What an amazing week at Hotel Leone in Montelparo, Le Marche, Italy!

Where is Hotel Leone and Le Marche? See the red Montelparo on the map. The photo boxes on the map indicate where I traveled and took a number of pictures.

We painted the sunrise overlooking the view toward the Adriatic sea, which you can see in the distance. In the afternoon, we took advantage of a large awning to paint the clouds and storm clouds as they came up.

We went on three excursions to paint:

Pedaso on the Adriatic Sea.

Smerillo with a Roman ruin and medieval village.

Due to rain, we went to Servigliano as it had places to still paint outdoors under shelter. It was cold and rainy, though and a number of us went inside the church to paint and draw.

Not only was it an art retreat, but we dipped into the culture there. We learned some of the history of the area as we traveled to our painting locations. 

The long mealtimes were a great time to sample Italian cuisine and get to know one another. We were well taken care of.

Our day off, we spent touring 3 Le Marche family run farms - produce (we saw the tomato sauce preparation), dairy (cheese production) and wine. And we tried the different produce, cheese and wine the farms produced. A real "taste of Le Marche" experience.

As It was rainy on our second day spent in Montelparo, we stayed in the studio to work on the paintings we had already started. 

Our last night was a celebration with a showing of our beautiful artwork from the week. It is always so nice to see all the artwork together up on display. My group painted lovely paintings that Captured Italy as they saw it that week. I have included samples of their art here.

I am making plans to return to Hotel Leone, October 8-15, 2027. (two years from now) Will you join me on the next retreat?