Painting holiday in Cyprus

Environment

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.

Community

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.