Join us in the breathtaking Le Marche region of Italy, where art, nature, and travel come together in a joyful celebration of discovery. This immersive retreat invites adult participants of all experience levels to explore the art of collage inspired by the beautiful birds of Le Marche. From birds of prey circling high in the Apennine Mountains, to seabirds gliding over crystalline waters, to songbirds flitting through vineyards and olive groves, the region hums with natural beauty. Bring your binoculars—bird-spotting adventures will fill our days! These feathered residents will be our artistic muses as we create expressive collages using handmade papers, painted textures, and found ephemera gathered during our travels. Explore, observe, and create with us!
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Joann McDaniel
Cost: €3349
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

This course will give you the confidence and techniques required to create expressive paintings inspired by the natural beauty of the Italian landscape. Discover the joy of painting on location in this stunning rural area, responding to the colours of the landscape, exploring ideas, and developing your own unique style of painting. In the well-equipped studio, you will discover new methods of mark-making, layering, colour-mixing and composition to create harmony in your paintings. Alison will provide expert tuition with professional tips and techniques for using acrylics with mixed media. Whether you aim to capture a direct response to the landscape, loosen up your style or develop a more abstract impression, you will have the time and freedom to experiment, with expert guidance.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Alison Orchard
Cost: €2999
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

Step into a world of creativity and inspiration at this transformative art retreat in the breathtaking landscapes of Italy. This immersive experience is designed for artists of all levels—whether you’re just beginning your creative journey or looking to deepen your artistic practice. Together, we’ll explore PanPastel portraiture, field journaling, watercolor studies, mixed media storytelling collage and on-location sketching, all while soaking in the rich atmosphere of Italy. We’ll take our sketchbooks into cobblestone streets, quiet gardens, and sun-drenched piazzas for some urban sketching and watercolor play and swatching. We’ll also spend time in nature, doing studies of local flora and fauna—slowing down to observe the beauty of our surroundings. Learn to release perfectionism and embrace joyful experimentation!
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Ivy Newport
Cost: €3699
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

Immerse yourself in a weeklong journey of creativity, growth, and connection in beautiful Italy. Guided by Jenny Grant, you’ll explore her mixed media process with collage, acrylic painting, and expressive portraits, all while discovering the joy of letting go and embracing your unique creative voice. You’ll connect with a group of like-minded creatives, creating friendships as you learn, and explore Italy together. By the end of the week, you’ll leave with a new approach to your art, full of inspiration, and amazing memories. We will also create a simple art journal to document our creative journey, capturing meaningful moments and exploring the freedom of creating without attachment to perfection. This retreat is open to all levels.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Jenny Grant
Cost: €3499
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

Over the course of this week-long retreat, participants will have opportunities to explore the Le Marche region of Italy, visit regional food producers, and sample local culinary delights. All these materials and experiences will influence our work and find their way into our mixed media art journaling – which we’ll do in a handmade concertina journal, on paper, and on wood panels! You’ll work intuitively, allowing yourself to be influenced by the day’s experiences and materials discovered. Learn to be on the lookout for materials that will add “local spice” to your encaustic and mixed media creations. And you’ll be guided and supported each day by Bridget Benton with excursions, lessons, and exercises to delight your senses and help build your mixed media vocabulary.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Bridget Benton
Cost: €3199
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

With boundless skill, creativity and a plethora of ideas, Phyllis leads this all-inclusive collage workshop with enthusiasm to discover/create/enrich your artistic skills. Lecce's Lo Spazio d'Arte is a community art space in a naturally cool, 15th-century, converted bakery. Make collages with multiple layers and depths through using paintings, photos and objects from this beautiful, largely unexplored region. Create your marvelous memories of ancient Lecce with its above-ground and underground treasures. From pre-Roman through Renaissance to today, the arts remain alive everywhere. Villages with ancient frescoes and mosaics to modern ceramics, nearby coasts with giant caves, endless wildflowers, gnarled olive and almond orchards and vineyards. Enjoy region-specific pastas, wines and cheeses. This is deservedly named 'the Florence of the South'!
 
Location: Lecce, Puglia, Italy
Instructor: Phyllis Chekenian
Cost: 2750 euro
Sponsor: Lo Spazio d'Arte
email, (+1) 570 251 1766 or (+39) 347 906 4636

Join Cindy Briggs and Theresa Goesling for their workshop at the stunning Salinara Art Farm in Sicily. Discover an endless variety of restaurants and cafés, blue skies and beautiful nature, joyful and welcoming people, traditional foods, and excellent local wines. There will be plenty of opportunities to swim in the crystal-clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Cindy and Theresa will provide daily painting lessons, personalized guidance, and inspiring demonstrations. They’ll share techniques for sketching and simplifying your subject, playing with color and water, adding texture and composition, and enhancing your watercolor journal pages with writing and creative expression. The workshop will conclude with a review session and discussion of participants’ works. Limited spots available.
 
