She is the host of the podcast The Lisa Congdon Sessions and cofounder of The Long Table Foundation. Lisa is self-taught and didn’t achieve momentum in her career until she was nearly 40 years old. Despite her untraditional path, Lisa has achieved recognition, not just as an artist, but as a leader in the industry for her work in social justice, knowledge sharing, mentoring and teaching. In March of 2021, she was named “One of the 50 Most Inspiring People and Companies According to Industry Creatives” published by AdWeek. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Activities will include:

• Participate in drawing workshops with Lisa and develop your unique creative skills

• Enjoy daily delicious meals prepared with fresh products and care by chef Mathieu and Maria

• Take strolls around unbeaten paths in the beautiful nature of Provence through the hills overlooking the old town

• Visit the littoral, the islands, and its breath-taking creeks

• We will take you through the alleys of the historic center of Hyères, this magic city where numerous writers and painters have come to find inspiration since the dawn of time. Artists such as Edith Warton, RL Stevenson, Noailles, Picasso, and Jean Cocteau amongst others, contributed in their time to shaping the rich art heritage of Hyères

• Visit our coloured markets, discover and taste Provençal specialties

• 6 Nights / 5 Days

• 6 to 8 participants

• We ask for a 30% non-refundable deposit of full booking upon reservation and the remaining at the latest on July 25th 2022

What is included?

• 6 nights accommodation

• 6 gourmet dinners & wine

• Daily delicious breakfasts and lunches or picnic

• Cooking & Baking workshops

• Visits, including transportation

• Aperitifs and snacks

Not included

• Airfares to France

• Airport transfer

• Travel insurance (We strongly advise participants to arrange a travel insurance that would cover the balance paid to Simple Life in Provence and book “flexible” flight tickets with cancellation options)

We will use French oil pastels, colored pencils and paper as our media, and Lisa will cover how to approach a still life drawing, including instruction on using materials, perspective, line, shadow, texture, shape, color and composition. We’ll also free ourselves from what a traditional still life looks like, and work toward still life drawings that are fresh and contemporary in all their imperfect glory.

All levels are welcome! You do not need any previous drawing experience, as Lisa will guide you through the process

Here’s what we will cover in each session!!

Workshop 1 – The Joy of Drawing Objects In this workshop, we’ll talk about the age-old tradition of drawing the objects in our environment. This workshop will focus on choosing your subject matter and the process of building a strong composition. We’ll also talk about our materials and how to use them best. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of sketching in light pencil first. And then we’ll draw our first Still Life! Oil pastels can get a little messy, so bring an apron!

Workshop 2 – It’s All in the Color. In this workshop, we’ll talk about what makes your still life come alive: COLOR! I’ll talk about making color choices, choosing complementary colors, working with non-traditional colors, and choosing a palette to match the mood you want to create before you begin drawing. Then we’ll create more still life drawings with a focus on color choices.

Workshop 3 – Playing with Light and Shadow. In this third workshop, we’ll talk about how to create dimension in your work by casting shadows on your subject matter and then rendering the shadows into your work. We’ll talk about making the choice between creating “flat” work with no dimension, work with slight dimension and work that has a great deal of dimension – and how to render each of these options.

Workshop 4 – Pattern and Texture for Personality. In this fourth workshop, we’ll explore different ways to create texture and pattern in your drawings. Lisa will demonstrate different techniques and we’ll experiment with integrating them into a still life yourself. By this point in the week, you’ll have a stack of beautiful still lifes and you can go back in and add texture to some that you’ve already created.

Workshop 5 – Go Big and Then Go Home. In this fifth workshop, we’ll work on a large piece of paper for the first time in the workshop. Creating larger work can be both daunting and freeing, and we’ll think about how to approach creating a still life at a larger scale. We’ll also talk about how to treat and protect pastel drawings from smudging.

Monday

3:00 pm: Check-in and welcome aperitif

7:00 pm: Welcome Provençal dinner

Tuesday

9:00 am: Delicious breakfast

10:00 am: Hike through the hills of Hyères, visit of the castle and the old city

1:00 pm: Picnic at the “Villa Noailles”, iconic museum with a stunning view of the city and beach

2:30 pm: Workshop with Lisa

6:00 pm: Aperitif and dinner prepared by the chef

Wednesday

8:00 am: Delicious breakfast

9:00 am: Boat ride to Porquerolles. Visit of the island on a bicycle

1:00 pm: Picnic at the “silver beach”

2:00 pm: Hop around the different creeks of the islands, swim, relax time

5:00 pm: Boat ride back to Hyères. Down time at the villa

7:00 pm: Summer provençal dinner

Thursday

9:00 am: Delicious breakfast

10:00 am: Workshop with Lisa

1:00 pm: Lunch at the villa

2:30 pm: Workshop with Lisa

6:00 pm: Aperitif and dinner prepared by the chef

Friday

8:00 am: Delicious breakfast

9:00 am: Workshop with Lisa

12:00 pm: Lunch at the villa

2:30 pm: Visit of Hyères art museum

7:00 pm: Aperitif and dinner prepared by the chef

Saturday

8:00 am: Delicious breakfast

9:00 am: Visit a typical Provence market

12:00 pm: Lunch in town

2:30 pm: Workshop with Lisa

6:00 pm: Aperitif with mini exhibition of the week’s work then dinner prepared by the chef

Sunday

9:00 am: Delicious breakfast and chill time

11:00 am: Check out and goodbyes

Depending on weather, activities might be switched around