The Serendipity
with ESTE MACLEOD
29 November - 7 December 2021
Retreat in Sri Lanka
THE SERENDIPITY ART RETREAT in SRI LANKA with ESTE MACLEOD
It's not easy to tell you all that this week will hold without sounding a bit over the top!
That's because Galle is a world of its own, So full of character and charm, I know you'll fall in love with it as I have since living here. It's the perfect place to come and make art. Brimming with inspiration, evocative streets of old Dutch houses retained with authenticity, as the entire Galle Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Fabulous cuisine abounds, You can sea swim safely, and our retreat is held in its very own garden hotel with lovely wide verandahs,,it's calm, unhurried atmosphere just for us, so we're in a safe, peaceful bubble.
We'll have adventures beyond the fort, visit Lunuganga, Geoffrey Bawa's stunning country residence, and you'll meet many of my friends in Galle Fort - some count their family history within its wall back seven generations!
Here are a few Galle glimpses from earlier this year ... if you've any queries please don't hesitate to be in touch with me by email or on the chat box here or Whats App.
Este has a fantastic program for you and everything's provided. We're really looking forward to meeting you here on the Teardrop Isle for a blissful Creative Living Retreat - possibly the best thing to happen all year!
This is an all-inclusive tropical painting holiday with art and yoga tuition, fine dining & cultural adventures.
You will be working on projects in watercolour and water-based media and painted paper collage. Two 3-hr art sessions daily dedicated to explorative projects that will build up to a bigger artwork project - expect to surprise yourself!
All materials are included + you'll receive some of Este's favourite brushes, a travelling palette and other art goodies to keep.
Presented by acclaimed UK artist Este Macleod in collaboration with Anna Kwiecinska, who is currently living in Sri Lanka.
PRE-RETREAT TREAT starts on 27 Nov. and ends in Colombo on 29 Nov. > more
ART RETREATS STARTS on Arrival (Day1) 29 Nov. & ENDS after breakfast on Dec.7 (Day 9), 2021
TRAVELLING TO SRI LANKA : Double vaccinated visitors can enter Sri Lanka without being required to have a PCR test on arrival, provided you have a negative PCR test result within 72 hours of departure from home. Once arrived, you are free to travel and stay where you wish. Visa and vaccination requirements > more
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Not ready to go home yet?
POST-RETREAT Tour of Sri Lanka with Este & Anna
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starts after breakfast, 7 December
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ends after breakfast , 15 December.
Meet Este Macleod
Este Macleod is an acclaimed British artist and designer whose way of teaching will show you ways to turn the things you notice into expressive, sophisticated artworks on paper using new dynamic painting and mixed media techniques.
Her way of teaching will spark your imagination, get you in a creative flow and show ways to broaden your art practice as anyone who's experienced Este's popular on-line courses will know. The same matrials Este uses are provided in this course.
Este will have your imagination sparking from the moment you sign up! Imagine a week to be pampered whilst dedicating yourself to art-making on a tropical island described by UK travel writer, John Gimlette as "the most beatiful country I've ever seen". Elephant Complex, 2015.
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Your Serendipity Experience Begins in Colombo
Your Sri Lankan experience starts the moment you arrive, with your private taxi bringing you from the airport to the iconic Galle Face Hotel, known for years as the 'smartest hotel east of the Suez Canal'. Your deluxe 'Landmark' room awaits, and I'll be there to meet you - and if you're not too late, let's meet for a welcome drink on the verandah, overlooking the Laccadive Sea?
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Breakfast leisurely before a guided drive through Colombo on our spacious coach, as we travel to the property of one of the 20th Century's most influential architects (110Km). Known as 'the father of Tropical Modernism' his designing did not stop at buildings - furniture, textiles and landscaping completed his famous ensembles, and today you'll be treated to a welcome lunch and tour of his private estate.
Afternoon tea and an art viewing of works by eminent Sri Lankan artists of the late C.20th complete our explorations before we drive the final 74km to Galle Fort with a quiet dinner in our hotel.
Your home for the next seven nights is within the 3km perimeter of the C.17th Galle Fort.
It's a world away from the bustling Galle town just beyond the ramparts. Your Dutch colonial-style hotel is a our private oasis this week. A courtyard garden filled with frangiapani, shady verandahs, spacious work areas and an atmospheric dining salon, and an elevator for those that want to avoid the stairs (the hotel's 14 rooms are on two levels).
Beyond the gates, a quaint village atmosphere caught in time, where you can safely wander, discovering cafes, restaurants and gelaterie, emporia of Indian textiles, and dazzling jewellery boutiques showcasing the most precious of the island's many riches - Sri Lankan blue sapphires. The village is friendly, welcoming and I can't wait to introduce you to my friends there!
The island's natural beauty is legendary, but amongst its built environments the Old Galle Fort is really something unique.
Galle Fort - A UNESCO Heritage Site
At first glance the streets may remind you of an Andalusian village, the French enclave of Pondicherry in South India, or even an ancient medina in Morocco. In fact, Galle is all this and more, for it has featured on seafarers' maps for more than 2000 years, as traders sought its many riches - elephants, pearls, cinnamon and rubies.
Portugal colonised a fort here from 1505, the Dutch usurped it in 1656, and in 1795 Ceylon became a British colony (until 1948).
Each epoch has left its mark and for an artist, inspiration is everywhere: time-worn surfaces of colonial architecture filled with fascinating objects, lush jungly plants shading and scenting cobbled streets, the diverse dress and food of cultures who’ve lived here for centuries beneath an ever-changing tropical sky ... it's like being inside a novel ... while never far away, the sound of the cerulean sea lapping at the ramparts which have encircled this fort for five centuries.