Location: Marsala, Sicily, Italy
Instructor: Theresa Goesling and Cindy Briggs
Cost: Starts at € 3200
Sponsor: Salinara - Art Farm | Retreat Centre
Website, email, (+39) 339 77 57 062

Writing can be both an inherited and an acquired skill, as is illustrating. With daily explorations through the heel of Italy, you will encounter antiquities, incredible nature, history and cultures from Greek to modern times. Lindsay, a fun-loving, well-published writer/illustrator and professor, will guide you. Enjoy cool mornings, exploring Lecce and nearby towns, the coast, vineyards and orchards. The warmer afternoons will take place in the naturally cool, cave-like 15th-century converted bakery, Lo Spazio d'Arte, your workspace. Everything is included: regional transportation, private accommodations in Centro Storico, full art materials packet, hand-bound journal, meals, wine and your weeklong pass for building entries at your leisure. This ‘Florence of the South’ is a treasure, and a place to create memories!
 
Location: Lecce, Puglia, Italy
Instructor: Lindsay Barrett George
Cost: 2750 Euro
Sponsor: Lo Spazio d'Arte
email, (+1) 570 251 1766 or (+39) 347 906 4636

A thought-provoking and inspirational art workshop open to artists of all levels and media (oils, acrylics, watercolors, etc.). Nine full days of plein air painting, art history/theory lectures, touring, and gastronomy in the most beautiful area of Tuscany. Our teaching approach and groups limited to eight participants allow us to offer personalized instruction and a stimulating environment that fosters creativity. Cost of CAD 4350 (around US$ 3170) includes instruction, 9-night single or double accommodation (limited single rooms available at no extra cost), all breakfasts, 7 lunches, 9 gourmet dinners including wine, transportation from and to the Arezzo train station, transportation to all painting sites (Montepulciano, Cortona, Pienza, etc.), train ticket to Florence, and a guided tour to the Uffizi Museum.
 
Location: Lucignano, Italy
Instructor: Prof. Yves M. Larocque
Cost: US$3170
Sponsor: Walk the Arts
Website, email, 800-611-4789

This 6-day workshop in Western Sicily builds strong painting and composition skills while encouraging artists to explore surrounding themes and develop visual narratives. Drawing inspiration from the landscape, atmosphere, and daily experiences of Western Sicily, participants will translate observations and moods onto the canvas through a thoughtful, selective use of mixed media. Artists will learn to balance intention with experimentation to create cohesive, expressive work that reflects their personal voice and artistic vision. Desired outcomes can range from representational to abstract, and materials may include one or more media. The workshop emphasizes a clear understanding of methods, materials, and tools, empowering participants to continue developing confident, independent work long after the workshop concludes.
 
Location: Marsala, Sicily, Italy
Instructor: Sandra Iafrate
Cost: $2998. Early booking fee
Sponsor: Sicily Artist Retreat
Website, email, 289-696-2789

Join Roben-Marie in the breathtaking region of Le Marche, Italy for a six-day creative retreat designed for artists who want to explore, layer, experiment, and reconnect with their playful voice. Our week includes two special excursions woven into our studio rhythm. We’ll visit a small wool farm in the Sibillini Mountains to explore traditional fiber processes and forage natural materials for eco-printing. We’ll also spend a full day in the Renaissance town of Ascoli Piceno, wandering its historic piazza, cafés, and shops — gathering inspiration to bring back into our work. You’ll be supported every step of the way. This retreat isn’t about perfection — it’s about curiosity. Saying yes to color, texture, fabric, ink, and unexpected combinations.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Roben-Marie Smith
Cost: starts at €3749
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

Spend a week exploring the beauty, color, and spirit of Italy through expressive painting and creative exploration. During our time together in the beautiful hilltop village of Montelparo, you’ll learn a simple creative framework that will help you see the landscape in new ways. Through a blend of technique, demonstration, and exploration, we’ll work with color, line, movement, and light to create expressive landscape paintings inspired by the stunning scenery around us. We’ll spend time painting both in the studio and on location, observing the rhythms of the Italian countryside and responding to the landscape with curiosity and creativity. We’ll also create a small encaustic wax keepsake—as a way to preserve a memory from our time together.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Jennifer Bonneteau
Cost: starts at €3599
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

Join us for a week of joyful sketchbook exploration at the beautiful Hotel Leone in Montelparo. During the week, you’ll work in an A5 concertina sketchbook – a wonderfully freeing format that encourages play, curiosity, and creative flow. You’ll spend time wandering the streets, collecting, observing, and drawing, then return to the studio to develop your ideas further using mixed media. Each day, Karen will demonstrate fun, accessible techniques to help you loosen up and experiment. There is no right or wrong way of working—this is about discovery and enjoyment. Karen’s concertina sketchbooks are not about perfect perspective or careful realism. They celebrate the character of wonky buildings, crooked windows, splashes of colour, and the beauty of collage.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Karen Stamper
Cost: starts at €3599
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

