher level.
 
Location: Provence, France
Instructor: David R. Smith
Cost: $3,790 before Nov 30th
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Come and paint in beautiful Provence with Carol Carter. Carol will share her unique watercolor technique, painting from background to foreground, using dynamic and inventive color. Each day in the studio, Carol will share her watercolor techniques while teaching site specific tutorials. The workshop will provide templates, reference photos and materials information. Painting workshop from 9 am to noon followed by conclusion and small critique till about 1pm. In the afternoon, we will visit some villages in Provence that will be the topic of our next day painting: time for photography and sketching. Relax, enjoy, learn a new watercolor technique or two among the camaraderie of other artists while savoring gourmet food and French wines.
 
Location: Provence, France
Instructor: Carol Carter
Cost: $3,790 before Nov 30th
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Let’s explore Costa Brava with a sketchbook! Spending time observing a scene while travelling creates rich memories. When you spend time sketching the scene, those memories become indelible, and the studies you create are so much more precious than the usual travel snaps we see. We can record the fresh white buildings, the ancient stone castle, the gardens, the fabulous cliffs, the beach, all the while creating a rich and vivid record in our sketchbooks. Working from life, you’ll learn how to mix accurate colours, and how to work with a limited palette to simplify the painting process. You’ll discover how to sketch and paint whatever you come across and how to record them all in pencil, pen and watercolour.
 
Location: Haute-Savoie, France
Instructor: Jane Blundell
Cost: $3,790 before Nov 30th
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Join acclaimed watercolorist and instructor, Margie Samuels, for a magical week painting in the breathtaking French Alps! Each morning will start with a brief review of the watercolor skills that you will be using in that day’s plein air landscape. These lessons, focusing on various techniques, will take your watercolor painting to the next level. Each day participants will be given a “painting challenge,” where you can carry these new skills into the plein air landscape that you are creating. With a maximum size of just 15 students, there will be plenty of opportunity for individual instruction. Each location will include an on-site demonstration by Margie where you will get to see the steps it takes to bring your painting to life.
 
Location: Haute-Savoie, France
Instructor: Margie Samuels
Cost: $3,790 before Nov 30th
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

There’s a bookshelf in my studio that holds more than 30 travel sketchbooks. Every time I browse through them, memories of a specific place come flooding back — and not just the sights. Sounds, scents and flavours, snippets of conversations with a farmer, the taste of my morning coffee and brioche — it’s all still there, fresh in my mind, the moment I crack open a sketchbook. That’s what I love best about travel sketching. How the act of putting pencil and paint to paper enriches the total experience, and preserves it forever. Come sketch with me in Provence, where we’ll capture this historic region’s beauty and character in our sketchbooks.
 
Location: Provence, France
Instructor: Shari Blaukopf
Cost: $3,790 before Nov 30th
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

There’s a bookshelf in my studio that holds more than 30 travel sketchbooks. Every time I browse through them, memories of a specific place come flooding back — and not just the sights. Sounds, scents and flavours, snippets of conversations with a farmer, the taste of my morning coffee and brioche — it’s all still there, fresh in my mind, the moment I crack open a sketchbook. That’s what I love best about travel sketching. How the act of putting pencil and paint to paper enriches the total experience, and preserves it forever. Come sketch with me in Provence, where we’ll capture this historic region’s beauty and character in our sketchbooks.
 
Location: Provence, France
Instructor: Shari Blaukopf
Cost: $3,790 before Nov 30th
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Join Cindy Briggs and Theresa Goesling in Giverny and have a creative life experience. You’ll enjoy inspiring locations such as Monet’s garden, daily painting demonstrations, personalized instruction, and encouraging support from Cindy and Theresa. We show you how to simplify and design your subject, draw confidently, jazz up your colors, paint with serendipity and experiment with new techniques. Create colorful paintings en Plein Air with an emphasis on celebrating your own unique point of view .
 
Location: Watercolor Painting Workshop, France
Instructor: Cindy Briggs & Theresa Goesling
Cost: $3,790 before Jan 31st
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Enveloped by the beauty of France, you will be guided in creating impressionistic watercolor sketches, learning techniques of painting with expression, and incorporating the principles and elements of art into your work. Each day, we will be focusing on a particular subject(s) or technique that will be applicable for that day’s destination. Learn to create watercolor sketches in a loose, splashy manner, quickly capturing the vibrant, lush countryside of Provence. This workshop is focused on immersing oneself within the country, absorbing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and then translating those experiences into sketches. Several studies and paintings will be done every day, including intuitive warm-up exercises and technique exploration. Group and one-on-one teaching will be provided daily.
 
Location: Fontaine de Vaucluse, France
Instructor: Sarah Hansen
Cost: $3,790 before Jan 31st
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713

Just imagine….200 year old olive trees, charming hilltop villages, bustling outdoor cafés and window boxes overflowing with colorful flowers. Now, put yourself in the picture, sitting at a little café with your sketchbook and paints, sketching a window across the way, with its lace curtains, blue shutters, and red geraniums. Can you see it? Can you feel it? Well, why not experience it? Join me for an unforgettable painting holiday in Provence, a region famous for its stunning scenery and clear light which has captivated artists through the centuries. In this week-long workshop, we’ll relax and enjoy long autumn days sketching in this stunningly beautiful part of France. Capture once-in-a-lifetime experiences on the pages of your watercolor journals!
 
Location: Fontaine de Vaucluse, France
Instructor: Leslie Fehling
Cost: $3,790 before Jan 31st
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-483-5713