Capturing Tuscany

Kelly Oakes will lead a 1-week artistic experience in Tuscany from a base in the quaint and historic village of Montisi. Choose your method of capturing the beautiful landscape and Tuscan attributes…oil, acrylic, pastel, pencil/pen, watercolor, gouache. Kelly will guide the artistic endeavor as well as help you to do tours or other excursions. You will fall in love with Montisi and Tuscany.

Painting Workshop

Our study will consist of 5 days of painting in and around the charming, medieval town of Montisi. We’ll paint in the mornings and later in the afternoons to take advantage of the remarkable Tuscan sunlight. There will also be other activities and explorations for spouses and friends not painting.

Why Montisi?

Montisi a small, vibrant, medieval hill town, will immerse you in Tuscan life. Perfectly located for day visits to every major Tuscan and Umbrian destination. Montisi is a cost efficient holiday to share with friends. Come and discover for yourself vineyards, olive groves, great restaurants, and beautiful scenery. In a short drive through beautiful vineyards you can be in Montepulciano, Bagno Vinori, Cortona, Montalcino, the monastery at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Orvieto, San Gimignano, or drive the stunning hilltop road, Crete Sensei, to Siena. Go a little further and visit Assisi, Gubbio (a medieval village), Deruta (home of Italian hand painted pottery) or Florence (which is a nice place to start or end this trip).

The town of Montisi has its roots in the Middle Ages and is situated along the top of a hill on the site of an ancient Etrsucan necropolis. Surrounded by olive groves, its historic buildings front a single cobblestone street that winds from a bakery at one end to an ancient church at the other. There are several restaurants, coffee shop, bakery, occasional live music one night a week, and charm everywhere!

Lodging

Our accommodations are at La Romita Ospitalità Rurale Familiare, a very charming Bed and Breakfast in the heart of town. They serve a wonderful Italian breakfast each day. The gardens and structures at La Romita are wonderful to paint, as well as the amazing vistas around the farm. It is a perfect place to enjoy Italy and the workshop! There is also a beautiful pool. They also serve dinner nightly, if you choose to eat there. They had several choices each night and it was very reasonable and delicious, including wine. There were other restaurants also to choose from in town. There is a small store with lunch and coffee/drinks across the street.

The cost for standard lodging is $1,500, which includes a private room, private bath, and AC (7 available).

You may bring a guest for an additional $200 in lodging fees in these standard rooms.

There are also limited discounted rooms available as follows:

Private bedroom in a shared apartment with private bath (no AC)- $1250 (1 available)
Private bedroom in a shared apartment with shared bath (no AC)- $1150 (2 available)

Flights can be booked to Florence (about a 1.5 hour drive to Montisi) or to Rome (about 2 hour drive to Montisi). I would not drive IN either city, but rent a car at the airport and driving around Tuscany is quite simple with a GPS. You could also take a train from either city to Chiusi and get a driver to Montisi -about $100 one way.

You can also hire a van to drive from the airport to Montisi, not sure of cost.

Car Rental roughly $130/day for a mid size automatic. It was very doable to drive during the day, but I would not drive at dark. There are also van services to drive you places. One is called www.3rdservice.net

If you have any questions, please email me! Otherwise, you can reserve your spot and your lodging below!

Montisi, Italy Workshop