Italian Art Retreat 2027

A Week of Art in Tuscany escaping and unleashing your creativity with Italian sun and food.

Escape to the Tuscan countryside for seven days of painting, drawing, printmaking, good food and creative renewal.

Join me for an unforgettable one-week art retreat in 2027 at the beautiful Tenuta di Spannocchia, a historic estate surrounded by olive groves, woodland, vineyards, wildflowers and the warm, shifting light of rural Tuscany.

This is a week to slow down, look closely and make work in the company of other creative people. Whether you are an experienced artist looking for fresh direction or a keen beginner wanting time, guidance and confidence, you will be welcomed into a relaxed, supportive and inspiring studio community. No pressure, no competition and no need to produce “finished” paintings every day. The emphasis is on looking, noticing, experimenting and enjoying the pleasure of making art in an extraordinary setting.

If you know me or I have taught you, you will know that I am a very experienced artist, printmaker and teacher. I teach many art disciplines: drawing, pastels, watercolours, acrylics, abstract, printmaking and more and my great pleasure is facilitating and guiding the creative exploration with people with encouragement, praise and some constructive feedback. I will be teaching in 2027 with Jon Bird, a friend of many years and a terrific artist. He was Head of Art at Middlesex University for decades and a huge guiding force for many students passing through the institution.

Each day will offer a balance of structured tuition, personal exploration and time simply to absorb the landscape. Individual guidance to help you work at your own pace and follow your own interests, plenty of free time to rest, read, swim, walk, photograph, visit local places or continue working independent and a final informal exhibition and sharing of work made during the week.

Venue, location and setting

Tenuta di Spannocchia is a remarkable and very special Tuscan estate of 1100 acres of organic farmland set in a Nature Reserve in the hills of Tuscany. The amazing natural setting supports conservation efforts and is an Italian not for profit association that operates as an education centre, hosting students, adult education programmes, research projects and internships. It sits 20 miles from Siena, 70 miles from Florence and 40 miles form the hilltop village of San Gimigniano.

The property has olive orchards and vineyards as well as organic vegetable gardens where the meals are sourced from. Home made wine served on the terrace every evening at 6.00. There is a heritage collection of Senese pigs ( which you will later taste in some of the meals) a swimming pool, an art studio, weathered walls, terracotta roofs and distant hills.

There are 14 delightfully Italian bedrooms, some in the villa and some in the fattoria, all of them are really charming, spacious and cool. The beautiful bedrooms in the Fattoria and Villa are en suite and receive maid service every day: linens are changed twice a week.

In 2025 we visited Siena and took in the Duomo (very magnificent with Donatello, Bernini and Michelangelo in evidence) the Baptistry and the Siena Museum and had lunch in the Palazzo Publico which was very splendid. Lots  of deep Italian life to see and experience, and lots of super shops.

We visited Volterra;  a near hilltop village with lots to eat, buy and see and San Gimignano little further away, full of beauty and delights and a few more local smaller villages for additional eating out or explorations.

Costs, dates and other

Dates for 2027 are  two separate weeks:

Monday 9th August - 16th August

Monday 16th August - 23rd August

Costs are at £1850 for 7 nights

Weather: Weather for August 2026 was mid to high 20s with a couple of days that ventured into the early 30s but rooms are cool and it was a very manageable temperature.