Celebrated Artists, Individual Attention
Every retreat is led by a single world-class artist. Someone who has spent decades mastering their medium and who knows how to teach it.
They paint beside you in the mornings. Watching your work and teaching from what they actually see on your canvas.
There are ten painters in the group. That is not a classroom. It is close enough that your artist knows your work by Tuesday and is teaching it by Thursday.
Each retreat is built around a specific medium and approach. Oils. Watercolour. Gouache. Acrylics. Landscapes, portraits, and still life.
Whether you are deepening an established practice or finding your way into something new, this is a retreat built for where you are.
All professional-grade materials are included.
Whether you have been painting for two years or twenty, this is the week that treats you like the artist you are.
Clare Bowen Painting at Chateau Charente, 2025
The Place that Changes You as an Artist
The Charente. Cognac country, soft Atlantic light, beautiful villages. Quiet, unhurried, and exactly the right place to spend a week painting.
The week is built around your painting. But it does not stop there.
Each morning, you are at the easel with your artist. Small group. Individual attention.
Afternoons are yours. Wander through a brocante that the locals actually visit. Join the chef for a cooking workshop. Stay at your easel if the work is calling.
Evenings gather the group around the table. Each dinner takes you to a different region of France. The food and wine chosen together tell the story of a place.
Wellness mornings are woven in throughout the week. Gentle movement, fresh air, the chateau waking up around you. A way of arriving at the canvas ready.
This is a France most visitors never find. The Charente has not been arranged for tourists. That is precisely why it is worth painting.
Everything here is designed to make you paint better and leave restored. Partners are welcome..
What's Included
- Six nights accommodation in the chateau
- All meals, and wine with dinner
- Professional-grade materials for your medium
- Five masterclass sessions with your artist
- One-to-one feedback throughout the week
- Wellness mornings
- Curated Charente excursions
- A cooking workshop with our chef
- Transfers to and from the chateau from Bordeaux Airport or Angoulême train station. And for all excursions.
Nothing is left to arrange. Everything is left to paint.
All of our 2026 Retreats have sold out.
The 2027 season is open - and worth the wait.
