HONEST ART IN TUSCANY with Jodie King

Join Jodie in spectacular Tuscany for an in-depth, joy-filled workshop that will help you embrace freedom in both art and life!  Prepare to be immersed in a once-in-a-lifetime art experience while enjoying delectable meals, friendly evening aperitivo and personalized art instruction with Jodie.  

THIS WORKSHOP IS OPEN TO All Levels…

If you are a beginner, you’ll be given the opportunity to learn composition, color mixing, mark making and more – all in a welcoming environment. If you are an advanced artist, Jodie will help you create your most honest work through understanding the personal energy you bring to your art, embracing your personal mark making and how you choose the color combinations in a more intuitive way. Either way, this workshop will help you and your art advance to a new level in a judgement-free, joy-filled zone.

Jodie will cover composition, color, value, and mark making, but the real juice comes from her teachings about the creative process and how to embrace our own intuition as an artist. Priceless! Through demonstrations, meditation and journaling, you will leave with a better understanding of embracing freedom in art – and in life.

Jodie King’s workshops are best known for being honest and fun as well as practical and informative. She openly shares her personal painting techniques and creative process, yet her relaxed teaching style helps you let go of your fears and inhibitions in order to create raw, free, and honest work.

MORE ABOUT Jodie King

Jodie King is an artist, instructor and speaker living in Austin, Texas. As a professional artist for the last 20 years, she paints primarily in abstract expressionism using paint and other media to convey outwardly her own experience of mind, body and spirit. At the heart of her work is a call to all of us to live unapologetically in our own truth. 

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…

• How to loosen up as you create
• How to truly have FUN with the process
• How to create your most honest art
• The magic of color mixing and values
• Composition tips that will seriously take your art to the next level
• What to do when you’re stuck
• The 4 elements that all great paintings possess (you’re gonna be surprised about #1), and how to incorporate them into your art
• How to understand the personal energy you bring to your art
• Jodie’s personal painting techniques and process
• How to choose your color combinations in a more intuitive way
• How to use meditation and journaling to enhance your art
• Jodie’s secrets to advancing your art to the next level

ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrival

• Welcome and trip orientation with Jodie
• Aperitivo, dinner

Upon your arrival at Rome Fiumicino Airport, our private drivers will transport you to the Italian countryside, and your boutique hotel accommodations in the unspoiled village of Città della Pieve. After check in, you’ll enjoy a walking tour of the historic center of the village, with trip facilitator, Pamela Haack. Then it’s off to the art studio for a workshop orientation with Jodie.

Afterwards we gather together for a welcome aperitivo, followed by a delicious, regional-style dinner, prepared by Chef Vito. 

Day 2: Puscina Flowers

• Instruction with Jodie, Puscina Flower Farm
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This morning, after breakfast, it’s off to the studio for a morning of painting, learning and being inspired, as Jodie guides you with demonstrations of her signature techniques as well as individual instruction. Lunch today is served up at our friends’ inviting cafe.

In the afternoon our drivers will transport you to beautiful Puscina Flowers – an organic flower farm in the heart of Tuscany’s wine country. Here you’ll enjoy a delightful tour of the gardens that features hundreds of varieties of flowers, followed by a floral composition lesson with our friend, Teresa, on how to arrange flowers in a simple, natural way. So fun! Afterwards, you’ll enjoy dinner right here on the farm, served up under the ancient olive tree.

Day 3: Studio Time, Renaissance Walk

• Instruction with Jodie, Renaissance walk, pizza night
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After a delicious breakfast this morning, at the hotel, it’s back to the art studio with Jodie for a full morning lesson, as you immerse yourself in the joy and inspiration of this incredible, individualized workshop. After lunch at a nearby trattoria (perhaps followed by gelato) you’ll enjoy some free time to relax or continue to work in the studio.

In the afternoon, we’ll take a fascinating walking tour in the village where you’ll discover stunning Renaissance masterpieces by Piero Vannucci, commonly known as Perugino (a teacher of Raffaello), plus a jaunt down the narrowest street in Italy. This evening you might opt for a glass of Prosecco at a local bar, then it’s off our friends’ wood-fired pizzeria for pizza night.

Day 4: Studio Time, Pasta Class

• Instruction with Jodie, pasta-making class
• Breakfast, dinner

This morning, after breakfast, it’s off to the studio with Jodie for a full morning session of learning and creating. Lunch today is on your own. You might even grab a panino from Luca’s nearby panini shop and bring it right back to the studio so you can continue working.

In the afternoon, after some time to rest and recharge, we walk together to our friend, Cristian’s, bistro for a delightful pasta-making lesson that includes a peek inside the tunnels beneath his wine cantina. Plus you’ll learn Cristian’s best-kept secrets for pairing pasta with just the right sauce. A delicious dinner follows, featuring your handmade pasta, of course.

Day 5: San Casciano dei Bagni

• Archeological site, instruction with Jodie
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner

This morning, after breakfast, our drivers will transport us to the charming village of San Casciano dei Bagni, situated on a hilltop teaming with hot springs. Here you’ll enjoy a private tour of an astonishing Etruscan and Roman archeological site, followed by lunch at our friend, Daniela’s, restaurant that is nestled beneath the walls of the town’s regal castle.

In the afternoon it’s back to the studio for a final wrap-up session with Jodie, followed by a celebratory aperitivo and farewell dinner cooked alle brace (over coals) at one of our favorite local restaurants.

Day 6: Departure

Early morning transport to Rome Fiumicino Airport.

ACCOMMODATIONS ~ Boutique Hotel Vannucci

Hotel Vannucci began as a project of Vittoria Spinola, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele II, who fled Pisa (and an arranged marriage with her elderly husband) to start a new life with her lover in Città della Pieve. Here, she and her soon-to-be new husband, Paolo, built two villas that became luxurious holiday accommodations for wealthy Romans vacationing in the countryside. In 1903 one of the villas became Hotel Vannucci, and today it maintains the elegance and refinement of its inception, with luxurious sleeping rooms, marble bathrooms and inviting gardens. A stay here is truly special, nestled just outside the medieval walls of the historic, and unspoiled, village of Città della Pieve.

VIEW Photo Gallery

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Daily, individualized instruction with Jodie King
• 6 days/5 nights at Boutique Hotel Vannucci
• Private van service pick-up on arrival and departure days (Rome Fiumicino Airport)
• Private van service to/from all towns and sites included in the itinerary
• All breakfasts
• Most lunches  
• All regionally inspired dinners, featuring local wines
• Visit to organic flower farm
• Visit to archeological site
• Renaissance walking tour
• Pizza night!

Not included: Airfare, meals, alcoholic drinks, or transportation outside of that which is specifically listed in the trip package, gratuities for hotel staff and drivers

The Unexpected is Part of the Journey: Sometimes unexpected things come up. If there is unscheduled closing or schedule change, we carefully pivot to include something that is equally as wonderful and interesting, so that the quality of your experience is never at risk. ☺️

DATES AND DETAILS:

• Dates: June 9-14, 2024
• Trip Price: $5,295-$5,795 (select room type upon booking)
• Room Descriptions:
  • Single: Single occupancy, single bed, private ensuite bathroom
  • Classic: Single occupancy, double bed, private ensuite bathroom with walk-in shower
  • Superior: Single occupancy, double bed, private ensuite bathroom with tub/shower combination
  • Deluxe: Double occupancy, double bed or two singles, private ensuite bathroom with tub and shower (specifically for couples or friends traveling together)
• A $700 deposit is required to book your space on this trip
• View our Terms and Cancellation Policy
• Arrival/Departure Airport is Rome Fiumicino

BOOK NOW