profile

Renee Walden

Cabo de Gata, Spain - early bird offer

Published 3 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader,

My last retreat for 2027 is filling, and I'm running an early bird offer: book before 10 September and I'll include 12 months free subscription to my Patreon, Adventures in Colour.

Cabo de Gata - Sept 2027

Andalusia — Spain. Volcanic, semi-arid, bleached and burnished. This is a week for filling a sketchbook in a landscape that will genuinely surprise you — not just as a traveller, but as a painter.

I've had some questions since the last email...

What experience do I need?

All levels are welcome. We'll be a mixed-ability group, from beginners to more experienced artists, and I'll have time to work with everyone at the level they're at.

What's the weather like?

Warm, sunny, and very pleasant. Expect average highs of around 30°C / 86°F during the day, dropping to around 20°C / 68°F at night. It's warm but very paintable - we'll work in shade where we need to, and the light in the early morning and late afternoon is extraordinary.

What will I paint?

The coast​
We'll make an excursion to paint at the sea — and I'm genuinely excited about this one. Cabo de Gata has some of the wildest, least-visited coastline in Europe: volcanic cliffs dropping into clear water, undeveloped, no crowds. We'll be painting reflective light on moving water under an open Andalusian sky.

Almería and the Alcazaba​
Our second excursion takes us into the city of Almería to sketch at the Alcazaba — a Moorish fortress dating back to the tenth century, with layered walls, terraced gardens, and views across the city and out to the coast. A beautiful place to combine urban and landscape sketching in a single session.

The finca​
The rest of our time is at the finca itself — a private Andalusian estate inside the natural park, reserved entirely for our group. Whitewashed buildings, terracotta and wrought iron, dry gardens full of interesting plant life, sweeping desert views. We'll slow down, paint outside and inside the studio, and there'll be plenty of time for demos, one-on-one tuition, and working at your own pace.

Everything included ... Painting tuition every day. Luxury accommodation. All meals. Airport transfers. Excursions.

I hope to paint with you in Spain.
​
Warmly,
Renee

P.S.
If you know of someone who would enjoy this newsletter, then please forward it on. Thank you!

Renee Walden

Artist. Tutor. Sketchbook traveller

Helping others capture their memories in colour is one of the greatest joys of my artistic journey. On watercolour art retreats and in workshops I've watched people grow braver, laugh louder, make friends, and fill pages with art they never thought possible. I'm right there alongside them — and it's magic.

Read more from Renee Walden

Hi Reader, My new online gallery shop is go! David and I have reworked it and I've loaded a lot of new artwork, from Statement Pieces through Studio Originals and even some Tiny Art. All inspired by the places and things I love. I'm able to ship watercolour paintings to most places in the world. Here's a tour... New : Feathered Friends My studio is filling with sketches and paintings of birds in flight. I started with my swallow friends that swoop and chatter around home, and the collection...

27 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, I'm just back from Italy and my final retreat of this year. We had a full week of painting, laughing, exploring and eating! Hotel Leone, our 500 year old palazzo, was just beautiful and it was a delightful surprise how pretty the little hilltop town of Montelparo is - cathedrals, cobbled streets, towers and old city walls, plus sweeping vistas from the Sibillini Mountains down to the Adriatic Sea. An inspiring location to spend a lifetime, and the week just rushed by.It's...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, My four retreats for next year are all fully booked. Which tells me a lot of people are already planning 2027. So today I'm announcing my last retreat for next year - and it will be in Spain! I've been living in Spain for four years, and next September I'm finally bringing a group here. It's taken me this long to find the right place and the right people to run it with — and I think it was worth the wait. We're going to Cabo de Gata, in the far south of Andalusia. A natural park of...

4 months ago • 1 min read