In the Footsteps of Matisse - South of France

ArtWorkshops Australia and Wendy Sharpe are delighted to be hosting an amazing experience to the inspiring Villa le Reve, the home of Henri Matisse in the medieval town of Vence on the French Riviera.

Henri Matisse lived at the Villa le Reve from 1943 to 1948. Here he created a sensuous world, bringing to Vence all the objects without which he could not draw and paint - jugs, vases, tables and chairs, shells, fabrics. Matisse produced Yellow and Blue Interior of 1946, Large Red Interior of 1948 and many other important works.

The Villa offers an exceptional setting for artistic inspiration with its beautiful garden filled with flowers and trees, and situated scarcely ten minutes walk from the historic center of Vence and the sea.

We will paint under the expert guidance of renowned artist Wendy Sharpe. She is a passionate and encouraging teacher and this trip is a rare opportunity to work with her in these historical surrounds. Her style is fast and fluid and she’ll encourage her students to produce a large number of drawings starting with quick exercises and progressing to more sustained drawings and paintings with the figure and compositions in colour.

We will all meet in Nice where will visit the Matisse and Chagall museums to whet your appetite and allow you to see some of the paintings that were actually painted from the rooms you will be staying in.

We have a wonderful week of drawing and painting in the grounds of the Villa or in the three indoor studios. There will be trips to the local markets and to the beautiful old town of St Paul de Vence where artists will be painting en plein air followed by a sumptuous lunch in a local restaurant.

Wendy’s love of France began when at the age of 26 she received the Marten Bequest traveling scholarship and residency at the Cite Internationale des Artes in Paris allowing her to immerse herself in the great galleries and museums of Europe. This early opportunity imprinted deeply on her psyche, providing an important reference in her work ever since.

Wendy since dedicated months of obsessive drawing in sketchbooks, in cafes, on the Metro and in the city streets, this process confirmed her commitment to figuration, which remains an ongoing theme in her work today.

Her interest in Matisse comes from his relationship to the model and his vibrant use of colour. “To have the opportunity to paint in the house that he lived and worked…..to see those same views is to be part of an amazing history.”

Included in the cost for the expedition are all tuition, accommodation, meals, beverages and cleaning at the Villa le Reve. Transfers from Nice by coach to the Villa are included as well as any excursion related transfers and ticket admissions; however any airfares or other transportation arrangements other than the nominated days to and from Nice for the group are not included in the package price. Please note that although daily meals will be provided at the Villa any external meals taken at restaurants are not included in the package price. Further details on the schedule for each day and specific requirements will be posted to participants on request.

We invite you to take a journey worth writing home about, to create your own stories that will last a lifetime. We believe in travel that is personal and passionate, and we hope that in taking a journey with us you will be transformed in some small way, your life richer and deeper for the experience.

Vive le France!!!

Art Safari to the Heart of Africa

Artworkshops Australia and the Classic Safari Company are pleased to announce this trip of a lifetime to the heart of Africa. Jo Bertini, a fabulous artist and teacher renowned for her love of the bush will lead this art adventure – this combined with beautiful wilderness, wildlife and the rich culture of the tribes will provide an invigorating experience for intrepid art adventurers.

The luxury camps at the base of Mount Kenya and the edge of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve are home to a huge variety of animals and birdlife, the ‘big five’ of the African continent  – elephant, rhino, hippo, cheetah and of course the king of them all - the African lion roam throughout the regions. It is also possible that the group may see the ‘Great Migration’ - The annual Wildebeest Migration, is one of the “Seven New Wonders of the World”. No where in the world is there a movement of animals as immense as the wildebeest migration, over two million animals migrate from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the greener pastures of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya during July through to October.

The expedition starts at the House of Waine, Nairobi Kenya for the group to acclimatise. Located in the leafy suburb of Karen, House of Waine is the epitome of an elegant country manor, providing guests with comfortable surrounds from which to explore the interesting sites of Nairobi. After 2 nights the group is transferred by private plane to the Laikipia Plateau. Not long after take-off you’ll be viewing wildlife from your window and soon you will be engulfed by Africa as the sights, sounds and smells of the bush take over. Our first 4 days will be spent at charming Loisaba Lodge, where you will experience the highest level of personalised service in luxury all-inclusive twin-share accommodation. The view from luxurious Lodge extends for hundreds of miles - to Mount Kenya, the Lolldaiga Hills and the Mathews Range. It is a setting little changed since the Great Rift Valley split Africa in two, creating the escarpment on which the lodge is built.

Daily 4 wheel drive excursions are taken early morning and at sunset in the hands of expert rangers and trackers who will ensure you enjoy the thrill of tracking down the Big Five. Spend the rest of the day painting and drawing with Jo or just relaxing and taking in the view.

On the 6th day, another chartered plane fly south to the Mara North Conservancy. Elephant Pepper Camp is situated right on the northern edge of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, tucked away in a prime wildlife area. The conservancy is the key dispersal zone for the annual ‘Great Migration’ and supports an extensive variety of wildlife from big cats to plains game and over 450 bird species. Elephant Pepper Camp is set in lush surrounds and is where you will spend the final 4 nights in laid back tented ambiance and traditional safari comfort.

“Both painter and desert explorer, Jo Bertini re-creates the immersive experience of travelling through the remote landscapes. Employed as an artist by Australian Desert Expeditions, her paintings reinvigorate our way of seeing the interior, distilling it into solid, sun-drenched planes of colour. Bertini says: ‘There are still things in our inaccessible desert regions that only the human eye can see and only the human hand can record. My role is most important to not only visually record and represent what is seen but also to record that which is unseen.” Victoria Hynes for the SMH
 
It will be hard for you to drag yourself away from the best sunsets in the world and fireside dinners under the stars, but at some stage the journey must end!

Due to the use of bush airstrips and charter flights, numbers are strictly limited. This unique trip which gives you the opportunity to explore, travel and paint with Jo Bertini offers only 10 places at this stage.

Please note that in the unlikely event that Jo Bertini is not be able to travel and host the Safari art experience, ArtWorkshops Australia reserves the right for another respected teaching artist to attend in her place.

Please email Beryl Miles at Artworkshops Australia for a detailed intinerary - beryl@artworkshopsaustralia.com.au