If you are a Plein air painter (or have always wanted to try painting in nature) looking for more confidence at the easel by overcoming a fear of new colors and atmosphere - and you love authentic travel in “secret” destinations - then you’ll want to join Linda Richichi in painting the bold colors and radiant energy of legendary lands of Sparta. 

Imagine waking up every morning hearing the sound of gentle waves at Blue Seas Villa, a private Greek family estate and country retreat in the village of Plytra on the legendary Peloponnese Peninsula.  

Before a delicious traditional Greek breakfast, take a 5-minute walk to wet your feet or have a leisurely swim in the crystal clear, aqua-blue water of the Aegean Sea. Or begin each day meditating on one of verandas while the waves help you leave all cares behind for a sense of renewal and inner peace.     

Plytra, Greece is the perfect place to set yourself free creatively and learn to use Linda’s six proven step-by-step techniques to create a drop-dead gorgeous work of art. 

Take a close-up look at the vibrant rainbow colors that appear by the sun hitting the sea at just the right angle, showing you that rainbows are everywhere. 

Soak up the time to simply observe the colors around you. Join the search for rainbows and learn how to include them in your work, creating a pleasing prismatic effect.

Each day you can explore a new place, capture your joy on your canvas and still have time to explore and shop at our hosts' favorite boutiques and delicacy stores that will leave you saying “Yum!”

We even have a surprise for you, so make sure you leave extra room in your suitcase for the trip home!

PRIOR TO ARRIVAL IN GREECE:

Four online lessons give you the opportunity to learn and practice ahead of time:  

• What and How to Pack Lightly
• Creating Dynamic Compositions and Value Sketches
• Depicting Sunshine and Shadows in your Work
• How to Use a Prismatic Color Palette to Add Emotion
  

The benefits you’ll get when YOU ARRIVE IN GREECE:

What can you expect when you arrive to spend 9 night and 10 days in the Peloponnese?

Having already absorbed the high points of each preliminary online lesson, you will be able to paint ….

The colorful boats in mirror-like waters of the marinas 

• The ancient buildings weathered over time, with a myriad of interesting tones and textures that will be fun to capture
• Pathways lit up by the sun’s warm light 
• Glimmering sparks of light as the setting sun creates rich colors on the land and bright warm colors on the clouds 
• Beautiful vistas of water with various shades of blue and greens, with distant mountains as a perfect backdrop, veiled in a blue haze 
• Still lifes (everywhere!), such as the clay pots filled with the Mediterranean flowers, fishing gear laying out in the sun, positioned as if an artist set them up just for you
• Capture gestures of the local people sitting at their favorite cafes by the sea

WHILE IN GREECE YOU'LL ALSO GET: 

• A new tool that will make the shifting of subtle nuances of colors that shift quietly, much easier to see and portray in your paintings. 
• Linda at your easel - working with you ONE-on-ONE, offering you guidance on issues such as how to transition your values to colors or how to offset the brilliance of reds in any subject, so that they really stand out.  
• Lessons on how to create neutral colors from a limited, prismatic palette that will help you when you are painting the natural stone buildings that surround the ancient alleys.
• PLUS we have lots of surprises in store for you to make this experience full of fun every step of the way. (Remember this clue!)
• Upon our return home, stay connected to the online group in our private Community Forum. Keep practicing your new skills and watch your confidence soar.  
• We’ll share an additional 1-hour critique zoom session. Show new work created after returning home from Greece from the vast number of photos and sketches you’ll be sure to have. This will benefit us all as we continue turning our memories into a body of work.  

We will use the Community Forum to post all the paintings completed in Greece and for months after. 

Finally, a painting holiday designed for painting and relaxation.

Linda Richichi teaches that Mother Nature has her own healing energy, and that art - specifically painting en Plein Air -can help to heal us.. Through her paintings and her teaching, you begin to “Experience the Energy” through harmonized color vibrations, which you can learn in her six-step process.

Linda has been conducting workshops since 2002 and Color and Energy workshops since 2011 in the US and abroad. Her work has been exhibited extensively around North America, including at the prestigious National Arts Club in New York City, with the Pastel Society of America, of which she is a Signature Member. She is also a member of Oil Painters of America, and a Signature Member of the California, New York, and International Plein Air Painters. She is represented by 530 Burns Gallery in Sarasota, Florida; Gallery Vibe in Naples, Florida; and by Nikki Sedacca Galery in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.