Join Chloe Briggs for a fun week of drawing, taking inspiration from the gardens and landscape of Atelier Clos Mirabel in South West France.
About this course:
Chloe Briggs is known for her project ‘Drawing is Free’ bringing people from around the world together to draw each other every Monday. She is also recognised for her success on Patreon where she encourages an open, joyful approach to drawing that is free from the judgement that often holds us back.
This is Chloe’s second year at Atelier Clos Mirabel after a retreat run in collaboration with Angela Maddock. It’s a week richly packed with her skills and knowledge in which you are encouraged to respond intuitively to the gardens and landscape of Atelier Clos Mirabel through drawing and developments in other media.
Programme Outline
Saturday
4.00 – Check-in time from 4pm onwards.Guests arrive, settle inand explore Clos Mirabel
6.00 – Welcome drinks and dinner
Sunday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Introduction to the week with Chloe. Prompts for going into the garden with sketchbooks to draw ‘Small Things’. Collections made and subjects gathered to draw from back in the studio. A focus on the unseen, and tiny elements of a garden that become fascinating through the process of drawing.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 4.00 Small studies are explored on big scale with different materials and methods, bringing the energy of the garden into our marks and expression.
6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Monday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Prompts and demonstrations for drawing wider aspects of the garden, how to create a sense of space, respond to the rhythms of the plants, and draw how we feel in the garden.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 4.00 Using the morning’s studies from outside we will explore ‘The Gardens inside of Us’ – experimental, personal responses to the new environment and nature we find ourselves in and what we bring with us.
6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Tuesday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Alternative Anatomy of a Flower’ prompts for drawing the plants and flowers through making connections to the body. Warm-up exercises in the studio and research in the garden.
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 4.00 Morning studies developed in the studio through simple book-making and 1:1 guidance.
6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Wednesday – Free Day
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 6.00 You can work on your own project, visit Pau, or spend a few hours browsing through the rich collection of books, catalogues and journals from Chloe’s personal collection. Clos Mirabel have lots of lovely books too.
6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Thursday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 Plants, Flowers, and Insects’ developments of garden studies through life-drawing with the magical Ioi Choi. Exercises led by Chloe building on work made at the beginning of the week
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 4.00 Continuation of the morning’s life-drawing.
6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Friday
8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce
10.00 – 1.00 1:1 meetings with Chloe with a focus on how to maintain a creative practice back home and beyond the retreat.
Work developed independently for presentation later in the day
1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel
2.00 – 4.00 Work completed for an informal exhibition and celebration that evening
6.00 – ‘Drawing is Free’ portrait session, exhibition and Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House
Saturday – Buffet Breakfast and departure (Check-out 11am)
Non-participating guests: we are more than happy to welcome non-drawing guests, accompanying partners, family or friends. There are plenty of activities to experience around Clos Mirabel, that will make your holiday unforgettable Click here for more information.
The Art Studio, offers a spacious open plan layout of 75 m2. It is available at all times during your stay. Click here for more information.
