# The Watercolor Feast Retreat with Artist Erin Gleeson in France

Join artist Erin Gleeson for an immersive watercolor retreat in the Loire Valley, France. Surrounded by rolling hills, lush gardens, and the beauty of northern France, explore the intersection of painting and food as you create a vibrant collection of watercolor pieces inspired by seasonal produce, local markets, shared meals, and simple vegetarian cooking demos with Erin and the venue’s chef.The retreat welcomes artists of all levels, with daily classes led by Erin, offering demonstrations, guidance, and playful exercises. Learn to capture the color, texture, and shape of fresh ingredients, botanicals, and still-life arrangements, and translate your cooking experiences into illustrated recipe cards. Create your own “Watercolor Cookbook Journal” filled with recipes and sketches, documenting your culinary and artistic discoveries throughout the retreat. Complement your art classes with exciting trips to a vibrant French market in a nearby Loire Valley town and to an impressive Renaissance country house with spectacular, expansive gardens named Château de Villandry. Get inspired by the Château’s mesmerizing gardens and gather fresh produce and inspiration from the local market. Stay at a historic 19th-century French château with lush gardens, outdoor terraces, a heated pool, and both indoor and outdoor workshop spaces. Enjoy all-vegetarian meals prepared by the venue’s chef, taste local wines in a wine-tasting event with a top Loire Valley sommelier, and connect with fellow creatives over shared meals, watercolor painting, and joyful experiences.

## Details

- **Dates:** October 4 - 11, 2026
- **Location:** Concourson-sur-Layon, France
- **Starting Price:** $4,350
- **Category:** Painting

## Program

### The Watercolor Feast Retreat
Experience an immersive watercolor art retreat with artist Erin Gleeson in the heart of the Loire Valley, surrounded by rolling hills, endless skies, and the rustle of autumn leaves. Embark on a slow, sensory, creative retreat where the seasonal produce, local markets, gardens, and simple regional dishes of northern France inspire watercolor painting. Spend your time taking art classes with Erin, in which you will learn how watercolor painting and culinary inspiration can be intertwined. Learn how to paint fresh produce, ingredients, botanicals, and florals. Get inspiration from exciting outings to a local French market and to Château de Villandry, a grand Renaissance country house with spectacular, expansive gardens, as well as from simple cooking demos with the venue’s chef.The retreat is open to all levels of experience, though you’ll benefit most if you already have some familiarity with watercolor, as well as with Erin Gleeson's work and style of teaching. All the meals that you will share with Erin and your art group, as well as the cooking demos and simple food prep activities, will be vegetarian.Take part in a captivating experience that combines both cooking and painting, learning how to prepare simple regional food recipes and how to create illustrated recipe cards that capture the colors, textures, and essence of each dish. At the end of the retreat, you will go home with a “Watercolor Cookbook Journal” filled with your travel and culinary experiences. Some of the topics covered in your classes with Erin include: Developing confidence in watercolor techniques (botanical, still-life, loose expressive, and food illustration)Learning to capture the color, shape, and texture of fresh ingredientsObserving and sketching from life: markets, gardens, and natureEnjoying light cooking activities (simple cooking demos) to create still-life subjectsCompleting 15–20 finished pieces documenting the retreat experience Going home with a Watercolor Cookbook Journal filled with recipes and sketches…and many more! Your home for the week will be a historic 19th-century French château. Your art classes will take place both indoors and outdoors, surrounded by blooming gardens, open skies, and the layered charm of the château. Indulge in delicious all-vegetarian meals prepared by a private chef and under the supervision of the château’s nutritionist. Taste authentic French flavors in a wine-tasting event with a top local sommelier native to the Loire Valley, and savor a selection of artisanal French cheeses in delightful cheese platters accompanying each dinner.

### Day 1: Arrival
Arrive at Angers (St. Laud) train station with enough time to catch the 4:00 PM group transfer, arriving at the beautiful château by 5:00 PM. Upon arrival, you will meet artist Erin Gleeson, your instructor for the week, as well as your fellow creatives. After settling into your comfortable room, take part in a lovely orientation tour to get familiar with the impressive estate, including its picturesque gardens, serene woodlands, historic salon, and cozy library.In the evening, join Erin and the group for a special welcome dinner. Indulge in a delicious, three-course meal accompanied by a glass of aromatic French wine and delightful cheese platters.

