Art Safari

We visit Zambia at an exceptional time for wildlife viewing.  By late August, almost all of the animals have migrated to the riverside areas to get access to water and concentrations of game are at their highest.

Guided by expert safari guides, we set off on morning and afternoon game drives to sketch herds of elephants, lion, antelope and zebra, while midday is for relaxing and painting in our lovely lodge watching wildlife on the banks of the Luangwa River.

This extraordinary and beautiful wildlife area is a place to watch the world’s miracles of nature.  There are wonderful river landscapes, dry lagoons and gnarled trees to tempt any landscape painters too…   

Your art tutors, Mary-Anne Bartlett and John Threlfall are accomplished artists and seasoned Africa-hands; they will teach you how to look at the bush and respond quickly and graphically to the sudden arrival of moving animals.  

This is a nicely relaxed residential safari where you can dedicate your time to drawing Africa’s finest animals and return with full sketchbooks and memories of many happy sunrises and sunsets in a wilderness never to be forgotten. 

All standards are welcomed.

Tour cost: from £2141 per person sharing excl. flights

Single room supplement: £281 (2 spaces available) 

Call 01394 382235 to book your place.

Artist Roger Dellar is leading this new Art Safari itinerary to the historical coastal town of Chania in Crete, with its beautiful 14th Century Venetian Harbour.

Roger will tutor in oils for this Cretan Art Safari, with demos and tutorials looking at perspective, light, shadow and reflections.  This is a place Roger knows and loves and he will share his favourite painting spots in the narrow streets, squares and bustling market places, and on the harbourside.

We spend a day in the nearby foothills of the White Mountains, with long undulating views and ancient olive trees as our inspiration at Manousakis Winery. Tasting some organic wines with a delicious mezze lunch.

The early September temperatures should be pleasant for painting and relaxing in Crete.  Our base is a friendly, comfortable hotel in Chania old town and we will walk to nearby painting locations.

Tour cost: from £1283 per person sharing excl. flights

Single room supplement: £252

Call 01394 382235 to book your place.

Join Malawi specialist Mary-Anne Bartlett to discover its awe-inspiring Rift Valley landscapes, enchanting wildlife and welcoming culture. 

Arriving in the capital Lilongwe we will traverse Malawi’s central and southern regions, passing through varied landscapes; if you want to enjoy a natural paradise away from the crowds this is the place to be!

Steep escarpments and vast plains, idyllic tropical islands, languid waterways and rocky rapids, mature woodlands and floodplains dotted with ancient baobabs all form the backdrop for a focus on landscape painting and photography.  

We float on the Shire River painting hippos and fish eagles; we linger at an underground waterhole close to elephant, sable, and zebra; we enjoy the antics of warthogs, and keep our eyes open for the brilliant green flashes of the Lilian’s Lovebirds… 

This is a slow pace safari, with views to die for!

Tour cost: from £3882 per person sharing excl. flights

Single room supplement: £485

Call 01394 382235 to book your place.

Draw late summer birds, butterflies and meadows from life with Mark Boyd at Pensthorpe in Norfolk. Pensthorpe is an award-winning mix of nature trails, beguiling woodland walks, and a showcase for British wildlife and nature conservation.  The reserve is also a recognised national breeding site for many species, including Grey-Crowned Cranes, Long-Tailed Tits, Female Marsh Harriers, Kingfishers, Cormorants and Spotted Flycatchers.

Mark’s approach is very refreshing – he will help you find lines you never knew existed (and then lose them), he will make you think about colour and markings.  Above all he will give you a deeper understanding of birds and of your own approach to drawing and painting wildlife.

£70 per day or £130 for two days.

Call us on 013964 382235 to reserve your place.

Lindsey Bucknor returns to Woodbridge to take you out and about in Suffolk and explore your photography further.  The focus of this workshop is very practical and aims for you to take the best photos, using composition, light and technique to achieve photos worthy of framing later. 

Over this 2-day workshop, we will explore the photogenic Suffolk coast with our cameras, working on techniques for long exposures to capture movement at the tideline.  We will also visit the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary and spend time with the magnificent birds of prey – photographing a selection of owls and hawk’s close-up and on the wing. 

Cost £145 for two days tuition (lunch is not included)

Must be pre-booked on 01394 382235 or info@artsafari.co.uk

The Arctic autumn is a wonderful display of colour as the sunrises and sunsets become longer and longer, with yellows dissolving into oranges, often giving extraordinary mauves and purples in the fjords at low light.  The colours of the landscape are magnificent, and as the first snow arrives in September/ October, russet leaves give way to distant snowy mountains in the background.

As the nights begin to darken and if it is clear, there’s a good chance of seeing the glowing Aurora dance across the skies in luminous green bands – it’s quite simply breath-taking!  So, we hope you’ll be sketching stunning autumnal landscapes by day and the spectacular northern lights by night.  

