Day 1:

Arrival day, with a friendly welcome aperitivo in the tettoia overlooking the Lucca Valley, after which you may unpack, settle in, and perhaps take a walk around your home for the week. Before dinner, Sandra Kaplan will introduce to you the workshop and the week's activities. Dinner is prepared for you and served under the leafy pergola.

Most evenings will allow time before dinner for sharing your work with each other and Sandra, discussing challenges you have, and enjoying your own and others’ successes, over wine and antipasti.

There is always a concert or exhibition taking place in Lucca, and we’ll see that you get to take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy and learn more about your Italian neighbors.

Day 2:

Your first day is an 'at home' day, and your first day of painting. You may choose to paint around Selva, in the olive groves, among the grapevines, at unrestored houses, or many other places on the estate. Lunch may be at Selva or you may request that a sack lunch be prepared for you to take to your painting site. The restaurant for this evening is a picture of its own so, if you wish, we will leave early so that you may enjoy painting there.

Day 3:

Today is your introduction to Lucca, with a guided tour of its famous walls and other 'painterly' spots, among them churches, gardens, sections of the medieval walls, charming nooks and crannies. Lucca is home to perhaps the richest collection of Romanesque churches, with intricate pillars and imposing facades; its walls inspire awe; and several gardens inside the walls were designed by Renaissance and Baroque masters. Dinner at Selva is preceded by a wine tasting.

Day 4:

Another 'at home' day for intensive painting of Tuscan scenery. Perhaps your venue will be the parish church or the shepherd’s house, maybe a single cluster of grapes in the vineyard. Around 5.00 everyone gathers to begin hands-on, up-to-your-elbows dinner preparation with our chef Emanuela.

Day 5:

Your venue today is one of the Baroque villas and gardens in the Lucca area, with statuary, formal gardens, limonaia, grottoes, water tricks and towering trees. You’re invited to stay the whole day in order to paint as much as you like, and lunch will be a picnic on the grounds. You return to Selva for dinner prepared by Emanuela.

Day 6:

‘At home’, you’re invited to the villa grounds to paint and, in the afternoon, to tour the winery, see the antique olive press, and for purchasing opportunities of wine, olive oil, grappa, vinegars, honeys and candlewax products. In the evening, Emanuela will prepare dinner for you.

Day 7:

You travel north of Lucca along the Serchio River, with a stop at the 11th century Madonna bridge, to the charming hilltown of Cutigliano, home of steeply winding pedestrian streets, windows and gardens dripping with flowers, beautiful churches, gorgeous views and fresh porcini mushrooms.

Day 8:

Another 'at home' day allows you to work on your paintings all day. Perhaps today a study of unrestored houses where flowers still manage to grow in the walls, a cypress tree with a red rose bush growing through it, or one of the many other small vignettes on the property. In the late afternoon, everyone gathers for a second evening in the Selva kitchen with Emanuela.

Day 10:

Today you return to Lucca to return to a scene you liked, a special kitchen gadget you wanted, to sip a cappuccino or enjoy a gelato on a piazza, or get that last souvenir. The afternoon is spent at your selected painting spot in Lucca. You return to Selva for dinner by Emanuela..

Day 11:

The last day ‘at home’, and a time to return to a painting you wanted to finish anywhere on the estate. In the late afternoon, you gather together for sparkling wine, a final sharing of work and successes and challenges, and a gala dinner at our favorite restaurant. We wish everyone buon viaggio as you depart for the Pisa airport or the Lucca train station.