TRAVEL PAINTING & DRAWING ART RETREAT - Join us on this annual retreat to magical Morocco. We'll enjoy a sensory experience through Moroccan design, signs, and symbols and create our travel art books while finding new ways of seeing.
We’re back in Marrakech for a full week of drawing, painting, and exploring this magical city and its spectacular surroundings. Each day will include art lessons at our stunning location just outside the city center, and the creativity continues in all of the other activities throughout the week. We will be spending time in the lively souks, soaking up the magical athmosphere, photographing and sketching the colourful open-air market stalls.
Some of our outings which are sure to spark your creativity include a trip to the famous YSL museum and Majorelle Gardens, a visit to the sites in the Medina like the ornate Ben Youssef Medrasa, and even a trip to the nearby desert area to have lunch in this visually spectacular scenery on the dunes with the Atlas Mountains in the distance. There we will enjoy camel rides before lunch in a luxury Berber tent. This is one of everyone’s favourite places to get the quintessential ‘Moroccan photograph’. Plus after a week of having our creative juices flowing, we can unwind at a luxurious hammam for treatments and pampering.
Besides our daytrips we also enjoy the incredible location of our home for the week, Peacock Pavilions where we’ll enjoy an onsite henna party by the pool, an evening of outdoor cinema in the olive grove, and sumptuous meals around the garden and dining tent. As we will have the property exclusively for the week there are endless vignettes and scenes to take in for inspiration.
GIVE BACK RETREAT
This retreat is a GIVE BACK program where we will donate at portion to our partner in Marrakech; PROJECT SOAR, which works with underprivileged communities and young women to empower them through education, design, clean-up projects, and creative ventures.
ACTIVITIES
Guests will not only enjoy the grounds of Peacock Pavilions - the outdoor areas include a lovely pool, patio, private terraces, and covered yoga platform - but the retreat also includes some amazing day trips to the surrounding sites. A guided day in Marrakesh will lead guests through an introduction to souks, artisans, and the medina while filling our eyes with Moroccan architecture and design. We’ll visit the Garden Majorelle and YSL Museum, as well as a separate visit to another area of the Medina for an evening at one of the chic riad restaurants.
A day will be spent exploring the nearby Afagay Desert at a beautiful luxury berber tent with a camel trek, followed by a lunch. This is truly a magical day - we get out of the city and see the vast expanse of the desert with the Atlas mountain ranges in the distance. The final full day entails a trip to a famous Moroccan hammam (a luxurious spa facility), where guests will be pampered to their heart's content with a program of treatments. What better way to wrap up a week of creativity than a day of pure relaxation!
ART
As with all of our retreat away from the studio, we will be working in travel journals and on small canvases in pen, ink, watercolour, and acrylic. We use this time to gather ideas, photographs, and information for any larger scale pieces. Materials will be supplies, but you are of course welcome to bring any specific items with you if prefer to work in another medium. Instruction will be provided in any medium. There will be opportunities for classic studio drawing, plein-air drawing, working with design and illustration ideas, and still plenty of time to simply paint.
Our courses are carefully designed for complete beginners with no previous experience as well as intermediate artists who would like to improve their skills/techniques, and, of course, practicing artists looking for a new challenge. Julian, the host and instructor, has nearly 30 years of experience teaching students of all ages and abilities, and always strives to create a friendly and relaxed studio atmosphere. Read more about his story on the ABOUT page. We offer a variety of custom-made art courses in order to build confidence and inspire you across a range of themes and disciplines. These unique courses also reflect the culture and history of the area and are interwoven with excursions that provide inspiration, variety and interest throughout the week. Above all, this is a real opportunity for developing artists to work in small groups alongside an experienced teacher.
https://www.easelandlens.com/events/marrakech-morocco-feb-22-28-2025