Join me for an unforgettable week in the stunning Italian Countryside - eating delicious food, relaxing and capturing Italy in our sketchbooks. This special trip is for everyone. Whether you love watercolour, gouache, or simply the joy of putting colour on paper, you’ll be surrounded by like-minded people who understand how special it is to create. We’ll spend our days strolling through Italian streets, sketching inspiring scenes, experimenting with colour, sharing ideas, and enjoying the simple pleasure of making art in a beautiful place. You’ll leave not only with a sketchbook full of memories, but with new confidence, ideas, and inspiration to continue your joy-filled art practice at home.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Sketches n Scrubs
Cost: starts at €3349
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

A thought-provoking and inspirational art workshop open to artists of all levels and media (oils, acrylics, watercolors). Nine full days of plein air painting, art history/theory lectures, touring, and gastronomy in the most beautiful area of Tuscany. Our teaching approach and groups of up to eight participants allow us to offer personalized instruction and a stimulating environment that encourages creativity. Cost of CAD 4485 (around US$ 3290) includes instruction, 9-night single or double accommodation (limited single rooms available at no extra cost), all breakfasts, 7 lunches, 9 gourmet dinners, transportation from and to the Arezzo train station, transportation to all painting sites (Montepulciano, Cortona, Pienza, etc.), train ticket to Florence, and a guided tour to the Uffizi museum.
 
Location: Lucignano, Italy
Instructor: Prof. Yves M. Larocque
Cost: US$ 3290
Sponsor: Walk the Arts
Website, email, 800-611-4789

Le Marche is a land of golden hills, sunlit vineyards, and timeless villages. Every horizon feels like a painting, inviting you to capture Italy at its most authentic and untouched. This week-long art retreat is designed to engage all five senses—the sights, sounds, tastes, textures, and aromas—and show you how to capture them vividly in your art. Each day you’ll practice setting up strong, pleasing compositions and learn how to quickly capture the beauty of the landscape, interesting architecture, delicious culinary specialties and the colorful people of Marche. Back in the studio, you will bring your sketches alive with the passion of place by weaving together a variety of mediums with the ephemera collected from the day’s experiences.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Joann McDaniel & Tim Kitts
Cost: starts at €3449
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

Together, you’ll wander sun-soaked villages, sip cappuccinos in cobblestone piazzas, and gather inspiration from every delicious detail—colorful shutters, market flowers, ancient stone walls, and the laughter of new friends. Through guided lessons and playful exercises, Lori and Kenzie will show you how to capture your experiences in fresh, personal ways—combining sketching, collage, watercolor, lettering, and mixed media magic into a keepsake journal that tells your story. By week’s end, you’ll not only have a travel journal brimming with memories, but also a one-of-a-kind piece of art that celebrates your journey. It’s a week of creativity, connection, and discovery—set against the breathtaking backdrop of Italy’s hidden gem. Come ready to explore, play, and fill your pages (and your heart) with beauty.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Lori Siebert & Kenzi Elston
Cost: starts at €3949
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054

A thought-provoking and inspirational art workshop open to artists of all levels and media (oils, acrylics, watercolors). Nine full days of plein air painting, art history/theory lectures, touring, and gastronomy in the most beautiful area of Tuscany. Our teaching approach and groups of up to eight participants allow us to offer personalized instruction and a stimulating environment that encourages creativity. Cost of CAD 4485 (around US$ 3290) includes instruction, 9-night single or double accommodation (limited single rooms available at no extra cost), all breakfasts, 7 lunches, 9 gourmet dinners, transportation from and to the Arezzo train station, transportation to all painting sites (Montepulciano, Cortona, Pienza, etc.), train ticket to Florence, and a guided tour to the Uffizi museum.
 
Location: Lucignano, Italy
Instructor: Prof. Yves M. Larocque
Cost: US$ 3290
Sponsor: Walk the Arts
Website, email, 800-611-4789

Since the dawn of time, landscapes have stirred the human spirit. From violet mountain ranges fading into mist, to emerald hills rolling endlessly beneath glowing skies, to sunsets that shimmer and dissolve into gold—nature offers a poetry that begs to be painted. In the heart of Italy’s Le Marche region, beauty unfolds at every turn. It is here that we will slow down, observe deeply, and allow the land itself to guide our creative journey. This course invites you into an exploration of soft pastel that is both expressive and immersive. We will experiment boldly—layering watercolor and acrylic inks to create luminous underpaintings that breathe beneath the pastel surface. Together we will cultivate fearlessness, curiosity, and joy in the creative process.
 
Location: Montelparo, Italy
Instructor: Jennifer Linderman
Cost: starts at €3349
Sponsor: Hotel Leone
Website, email, +39 340 4166054