A special Tuscan Summer!
August 18 - 28, 20012

A unique 10-day holiday: a week-long painting workshop in the Tuscan countryside with Margaret Ferraro PLUS three days in glorious Florence: 18-28 August 2012

In your first week, you’ll paint in and around a peaceful historic watermill and then you’ll be transported to wonderful Renaissance Florence for three days’ culture and sight-seeing, including the services of a professional guide.

For centuries artists have drawn their inspiration from the Tuscan landscape and you could find few better paces to enjoy your art and improve your skills than the beautiful historic watermill, set beside the curving banks of a river in a gentle, wooded valley.

“An enchanting place - I really loved it, endless delightful subjects to paint”
“From the moment I stepped into my apartment and saw and heard the river,
I realised it was going to be very special”
“We’ve been on many painting holidays, but this was the best ever.”

At the watermill you will stay in stylish bedrooms in elegant buildings around the sunlit courtyard. We have seven large double and four single bedrooms. Four of the bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.

You’ll take leisurely breakfasts and mouth-watering evening meals in our new courtyard dining room (and also dine out some nights in little local restaurants to sample regional dishes and wines). The mill’s gardens, secluded millstream paths and riverside walks are all yours to enjoy. You’ll paint around the mill and in its studio, you’ll be transported to stunning locations in the unspoilt Lunigiana, Tuscany countryside.

Then you’ll be taken by train to Florence and stay in a 3-star hotel for three nights. As well as absorbing the atmosphere of the cradle of the Renaissance, you will also have at your disposal a professional tour guide to take you to the best museums and sights.

Your tutor: Margaret Ferraro

Margaret’s week-long painting course at the watermill will concentrate on oils and soft pastel. An artist all her life, she loves to share her knowledge and skills with all her students, from beginners right through to advanced. Margaret strives to provide a fun, non-judgemental atmosphere, allowing everyone to develop at their own pace and in their own way.

She says: “With a background in textile design, I can’t help but interpret landscape as a collection of exciting colour play, textural, designed, patterns, culminating in my own personal expression of what I find beautiful in the natural world. Using underpainting as a basis for colour reaction, I work dark to light, employ cool and warm contrast, as well as value play. These landscapes are puzzles to me, fitting in each piece as they come right.”

Cost of your 10-day holiday

The cost for this unique holiday starts at only $CAD 2,833 per person, based on two people sharing. Single rooms start from $CAD 2,969. This cost includes pick-up and drop off at Pisa airport and all transportation in Italy.

At the mill, everything is included: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including dinners with wine at charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre).

In Florence, you stay in an elegant, centrally positioned 3-star hotel, with your own bathroom, and continental breakfast. During your three-day stay, an English-speaking professional tour guide, with specialist knowledge of the city and its culture, will be with you for a total of eight hours.

There’s more about the watermill and our courses on our website: www.watermill.net
or you can get further details from Bill or Lois: info@watermill.net
Telephone (UK number): +44 20 7193 6246