Program creative holiday week


“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” – Pablo Picasso

Our holiday weeks start on Saturday: we have your holiday home or room available from 4 p.m. Around 7 p.m. we will have our first meal together. We will end the week on Saturday morning with a last breakfast. We ask you to leave your holiday home or room no later than 10.30 am, so that we can prepare the room for our next guests.

Mornings

In the morning you will draw or paint under the guidance of Anita for 2,5 hours in the spacious studio in the former stables or in the beautiful garden and the private woodlands of La Forêt Souriante. The group is small (a maximum of 7 people), We serve the vegetarian lunch. at 1 pm. Until then you can work independently on your drawing or painting. During the lessons the pleasure in creating is paramount:your development is central. It is about discovering and developing your ‘handwriting’; learning or deepening drawing and painting by observation and the search for your specific visual language. There will be room for experimenting with different painting and drawing techniques. We will discuss the use of materials, how to make an interesting composition, the use of color and the overall design of a drawing or painting: where do you start and where do you end. During the lessons, we take time for discussing each other’s work.


Afternoons

On three afternoons during your holiday week, we like to take you on a trip to let you experience why our environment makes us so happy. We certainly will visit the nearby atmospheric Abbye de Beaulieu en Rouergue. In this beautifully renovated abbey you will find an interesting museum for abstract art. Because there is more to see and do in the area than we can let you experience in 3 trips, we will discuss with the group what we are going to do.
Of course you are free to join a trip or not, after all it is your holiday! You can also continue working in the studio, relaxing in a hammock in the garden or the forest of La Forêt Souriante or hiking, swimming, kayaking in the river or strolling through one of the nearby beautiful villages on your own. Plenty of options for a wonderful relaxing afternoon.


A day to yourself

On Wednesday there are no art classes no lunch and no trips. What we do have is a delicious breakfast, a tasteful dinner and plenty to do to make it a great day. If you want to go out for lunch, we are happy to make reservations for you in one of our nearby favorite restaurants.
Do you fancy a swim in the river? We are happy to share our favorite places with you! Of course you can relax at La Forêt Souriante, take a walk on or from La Forêt Souriante. Do you want to explore the area? Then take one of our favorite walks from Bor et Bar or rent an electric mountain bike in Najac and experience why the French love to cycle here. For guests with a car, a visit to Albi, 50 minutes from here, is not only recommended by us, but also by a lot of our guests!

For a relaxing walk in the area we recommend taking walking shoes with you.
Wearing water shoes is a good idea when you want to swim in the river.