Painting holiday in Cyprus
Highlights
Lefkara | Still life exercises | Perspective and depth | Colour mixing | Direct observation and composition | Capturing light and shade | Depth, scale and tone | Up to 30 hours of tutoring by Cypriot artists | Fully equipped studio and outdoor lessons | Dips in the Med | Fresh Cypriot cuisine with local produce |Description of Painting holiday in Cyprus
Inspiration should flood in like the sunshine through the shutters with this sublime painting holiday in Lefkara, Cyprus, a village Leonardo da Vinci himself is known to have visited. From the remnants of Ancient Greek, Roman, Venetian and Ottoman civilizations to fragrant groves of olives and citrus fruits, and charming village architecture, you won’t be short of subjects here.Small groups, limited to just 10 participants, receive up to 30 hours of tuition from two Cypriot artists, both highly qualified and experienced, with numerous exhibitions to their names. You’ll have 24-hour access to a studio equipped with all the materials and equipment you need, but for the most part you’ll be outdoors on various excursions, making the most of the glorious scenery and light in this part of Cyprus. Stay in a beautifully restored monastery in the centre of the village in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains, eating freshly prepared Cypriot dishes every evening, prepared from locally sourced ingredients.
This holiday is designed to appeal both to beginners and those that have been painting for a while but would like to brush up their technique in oils, acrylics and watercolours – how much support and tuition you receive is entirely up to you. Daily lessons might focus on developing a still life; mastering colour mixing, an art in itself; and fundamentals such as depth, perspective scale and tone, the direct observation and composition of an image, and capturing light and shade.
As you’re on a Mediterranean island, you can naturally interrupt your work at any point to take a refreshing dip in the sea, and there will be abundant opportunities simply to wander the village, soaking up the atmosphere and meeting the locals. This small group painting holiday in Cyprus is sociable, fun, and should result in your efforts seeing plenty of improvement. Throw in that gorgeous scenery, weather, wine and food and you should be packing your paint kit already.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.
A significant part of our course is spent in the open air. The spectacular landscape of the Troodos foothills inspires the artists to capture both the rugged Mediterranean landscape and natural flora and fauna of olive, carob, orange and lemon groves. All our painters are briefed in advance concerning the importance of protecting ecologically sensitive areas in particular rare habitats and flora and fauna. In particular the use of foreign substances such as oil paints and cleaners are controlled and all detritus (albeit we use reusable packed lunch containers) removed from the various locations after each session. Our intention is to leave a minimum ‘footprint’ at each of our sites. We also dispose of wastewater and other cleaning substances resulting from painting activity at a recycling centre. Although Cyprus is a late adopter of recycling we recycle some glass (most bottles are returnable), cans and plastics but not bio waste (food) as in Germany for example as this is prohibited. Cyprus faces water shortages most years and we highlight this to our guests by encouraging them to conserve water by reusing their room towels and bed linen for at least 3 days or preferably longer. We do not have a swimming pool and therefore included a plein-air site during the course at a nearby beach for guests to take the opportunity to swim in the sea should they wish to do so.
Our hotel is a listed building and the property of the Cyprus Orthodox Bishopric who will not permit a solar energy installation, however to minimise any unnecessary energy waste we monitor and regulate the use of heating daily and seek the cooperation of our guests accordingly.
Detailed course information leaflets and proformas are forwarded electronically to our guests in advance of the course and additional information is also available from our website. We encourage our guests not to bring art supplies as we are keen to support local suppliers. Although it is not feasible to operate a paperless business we nevertheless keep our level of printing and therefore use of printing inks to an absolute minimum.
The Impacts of this Trip
Our intention is to influence the Cypriot government to embrace the fact that Cyprus can offer creative and more responsible forms of tourism, in particular working with local communities and artisans, now and in the future. This is why we chose Lefkara to run our creative holiday. We work closely with the Cyprus Tourist Organisation and other bodies to persuade the authorities that it can be done and to prove that diversifying their current tourism strategy will bring further economic prosperity to Cyprus by promoting Cypriot culture and raising environmental awareness. We are the only company in Cyprus that offers painting holidays in the current format but are very keen to see others follow our footsteps and we are willing to share our experiences to help others.
