Friday 8 July 2016

Pastels are a real hit in Southern Spain!

Fun in the sun with pastels in the mountain village of El Acebuchal with 'Paint Andalucia

What a  great art holiday in sunny Southern Spain we have just had recently with 'Paint Andalucia'!

A totally magical and enriching creative art holiday for all of us in so many different ways. Superb, positive impressions and experiences for us all of us. What a great place, what fun!

Here's a little about what we did...
On arrivals day in the village of Torrox it was wonderful to meet everyone coming from Ireland, Brighton and the Cotswolds,  all coming together for a fantastic painting experience in beautiful and scenic Southern Spain! 

Distant Frigiliana and the Mediterranean coast from the mountains near Torrox
Scenic view towards beautiful Torrox and the Andalucian mountains in Spain
Elegant beautiful Spanish architecture in the centre of Torrox


In the afternoon after everyone had settled into their lovely typical Spanish hotel just off the main square in the centre of the lovely village of Torrox, Vicki and Paul had arranged a lovely Spanish meal for everyone with one of the local restaurants. 

A great chance for everyone to start to really unwind and get to know each other and enjoy the first of many brilliant meals and tasty Spanish food to include our get together in the evening at another local restaurant in the main square before exploring Torrox further still.

Torrox - a delight to explore the quiet narrow streets and discover the hidden corners!
Old Torrox - beautiful, colourful, enchanting and above all, typically Spanish!
Religious icon - Torrox 
Torrox narrow streets towards the top of the village - fabulous!







After a leisurely breakfast we all met the following to be taken by Paul and Vicki to spend the day painting the beautiful Spanish scenery from their lovely home in the mountains near Torrox - a great location offering fantastic views towards the Mediterranean sea.

In the afternoon Vicki and Paul treated us all to some fantastic food they both lovingly prepared - delicious! In the late afternoon it was chill out time - quite literally as several of the group took the plunge in Vicki and Paul’s pool after creating their first wonderful pastel paintings - the hard work done!
Joan exploring pastel colour in a cool and shady spot at Vicki and Paul's Spanish mountain home 'Casa Maria'
Elizabeth and Helen having a great time painting the beautiful scenic mountain views at Vicki and Paul's home near Torrox

A great place to relax at Vicki and Paul's home after enjoying your painting before taking a dip in their pool

Every other day thereafter for the rest of the amazing pastel painting holiday was equally as fabulous. Our wonderful painting locations included mountain hideaways, hidden villages, an historical botanical garden (Jadin Botanico-Historco in the province of Malaga - a real hit with everyone).

Angela and Helen pastel painting the beautiful historic building and light and shade in the Jadin Botanico-Historco
The beautiful gardens of Jadin Botanico-Historco


All these fantastic painting locations where just a short drive away from the lovely village of Torrox. 

We were taken there in style taken from place to place by Vicki and Paul in their comfortable and air conditioned mini bus and 4 x 4  -  all the painting gear provided by Vicki and Paul safely stowed in the back!

Meg painting the serene garden fountain and pool in the beautiful gardens of Jadin Botanico-Historco

The work everyone created was absolutely great! It was an absolute joy for me to see just how everyone took to pastel painting (many their first time experience using this versatile media and indeed, venturing outdoors to paint too) at all the inspirational locations we visited.

Jenny and Angie exploring the colours in the light and shade from one of the many stylish historic iron bridges in the gardens of Jadin Botanico-Historco 
Tree roots in the Jadin Botanico-Historco - another great painting subject

Half way through our amazing pastel painting holiday we visited and spent the day in the beautiful and historical ‘hidden village’ of El Acebuchal deep in the Andalucian mountains near Torrox.

Painting in the 17 century Spanish hamlet of El Acebuchal

Everyone was hooked - especially as we pretty much had the place to ourselves painting in the wonderful village streets. Everyone created great pastel paintings late into the afternoon all before another well deserved sumptuous lunch in the local and popular village taverna. 

The food was amazing and all freshly prepared. A great way to finish the afternoon with tasty Spanish cuisine before a scenic drive back to Torrox!

Creativity in the mountains of Spain. Everyone bringing their pastel paintings together
A quiet corner of the lovely village of El Acebuchal 
El Acebuchal - really beautiful and not a tourist in sight!



Mountain olives at Canuelo
As part of our art holiday we'd organised for everyone an exclusive visit to the superb mountain hideaway 'Canuelo' near Torrox. in the cool shade of the local olive trees and from the terraces of  this quiet and amazing mountain hamlet the views where spectacular - no wonder everyone created such good work!

Show time! Great to see everyone's paintings all together like this - great results each and every day!
Old Torrox - all things bright and beautiful and perfect painting subjects too!
Old town garden balconies in Torrox

Not forgetting Torrox itself, (which we explored on our second to last day) sketching and drawing soaking up the Spanish way of life in the different outdoor cafe bars in quiet pretty village squares, this was a great time to spend together again as another fabulous painting day - this time everyones drawing skills, not just their pencils!

Shared experiences
It was a real privilege to teach everyone lots of new and exciting things with pastels, make new friends, get to know one another and have a great time too on this wonderful relaxing art holiday. A real privilege to be the 'new tutor' for 'Paint Andalucia' and help create such a well thought of and successful art holiday for everyone. 

Everyone told me they learnt lots of new and exciting pastel techniques and I must say, I thought everyone's work was just great! 

On our final night we ended this great art holiday with another amazing meal at Vicki and Paul's home in the hills having fun and enjoying the last of the Spanish sun as it set over the mountains. 

Thanks!
Finally a big thanks to the amazing organisation from Paul and Vicki who were there every step of the way for all of us. We could not have asked for more! 

There is no doubt, a weeks painting with Paint Andalucia in Southern Spain is like no other! A fabulous art holiday for everyone in all sorts of positive ways! I'm already looking forward to coming back again next year to help everyone to feel recharged, energised and indeed...inspired!


Your next Spanish painting adventure or 2017

Roll on to 23 - 30 June 2017 for our next Expressive Pastel Painting holiday with 'Paint Andalucia' in southern Spain!

For further details about this fabulous Summer Spanish painting holiday for 2017 please visit


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