Each retreat is built around a single artist and a single medium.
The chateau, the standard of instruction, and the group of ten remain constant - but each week is its own distinct experience.
The 2027 Season
The Quiet Language of Flowers & Tea Cups
This Thing With Colour
The Considered Palette
Karen Daigle has inspired thousands of painters through her luminous still life work. She has never taught in person. Until now. Ten painters. Southwest France. Spring.
Hundreds of thousands have followed Vicki McGrath's work online. Now ten painters will spend a week painting alongside her in person, in Southwest France, for the very first time.
One of Britain's most respected still life artists, working directly and individually with each painter. Six nights. Ten places. Southwest France in June.
Flowers. Teacups. Silver.
Colour. Light. Everyday objects made extraordinary.
Colour, closely looked at. Deeply understood.
Loose Realism in Oils
The Sky, My Muse
Landscapes, Still Life, Portraits, Abstract and More.
Sarah Sedwick paints still life the way most people wish they could. This week she teaches everything she knows about it, to ten painters only, in Southwest France.
Plein air work in the autumn Charente light, with one of the most distinctive landscape painters working today.
More artists will be announced in the coming weeks. Join the list to hear first, before places open to the public.
Colour. Confidence. The still life, at full tilt.
Sky. Light. Landscapes made luminous.
Oils, Gouache, Acrylic, Pastels, Watercolour.
Step Into Vicki's Masterclass
Discover Karen's Masterclass
More on Sarah's Masterclass
Discover Sarah's Masterclass
Step Into Richard's Masterclass
SELLING FAST
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ONE SPOT LEFT
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what IS A
MASTERCLASS
The word is chosen deliberately.
This is not a workshop with demonstrations and exercises.
It is sustained, close instruction from a painter who works at a high level - instruction that responds to what is actually happening in your work, not to a programme.
Which means it meets you exactly where you are.
A group of no more than ten makes this possible.
who IS THIS FOR?
Not painters of a particular standard. Painters who think about it when they are not doing it. Who want more from their practice than they are currently getting. Who have been meaning to do something like this for longer than they care to admit.
Our guests range from painters who have never shown their work outside their family, to painters of real technical accomplishment. What they share is not a level of skill. Painting isn't just a hobby they squeeze into their week - it's central to who they are.
If that is you, this week is for you.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
ART
STAY
DINE
Gourmet Seasonal Dining
- 5 immersive half-day masterclasses with our master artist
- One-on-one guidance and group critiques
- Professional studio materials and plein air setup.
- 6 nights in refined accommodation
- Choose from deluxe suites with ensuites and sitting areas, suites with ensuites, or beautifully appointed rooms
- All include Parisian linens and the same unhurried care as the rest of the house.
- Seasonal breakfasts, picnic lunches, refreshments, snacks and 3-course dinners
- Evening aperitifs with a daily seasonal cocktail or mocktail
- Wine pairings with dinners.
Elegant Accommodation
Guided Masterclasses
- Curated excursions to brocantes, village markets, family-owned vineyards, and the storybook towns of the Charente
- Nature walks, wellness sessions, and painting en plein air
- All transport included.
- Easels & Tripods
- Paints (specific to the artist)
- Canvases / Boards
- Paintbrushes
- Everything you'll need, so you can just arrive and paint.
The Teaching Changed How I See the Canvas.
The demonstrations unlocked something I had been missing in my own painting. I came away with a clearer understanding of composition, focal points and the discipline of simplifying what is in front of you. What she shared this week will stay with me long after I return to my studio.
A GUEST FROM HONG KONG, 2026
WHAT OUR GUESTS ARE SAYING
So positive. Calming. Comfortable. Magnifique! All week I smiled with joy! Merci Beaucoup.
This experience at the art retreat has changed me in more ways than I expected. I thank you for your hospitality, style and selection of experiences throughout the day.
A GUEST FROM THE UNITED STATES, 2026
WHAT OUR GUESTS ARE SAYING
Morning Wellness
Begin the day with an optional Tai Chi session or gentle stretching in the gardens. Breathe in the crisp country air as the sun warms the chateau’s stone walls.
Gourmet Breakfast
Savour a beautifully prepared breakfast featuring eggs made to order, house-made granola, creamy chia pudding, seasonal fruit, artisan breads, and freshly-baked pastries, alongside cold-pressed juices and an elegant espresso and tea bar.
Intimate Masterclass with Master Artist
Picnic Lunch
Gather with fellow guests for a relaxed picnic-style lunch al fresco - or take a beautifully packed basket back to the studio to linger in the flow of your painting.
Evening Aperitifs
Gather as golden light falls across the gardens. Each evening features a signature cocktail inspired by the season, accompanied by elegant hors d’oeuvres.
Chef's Dinner with Wine Pairing
Dinner is candlelit and unhurried. Each evening, the menu travels to a different region of France - Burgundy, Alsace, the Basque Country, Provence - the food and wine chosen together to tell the story of a place. It is a way of seeing France without leaving the table.
The evenings are otherwise unstructured. The garden, the studio, early to bed, more time in the studio. Whatever the week needs.
WHAT TO EXPECT - A DAY ON RETREAT
Choose Your Afternoon
Immerse yourself in the rhythms of French life: meander through a local brocante or market, join our chef for a hands-on cooking workshop, relax in the chateau with a book, or continue painting at your own pace.
ABOUT CHATEAU CHARENTE
Why painters come here
Chateau Charente was built around one idea. That ten painters, one celebrated artist, and six nights of genuine individual attention is the combination that actually changes how you paint.
Not a large group with a demo at the front. An intimate week where the artist knows your name, your work, and exactly what you need to hear.
Southwest France, where the light changes with every season and rewards it every time. A studio stocked with professional materials. A garden, a brocante, and evenings that feel like they belong to another era.
Discover more
Discover Our 2027 Masterclasses
Each retreat welcomes just ten painters. With rooms that sold out across our entire 2026 season, places go quickly. If a retreat catches your eye, it is worth reserving early.
Discover Karen Daigle's Masterclass
Discover Vicki McGrath's Masterclass
Discover Sarah Spackman's Masterclass
Discover Sarah Sedwick's Masterclass
Discover Richard K. Blade's Masterclass
“This experience at the art retreat has changed me in more ways than I expected. I thank you for your hospitality, style and selection of experiences throughout the day.”
— A GUEST FROM THE UNITED STATES, 2026