We employ local Cypriot artists to deliver our courses to promote Cypriot art, artists and their techniques, but also to raise awareness that the island and its artisans can and should engage in tourism that offers much more than a typical all-inclusive beach holiday. We actively engage local Cypriot artisans, lace-makers and silversmiths, who provide demonstrations and showcase their work to our painters and to provide occasional additional income for local businesses. For example, our course incorporates a plein-air day at a local olive farm introducing painters to traditional techniques of olive cultivation and olive oil production.
Where possible we strive to source our hotel supplies from local businesses and procure fresh produce from the local butcher and greengrocers. We feel strongly that we are part of our local community and will support local artisans whenever we can, offering the use of our studio or other facilities when this is possible.
A significant part of our course is spent in the open air. The spectacular landscape of the Troodos foothills inspires the artists to capture both the rugged Mediterranean landscape and natural flora and fauna of olive, carob, orange and lemon groves. All our painters are briefed in advance concerning the importance of protecting ecologically sensitive areas in particular rare habitats and flora and fauna. In particular the use of foreign substances such as oil paints and cleaners are controlled and all detritus (albeit we use reusable packed lunch containers) removed from the various locations after each session. Our intention is to leave a minimum ‘footprint’ at each of our sites. We also dispose of wastewater and other cleaning substances resulting from painting activity at a recycling centre. Although Cyprus is a late adopter of recycling we recycle some glass (most bottles are returnable), cans and plastics but not bio waste (food) as in Germany for example as this is prohibited. Cyprus faces water shortages most years and we highlight this to our guests by encouraging them to conserve water by reusing their room towels and bed linen for at least 3 days or preferably longer. We do not have a swimming pool and therefore included a plein-air site during the course at a nearby beach for guests to take the opportunity to swim in the sea should they wish to do so.
Our hotel is a listed building and the property of the Cyprus Orthodox Bishopric who will not permit a solar energy installation, however to minimise any unnecessary energy waste we monitor and regulate the use of heating daily and seek the cooperation of our guests accordingly.
Detailed course information leaflets and proformas are forwarded electronically to our guests in advance of the course and additional information is also available from our website. We encourage our guests not to bring art supplies as we are keen to support local suppliers. Although it is not feasible to operate a paperless business we nevertheless keep our level of printing and therefore use of printing inks to an absolute minimum.
The Impacts of this Trip
Our intention is to influence the Cypriot government to embrace the fact that Cyprus can offer creative and more responsible forms of tourism, in particular working with local communities and artisans, now and in the future. This is why we chose Lefkara to run our creative holiday. We work closely with the Cyprus Tourist Organisation and other bodies to persuade the authorities that it can be done and to prove that diversifying their current tourism strategy will bring further economic prosperity to Cyprus by promoting Cypriot culture and raising environmental awareness. We are the only company in Cyprus that offers painting holidays in the current format but are very keen to see others follow our footsteps and we are willing to share our experiences to help others.
We employ local Cypriot artists to deliver our courses to promote Cypriot art, artists and their techniques, but also to raise awareness that the island and its artisans can and should engage in tourism that offers much more than a typical all-inclusive beach holiday. We actively engage local Cypriot artisans, lace-makers and silversmiths, who provide demonstrations and showcase their work to our painters and to provide occasional additional income for local businesses. For example, our course incorporates a plein-air day at a local olive farm introducing painters to traditional techniques of olive cultivation and olive oil production.
Where possible we strive to source our hotel supplies from local businesses and procure fresh produce from the local butcher and greengrocers. We feel strongly that we are part of our local community and will support local artisans whenever we can, offering the use of our studio or other facilities when this is possible.
2 Reviews of Painting holiday in Cyprus
Reviewed on 02 Apr 2019 by Anthony Collazos
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Painting at Governor’s beach for the day. Superb location.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Take some comfortable shoes for lots of walking and exploring
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
The trip supports tourism to the town of Pano Lefkara. Low footprint as we
mostly walk everywhere.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
A very picturesque town ideal for painting as it offers a combination of scenic views and beautiful stone architecture. Very peaceful and quiet town.
Reviewed on 02 Apr 2019 by Eric Drewery
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Staying in a charming hill village, surrounded by lovely countryside doing what I like best - painting and drawing.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Be prepared for all types of weather. We did have some rain but also plenty of sunshine. At this time of the year that is to be expected but warm clothing was
appreciated.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes, to some extent. The art tutors were local Cypriots. Because of the nature of the holiday there was not much opportunity to frequent local restaurants, bars,
cafes etc.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent.
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