Our base is a peaceful waterfront farmstead on Kvaløya island surrounded by beautiful north Norwegian wilderness, approximately 50 minutes from Tromso.  We have a light airy studio space at the Farmstead to work on our sketches, which enjoys panoramic views of the sea and mountains.

Artist tutor Karen Pearson will lead sketching walks into the surrounding countryside, take you to visit local art studios showing paintings, glass and ceramics, and take a trip into Tromso to some of her favourite sketching spots including the Arctic-Alpine Botanical Gardens and museums.  Walking and photography opportunities abound.

Tour Cost from £1165 to 1365 pp sharing (non-painting partner £1061)

Single Room Supplement from £365 to £467

(Room choices vary and affect the prices)

Call 01394 382235 to book your place.

Art Safari are delighted to be venturing to Southern Italy for the first time in October  with artist James Willis. We begin our painting days in Matera – the European Capital of Culture for 2019.  We stay for four nights at a boutique hotel in Sasso Barisano, in the historic heart of Matera.  This is a fantastic location for exploring and painting  the elegant architecture of this fascinating city, and visiting the ancient cave dwellings and rock churches carved into the Gravina Gorge.  James will take you to his favourite painting locations. In Puglia we are in the countryside at a stone Masseria (fortified farmhouse) for 5 nights, pale golden dry-stone walls shelter tranquil gardens and an inviting swimming pool.  With James’s guidance and contagious enthusiasm, sketchbooks will fill with views of white-washed hill-top towns, olive groves, vineyards, orchards and Trulli – traditional dry-stone huts with conical beehive roofs.  We visit a charming harbour to paint the ultramarine inshore octopus fishing boats in the Adriatic seaport of Monopoli. Tour cost: from £2507 per person sharing excl. flights (double bed only) Single room supplement: £300  Call 01394 382235 to book your place.

Printing is exciting, totally involving and so very satisfying!  Come and learn all about simple print techniques and be amazed at how you can print a mini-edition of your work on this three-day course with artist Mary-Anne Bartlett at the Art Safari Studio in Woodbridge.

Mary-Anne will guide you through the process of printing with simplicity and style.  Working in woodcut, lino and monotype, you learn how to simplify your image and separate your colours to make both monochrome prints as well as layering different colours.  The design and cutting process is an exciting puzzle which will unfold in clear stages until you are ready to print – and then the magic becomes more and more intense as the print takes form.

Bring strong images from your sketchbook or paintings to work from and to create your own unique multiples.  You might have an image from an Art Safari sketchbook from around the world, a design that you want to develop, or simply a sketch of flowers in your garden that is just waiting to make it into print.

In the evenings we like to go out to nearby restaurants – optional/not included.

Cost £285 inc VAT for your tuition, and includes printing materials for workshop use, tea/coffee/cake

Call 01394 382235 to book your place.

Join artist and explorer Mary-Anne Bartlett on her third Art Safari to Japan.

We travel to Japan during the ‘autumn-leaves-viewing’ months.  Colours range from brilliant yellow, to lime greens, to reds, oranges, pinks and magentas.  Moss gardens and chrysanthemums take on extra brilliance.  In many ways more colourful than the blossom of Spring at this time, Japan is also less crowded.

On this Art Safari adventure we explore beautiful areas of Japan, stopping to paint the temples and sketch the gardens of Kyoto, sweeping landscapes of the snow peaked valleys of the Japanese Alps, and curious snow monkeys bathing in hot springs. 

 The November light is amazing for painting Fuji, as shafts of light cross its volcanic skirts, and also for the rest of the country, it’s crisp, bright and extraordinarily colourful.

Tour cost: from £4784 per person sharing excl. flights

Single room supplement: £662 

Call 01394 382235 to book your place.

This Art Safari is packed full of visual treats and new experiences.  Artist and India traveller Maxine Relton will guide you through a landscape of romantic water palaces, imposing hilltop forts, ornately decorated temples, tribal villages, and flamboyant streets and markets.  She will take you off the beaten track and introduce you to people, artists and organisations that will give you a taste for the real spirit of this inspiring and vibrant country.  Along the way you will learn the exciting art of vivid, rapid sketching and create a sketchbook of wonderful memories.

The majority of our time is spent in small heritage hotels where you’ll experience a more authentic taste of Rajasthan.  These hotels combine modern comforts with old world charm and showcase the beautiful architectural and decorative features of these bygone palatial residences.  Often, you’ll be hosted by maharajas and maharanis!

Tour cost: from £3395 per person sharing (excl. flights)

Single room supplement: £1138

Internal flights from/to Mumbai £300 (not included)

Call 01394 382235 to book your place.