### Day 2: Classes at the venue
Wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread and enjoy a hearty breakfast paired with a warm cup of coffee. Join Erin and your fellow artists for a quick morning check-in with the venue hosts before jumping into the first workshop of the retreat. The workshop will start with Erin introducing the retreat's overview, structure, and the materials that you will be working with. She will also go over how you will create and add to your very own “Watercolor Cookbook Journal," recording in both written and visual form the flavors, recipes, and ideas from throughout the week. You can use this journal to record the exciting trips you will take together with Erin and the group.Dive into the world of creation and start with some watercolor basics and loose botanical strokes, exploring how the brushstrokes move and spread on your paper. Pause midday for a light lunch in the garden’s shaded terrace, if the weather is favorable, then continue the afternoon with another art class. Under Erin’s gentle guidance, learn how to paint produce and flowers, weaving together watercolor painting with culinary inspiration. Take part in a simple recipe prep activity together with Erin and the group, in which you will prepare a simple and light vegetarian starter or side dish (a salad, for example), learning to combine ingredients and flavors in a fun and playful way. Take some time to rest and reset before dinner. As the evening comes to an end, savor a delightful three-course dinner prepared by the in-house chef, together with some of the produce that you prepared earlier during the simple recipe prep activity. Raise a glass of wine, toasting to a riveting first day of creation at the retreat.

### Day 3: Art trip to a French local market
Fuel up with a satisfying breakfast and a freshly brewed cup of coffee before heading into the adventures of the day. Have a brief morning check-in with the venue hosts, then prepare for the first outing of the retreat: a visit to a bustling local French market in a nearby Loire Valley town. Explore the vibrant stalls overflowing with seasonal flowers, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and local produce. Bright bouquets of peonies, roses, and sunflowers sit beside stands of tomatoes, apricots, pumpkins, and figs, offering inspiration for both color and form. Stalls with artisanal bread and cheeses fill the air with mouthwatering smells. Browse around, buy some produce to paint later, or make some quick sketches and notes in your cookbook journal, capturing the aromas, ingredients, and produce around you. Return to the venue for a refreshing lunch, then continue the day with an afternoon art workshop. Paint one ingredient that you have picked from the market, such as a piece of fruit or vegetable. This class will be focused on learning how to make layers of watercolor and create depth in your artworks. Under Erin’s thoughtful guidance, arrange a still life scene together with your fellow artists, using the ingredients that everyone has picked from the market. Translate the scene you have just created onto your own canvas, blending food and art into an immersive creative experience. In the late afternoon, take some leisure time to unwind and relax. As dinner approaches, take part in a farmer’s market tasting experience, an antipasto and cocktail hour, in which Erin will prepare a simple yet delicious vegetarian appetizer inspired by her cookbook series, “The Forest Feast,” to enjoy before dinner. Afterwards, indulge in a flavorful three-course meal prepared by the private chef and paired with a glass of fragrant French wine.

### Day 4: Classes at the venue
Wake up to the soft morning light and enjoy a filling breakfast outside, if the weather is favorable, under the trees' gentle shadow within the venue’s gardens. Join Erin and your fellow creatives for a quick morning check-in with the venue hosts, then ease into the rhythm of the day, allowing the creativity whirl to drift you away. During the morning workshop, take part in a cooking demo with the venue’s chef, preparing a vegetarian regional dish with fresh, seasonal produce and ingredients. Learn how to combine ingredients and local produce into a wholesome and delicious meal, immersing yourself in the soulful experience of preparing food together with Erin and your fellow creatives. Pay attention to the ingredients you are using and the steps you are taking, as later you will translate your cooking experience into a painting one. Pause midday for lunch, and enjoy the meal you have just made, then spend the afternoon back in the art studio. Learn how to create an illustrated recipe card for the meal you have prepared in the morning by painting the ingredients from the recipe and then adding hand lettering to the layout. The scope of this exercise is to blend the experience of cooking with that of watercolor painting, leaving you with a practice that you can also do at home, whenever you try a new recipe or experiment in the kitchen. Take some time to relax and reset in the late afternoon. As the sun sets down and the evening approaches, join Erin and the group for a satisfying three-course dinner prepared by the in-house chef paired with a glass of aromatic wine, and reflect on the joyful moments of today.

### Day 5: Art trip to Château de Villandry
Begin the day with a delightful breakfast and a warm cup of coffee, then have a brief morning check-in with the venue hosts. Ease into the pace of the day, preparing yourself for the next exciting adventure: a trip to Château de Villandry, a grand country house in the heart of Villandry, known for its spectacular gardens and avant-garde architecture. Once the home of a noble family close to the French crown, the Château de Villandry has been shaped by centuries of history, culture, and transformations. Today, the gardens of the Château present a meticulous blend of geometry and bloom, a contemporary garden design showcasing seven different gardens. Explore each garden and its beautiful flowers, herbs, and produce. As you get immersed in the nature around you, Erin will do a demo of a garden scene, showing you how to capture your surroundings through watercolor painting. Get inspired by the autumn-ripened Kitchen Garden, filled with all kinds of vegetables and fruit trees, or by the medicinal Herb Garden, where herbs such as rosemary, celery, mint, and oregano blend together in a symphony of aromas. Paint the local nature and produce, gather inspiration in your Watercolor Cookbook Journal, and practice the art of on-site painting. Take a break for lunch, enjoying a refreshing picnic lunch packed from the venue, then continue exploring the gardens of the Château. Paint whatever catches your eye and sparks your creativity, creating beautiful botanicals and landscape paintings. Play with different colors and brushstrokes and make sketches in your journal or write down recipes inspired by the produce and ingredients around you. As the afternoon comes to an end, return to the venue and take some time to rest and unwind before dinner. Join Erin and your fellow artists for a hearty three-course dinner prepared by the private chef and accompanied by a glass of local French wine.

