A one week exploration of how ideas are born and take shape
Finding Creative Flow will run in Greece from May 6 to June 19. It is based at Stavrianna Organic Farm, nearby Diakopto.
Springtime in Greece is the perfect weather. Sunny, warm and with long days perfectly suitable for long walks in the nearby hills. Everything is blossoming. The rose garden at the farm is marvelous at that time and a lot of fruits like cherries, apricots and merkats will be ripe. Of course there will be oranges and grapefruits for the special fruit salad by Anna, the owner of the farm. We will have fresh fruits for breakfast, lunch or dinner or all of the above. We will visit some local mountain villages and vineyards, some bigger and smaller towns in the area.
I’m looking for 3-4 curious minds to join me on this journey.
We will do sketching and writing. You don’t have to be able to draw to join this workshop, but you must be willing to draw anyway. We will do mindfulness exercises. We will go on long walks in the hills. We will sit silently on the beach or by the creak. We will observe sunrises or sunsets.
We will listen to the space around us and inside us and put it into words and images. We will be alone and we will be together.
workshop schedule
Day 1 – Arrival. Welcome dinner. Introduction to the course.
Day 2 – Breakfast. Creative day time together. Light early dinner. Yoga (optional).
Day 3 – Meeting sunrise at the beach. Breakfast. Day trip. Time to rest. Creative evening time together.
Day 4- Meeting sunrise at the beach. Breakfast. Creative day time together. Light early dinner. Yoga (optional).
Day 5 – Meeting sunrise at the beach. Breakfast. Day trip. Time to rest. Creative evening time together.
Day 6 – Meeting sunrise at the beach. Breakfast. Creative day time together. Light early dinner. Yoga (optional).
Day 7- Meeting sunrise at the beach. Breakfast. Day trip. Time to rest. Creative evening time together.
Day 8 – Meeting sunrise at the beach. Breakfast. End of the course.
Day trips may include: Kalavrita mountain village, Aigio seaside busy town, Cave of the Lakes at Kastria, church inside a tree trunk, Mega Spilaio, the oldest monastery in Greece, ski center, etc.
Shorter trips: exploring the beaches and other nearby villages, vineyard on the top of the mountain, hiking in the gorge / hills.
Workshop will run:
- from May 14th to May 21st, 2017;
- from May 28th to June 4th, 2017 and
- from June 11th to June 18th, 2017.
Workshop art supplies
The following items you will need during the course.
Provided for collective use:
- crayons / pastels
- colored pencils
- pencil sharpener
- basic set of watercolors
- watercolor brushes
- water brushes
- scissors
- glue
Provided for personal use:
- sketchbook(s):
- A5 Landscape format, 140gsm All-Media Cartridge Paper, acid-free and sized for extra wet-strength, 92 pages / 46 sheets.
- A4 Portrait ECO Sketchbook, 32 pages / 16 sheets of 150gsm finest FSC® ecological cartridge paper
- A5 Portrait ECO Sketchbook, 32 pages / 16 sheets of 150gsm finest FSC® ecological cartridge paper
- regular notebook: A5 portrait format, lined
- uniball roller pen
- A6 Watercolour Postcard Pad – 12 x A6 postcards with one blank side and one address side, 350gsm
- set of uni ball liners (5) – various sizes
- brush pen
What to bring with you
A desire to explore, both the area and yourself, a smile, a pair of comfortable walking / hiking shoes, sandals, layers (since mornings can still be fresh – around 13 C), hat, windbreaker, bathing suit (in May the water is still fresh, around 18 C, but you never know :)), a day backpack / bag.
You are more than welcome to bring your own art supplies of the same kind mentioned above and anything else that you like to work with or would like to try out. Such as, ink, watercolor pencils, artpen / fountain pen, a fuller set of watercolors, sketchpad with watercolor paper, larger pieces of watercolor paper or any other paper you wish to work with.
Stavrianna farm and the area
When the owners, Stavros and Anna, got married they we had a common dream to create their own paradise in a countryside, to cultivate own all natural vegetables, to pick all kinds of fruits directly from the trees, to grow domestic animals and to have beautiful flower gardens. Their dream became true in 1990 and now, that they are retired, they offer us to be part of their dream.
Stavrianna farm is just 15 minute walk from the beach, 30 minute walk away from the mountain hiking trails, located in the heart of the a charming Greek village and just 2 hours by public transport from Athens.
We will be staying in the house with overall 120 sq m, 3 bedrooms in total, 2 fully equipped kitchens, 2 bathrooms, and a large living room. There is also an outside patio with wooden tables and benches – also perfect place for the morning yoga! Barbecue area with the wood burning oven.
The village has a grocery store, 2 coffee shops, and 5 restaurants on the nearby beach. Within 5 minute drive or 15 minute bike ride you are in the town of Diakopto, which has 2 pharmacies, many shops, and a doctor. There are many coffee shops, restaurants, and souvlaki places. There is the train station for the famous Odontotos Rack Train. The train track was built 120 years ago and it was a technological achievement of its time. As part of our course we will take the train to the the famous town of Kalavrita. It is an one hour ride that will take us through the unique Vouraikos gorge with many bridges, tunnels, and waterfalls. Have you camera ready for extraordinary pictures or train your visual memory for sketching afterwards!
Within 6 km there are 5 beautiful beaches with many restaurants and beach bars that offer umbrellas at no additional cost. The closest one is Eleonas only 1.5 km away, 15 minutes by foot or 5-7 minutes by bike.
Within 10 km there four local wineries that you can visit for wine tasting of unique in the world local varieties: Roditis, Mavro Kalavritino, Malagousia, Mavrodafni, Retsina, Agiorgitiko just to name a few. The wineries are Tetramythos, Oinoforos, Cavino, Acheon Winery. Vines were cultivated here more than 3000 years.
Booking:
The course fee (full package): 7300 dkk / 980 euro + VAT (25%)
You’re welcome to divide the payment into a deposit and follow-up payment:
Deposit: 2000 dkk / 270 euro+ VAT (25%) is payable at sign up
Follow-up payment of 5300 dkk / 710 euro+ VAT (25%) 2 weeks before the start date of the workshop.
The fee includes your stay at the organic farm, Stavrianna (singe room, suitable for a couple, or shared double room), organically grown breakfast, one more organic meal per day (lunch or dinner, depending on the itinerary of the day), bike rental, transport in the area, notebooks for writing and sketching, and the required art supplies for the course.
The fee does not include transport to and from the Stavrianna farm (air fare, train or car rental, etc.). However, it can be arranged separately.
If the workshop needs to be cancelled a full refund will be paid. If you need to cancel participation the deposit will not be refunded unless a replacement is found. If you cancel after March 1st, March 13th, or March 27th respectively, the deposit is refunded only if a replacement is found.
Creative Time Studio 