Picasso Country - Spain 2026

Monday 08th June : Group flight with EasyJet EZY8011 from London-Gatwick arriving in Valencia at 12:35

Once everyone has assembled at Valencia Airport Arrivals, our driver will transfer us by minibus to our luxurious wilderness retreat in the Matarraña mountains. It is a scenic journey of around 2hrs 30mins. This beautiful corner of Spain is tucked away off the tourist radar, and with its medieval villages, olive groves, stone-walled terraces, and truffles growing beneath oaks it is easy to see how it inspires parallels with Tuscany. The final approach to our boutique hotel is reached by a long winding track which adds to the sense of adventure!

We arrive at Mas de la Serra at around 4.30pm where we will be greeted by our hosts who will settle us into our rooms. This lovingly renovated 17th century stone farmhouse, or masīa is characteristic of the region. It is owned by Alasdair Grant, of the famous whisky making family, who discovered the abandoned farmhouse in 1998, and subsequently embarked on a long restoration project. Today, the masīa’s rooms are furnished in a rustic country-house style with local antique furniture, family heirlooms, decorative influences from Alasdair’s travels, and all the amenities of a 21st century hotel. There are also two cosy sitting rooms with wood burning stoves, an inviting 3 infinity pool, hot tub, and honesty bar with a selection of the family’s single malt whiskies.

We will meet in the evening for drinks and Julia will gather everyone for introductions to talk about what we would like to develop over our days of drawing and painting in the week ahead. We will then welcome dinner, hopefully on the terrace overlooking the mountains if weather permits. Delicious cuisine is very much a part of the Mas de la Serra experience, and Jenny, the in-house chef, creates exciting fusion dishes from local Aragonese delicacies and her homeland of Peru. The gastronomy is one of the highlights of Aragon, which is famed for its cured meats, goat’s cheese, lamb, peaches, almonds and truffles!

Tuesday 09th June

Early birds may like to have a walk around the estate, before our hearty breakfast at 9am at the farmstead.

Today we will be based at the masīa, painting in the magical and tranquil surroundings. The landscaped grounds around the farmstead give way to olive groves and almond orchards and beyond them march rugged mountains cloaked in pine forest and dense holly oak under vast skies.

To get you started, Julia will talk about some of the techniques you may use during the week. She will move around the group offering one-to-one guidance as you figure out perspective, respond to colour and observe detail. You may find that your first day’s sketchbook is a mass of small sketches, though Julia will discuss with you when and where to settle into a longer study.

We will take a break for a leisurely lunch at the masīa for 1pm and continue painting into the afternoon.

In the afternoon we will venture into the town of Fuentespalda to paint the Hermitage. We can enjoy drinks in the square before returning to the farmstead to watch the last of the summer sun light up the rocky outcrops, and we may be able to spot ibex – a type of wild goat – nimbly negotiating the steep terrain...

Typically, at the end of each day on an Art Safari we spend some time looking at each other’s artwork and enjoying the successes (not bemoaning the failures) of the day’s painting. This can be a great summary of the day and it is always fascinating to see how each of us sees, interprets and represents a view so personally and differently. Return to our rooms to relax and freshen up before dinner at 8.30pm. After dinner you might want to ensconce yourself on the roof terrace for some star gazing – there is no light pollution here, so the starry night skies are incredible!

Wednesday 10th June

We’ll rise and shine early today to see the Griffon vultures at Mas Bunyol. Hundreds of these majestic creatures swoop down to feed every morning, making a wonderful spectacle.

We will try and capture the swirling, swooping and diving forms in our sketchbooks as we enjoy the display. With binoculars we may be able to spot groups of the vultures clustered on the surrounding rockfaces.

After our visit to Mas Bunyol, we head to the picturesque village of Cretas, characterised by its impressive medieval architecture, and surrounded by lush green mountains and rivers. The captivating ancient stonework and beautiful balconies will make interesting subjects for our sketchbooks as we meander through the quiet streets.

We return to the masia for lunch and then have the rest of the afternoon free to relax and work on our paintings.

Thursday 11th June

This morning we continue our painting and have an introductory talk on Picasso with views of Monastery of San Salvador. We then take a visit to the Picasso Museum and locations where Picasso painted here in the afternoon. Before our afternoon sightseeing and sketching, we take a picnic lunch in the stunning Els Ports Mountains.

Picasso first came to Horta during his youth to recover from an illness in the summer of 1898; he later returned in 1909 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his first stay. Both visits were uplifting, inspirational and very productive for him. Growing up Picasso was a city boy, studying in Barcelona and Madrid, but in Horta he discovered nature and his traditional sketches of trees, goats, shepherds, and local people are very interesting to see.