### Day 6: Classes at the venue & wine-tasting event
Start the day with a filling breakfast and a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Join Erin and the group for a quick morning check-in with the venue hosts, then prepare for another day full of creativity and inspiration. During the morning workshop, delve into a composition and styling session centered around florals. Explore how shape, texture, and color interact as you arrange fresh blooms into still-life scenes. Work closely with Erin and your fellow artists as you learn together how to craft floral compositions that feel balanced and expressive. Create a watercolor painting inspired by the still life composition you have just made, capturing the interplay of light, petals, and shadow as they unfold in pigment and water.Pause midday for a relaxed lunch beneath the soft shadow of the shaded terrace, if the weather is favorable, then head into the afternoon with another art workshop. Take some time, if needed, to refine and complete the watercolor still life studies from earlier, and then begin your final piece of the retreat, inspired by your favorite moment of the week. Reflect on all the experiences you have had so far and bring to life the one that has impacted you the most. Erin will be walking around offering guidance, tips, and feedback, helping you shape your final artwork. In the late afternoon, enjoy some spare time to unwind and relax. As the evening approaches, take part in a wine-tasting event before dinner with a top local sommelier who spent six years in the UK working with Gordon Ramsay before moving back to his native Loire. Savor a selection of fine aromatic wines, tasting the authentic flavors of France. Gather with Erin and your fellow artists for a delicious three-course dinner prepared by the private chef, soaking in the lovely conversations and cozy atmosphere.

### Day 7: Classes at the venue
Delight yourself with a hearty breakfast and a warm cup of coffee, then have a brief morning check-in with the venue hosts. Step into your final full day at the retreat, settling into the day’s gentle rhythm and following the swirl of creative energy wherever it takes you. During the morning workshop, continue to work on the final piece that you started the previous day, refining last details and touch-ups. Erin will be walking around, ready to offer you guidance or feedback if needed. After you are satisfied with your final piece, move onto one more activity, in which, under Erin’s thoughtful guidance, you will paint some watercolor elements and place cards for the farewell dinner that you will be indulging in tonight. Take a break for lunch, then join Erin and your fellow artists for the last workshop of the retreat. Building on what you have learned throughout the week, Erin will do a quick demo on how you can print your watercolor artworks on fabric and other textiles, as she does in her own work, offering you resources on how to do this practice at home after the retreat ends. After this insightful demo, gather around with everyone and take part in an informal show-and-tell of your favorite works from this week. Showcase what you have created and share with the group what you have learned throughout this artistic journey. As the afternoon comes to an end, enjoy some leisure time to relax and reset before dinner. Savor a delightful farewell three-course dinner prepared by the in-house chef, paired with a glass of fine local wine, and reflect on the week’s creative discoveries and joyful moments. Immerse yourself in the lovely atmosphere, filled with flowing conversations and laughter, and toast to the beautiful memories you have made together with Erin and your fellow artists.

### Day 8: Departure
Enjoy a final breakfast with Erin and your fellow artists before it's time to part ways. Exchange any last contacts, then get ready for your 8:00 AM transfer to Angers (St. Laud) train station. You will arrive at the train station at around 9:00 AM. As you make your way back home, take with you a heart brimming with inspiration and lasting memories.

## Instructors

- **Erin Gleeson** - Artist, illustrator, author, photographer ("The Forest Feast" Cookbook Series)

## Accommodation

### Historic French Château

### Shared room with shared bathroom (female only)

### Shared standard ensuite room

### Shared superior ensuite room (female only)

### Single room with shared bathroom

### Single standard ensuite room

### Single superior ensuite room

### Single deluxe suite

## Book This Retreat

Visit [https://uptrek.com/retreat/the-watercolor-feast-retreat-artist-erin-gleeson-france](https://uptrek.com/retreat/the-watercolor-feast-retreat-artist-erin-gleeson-france) to make a reservation.

*Provided by [UpTrek](https://uptrek.com)*