On his second visit, Picasso was a more mature artist, and it was during this visit that he developed his Proto-Cubism style of painting, which brought an end to his financial struggles. Aside from the connection with Picasso, the architecture of Horta’s old town has been declared to be of National Cultural Interest and the narrow streets and beautiful stone buildings provide plenty of sketching material. You might like to embrace the Picasso spirit of our location and experiment with abstract responses to your surroundings!

We will then enjoy a lovely picnic for lunch and continue our paintings from a garden of a private residence in Horta. This evening we return to our farmstead for a roast lamb dinner slowed cooked in their outside bread oven.

Friday 12th June

This morning, we take a drive through barely touched, picturesque countryside to the medieval town of Morella, which sits proudly atop a 1000m hill rising steeply from the wide river valley below.

The town occupies a strategic position at the crossroads that link Valencia, Aragon and Catalonia, the Mediterranean and the Ebro Valley, and been fought over frequently since its occupation by the Moors in 714 right up to the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

Morella is one of few walled towns around the world and the views as we approach are incredible - staggered tiers of buildings cling to the rocky hillside, which is crowned by a castle and encircled by an intact rampart wall more than 2km long. We will find a viewpoint enroute to sketch far-reaching scenes of the town. You might find yourself mapping the outline of the horizon and rooftops or looking at a small section of the view...

Throughout its history, Morella has been occupied by many of the ancient powers from the Greeks and the Carthaginians to the Romans, the Moors and Christians. Its rich past is reflected in the architectural treasures inside the town: the Romanesque-style houses and the Gothic façades of the historic buildings, such as the Town Hall; the gorgeous main street ‘Blasco de Alagón’ with its practical and decorative covered walkways and winding staircases leading up and down the town; several beautiful old churches and of course the ruined Morella Castle is the crowning glory of this hilltop!

We will spend the morning working on quick sketches to ensure you have captured some of the character of Morella, before taking more time in the afternoon to work on favourite locations.

Lunch will be in a local restaurant. The town is known for its artisan foods and local delis are filled with an Aladdin’s cave of local produce from honey to cured hams and sausages to Morella’s famous black truffles. If you pass a local bakery, pop in to buy some of the well known Flaon of Morella, a crescent shaped sweet pastry stuffed with soft cheese and ground almonds, and dusted with sugar and cinnamon.

Later in the afternoon, we return to the masīa to continue working on our sketchbooks, or to simply relax before a BBQ dinner this evening.

Saturday 13th June

This morning, we take a trip to the stunning Pantano de Pena Lake with its clear turquoise waters. We’ll spend around 2 hours here painting on the shore in the tranquil surroundings.

After our relaxing start by the lake, we’ll move on to fairy-tale like town of Valderrobes. The iconic medieval stone bridge crosses the picturesque Matarraña River, into the immaculately conserved old town, whose winding little streets slope up to a hilltop Gothic castle and church. With our sketchbooks in hand, we stroll across the ancient bridge of San Roque, which dates to 1390, when the Bishops of Zaragoza became rulers of this area and began fortifying the town. In the main square is the Town Hall, a beautiful 16th Century Renaissance building whose ornate windows and palatial stylings testify to the Matarraña’s past agricultural prosperity.

As we meander, we will snatch details of favourite discoveries in our sketchbooks, scribbling, dabbing swatches of colour and notating pages.

Presiding over the town are the majestic castle-palace of the Bishops of Zaragoza, and the 14th Century Gothic church of Santa Maria la Mayor, built like the rest of Valderrobres in golden sandstone. This spectacular church is a wonderful example of Aragonese Gothic architecture, which is characterised by large, wide buildings with octagonal pillars, towers and domes, and minimal decoration creating an aesthetic simplicity.

We have lunch here, and then have the whole afternoon to explore the town. Julia will help you decide where to paint and what you might like to focus on. Please ask her if you would like a demonstration or make the most of your time by collecting your own sketches.

We return to the masia for our evening meal.

Sunday 14th June

Today is a relaxing day at the masīa for all. There will be plenty of time for reflection and finishing off any art pieces from your weeks work.

We will have heaps of material now for paintings and sketches, so we spend some time today to work them up either in the gardens or one of the lovely patios and terraces. There will also be time to learn more about structure and composition.

You have been working hard though, so please let yourselves have a holiday day today if you would like to! A laze by the edge of the infinity pool, drinking in the breath-taking mountainous panorama might be hard to resist! Lunch will be a delicious paella.

This evening before supper we will take some time to review our sketchbooks with Julia, to discuss our favourite work and perhaps choose images that we will continue to progress in our studios.

Monday 15th June

After a leisurely breakfast, we will pack and get ready for our transfer back to Valencia Airport at 8am and our board our flights home.

Group flight with EasyJet EZY8012 from Valencia to London-Gatwick departing at 13:10