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WELCOME!
Here you'll find all the information of our MANOR HOUSE Encaustic Retreat!
Two retreat dates to choose from:
🔸SEPTEMBER 27 - OCTOBER 3, 2026
🔸OCTOBER 4 - 10, 2026
- There are 12 spots for each week.
- Pick the week that suits you best!
- The course content is identical for both weeks.
📍OLLERS, GIRONA, CATALUNYA
5 days of
ENCAUSTIC WORKSHOPS
with excursions to
GIRONA & COSTA BRAVA
Join us in Catalonia for a Unique Encaustic Retreat
Dive into the ancient technique of encaustic. Experiment with texture, mixed media, and different kinds of locally sourced art supplies, while experiencing Catalan art, culture, and gastronomy.
What makes this retreat special
A celebration of Catalan culture
Immerse yourself in regional traditions, landscapes, and artistic heritage. All workshops are connected to regional Catalan artists.
Personalized guidance
Enjoy one-on-one support from our instructors. Teachers rotate to provide support throughout the sessions, ensuring you receive personal attention and feedback.
Farm-to-Table
Farm-to-Easel
Savor fresh, locally sourced meals and create with natural art materials inspired by the land.
Our Encaustic Studio
Sala Tramuntana is the old barn of the farm estate, with direct access to the gardens. Its stone structure and wooden beams have been preserved. It is a diaphanous space, with large windows, high ceilings and very bright.
Workshops
Layering & Color
Kick off the retreat by grounding yourself in the fundamentals of encaustic. Learn —or review— how to build and fuse smooth layers of wax, and experiment with color mixing using the rich palette of R&F Handmade Paints. This session gives you the skills and confidence to incorporate the additional mediums and techniques you’ll explore throughout the week.
Accretion
Practice a variety of dry-brushing techniques to achieve stunning textures with encaustic and bring depth, movement and complexity to your work. Through guided practice, you’ll explore how pressure, brush choice, and wax temperature work together to create surface variations that add nuance and visual interest.
Working from Nature
We will look at the landscape and discuss ideas with examples from Catalan art history. Then we will move outdoors and draw en plein air, and work from the world around you. This workshop includes handmade and locally sourced art materials such as charcoal and ink.
Drawing Texture & Rhythm
Ears, eyes, and hands connect in these guided exercises. We will listen to music composed specifically for this workshop and interpret sounds and drawing prompts, as you experiment to develop your voice on paper, and then on encaustic.
Mark-Making
Tap into your intuitive doodle artist and incise into pads of wax laid down on locally sourced paper. You will find yourself free of your inner critic and be left with a finished sampler you will be proud of.
Watercolor as Underpainting
Float away while being guided through a watercolor meditation. Let go of “making art” and explore how watercolor can dance you into your creative energy. You will then discover the beauty of watercolor under encaustic. Bring greater luminosity and depth into your art.
Encaustic Collage
Combine the tactile joy of play with collage and encaustic. In this workshop, you’ll experiment with layering different kinds of papers to build richly textured, multidimensional surfaces. Discover how transparency, overlap, and composition come together to tell a story through layers.
Note: Some workshop details may change before the start of the retreat. Additional information will be emailed in mid-2026.
With the support
and collaboration of:
THE CLASSES ARE FOR ALL LEVELS
AND TAUGHT IN ENGLISH
CASA ANAMARIA HOTEL
Casa Anamaria Hotel is an eco-friendly boutique hotel surrounded by 60 hectares of agricultural and forest land, including 22,000 square meters of gardens. It's an idyllic and tranquil place to find inspiration in nature and create with encaustic. Located just 30 minutes from Costa Brava and the city of Girona.
HOTEL ROOMS
Casa Anamaria Hotel offers upgrade options for its Junior Suites. Contact me for more information.
CAN MOTES RESTAURANT
Can Motes Restaurant is managed by the chef Oscar Manresa, who has remastered classic Catalan recipes with local products.
Excursions
We will visit these two locations close to our venue where we will use our sketchbooks to gather inspiration and know more about the Catalan culture and gastronomy.
RUINS OF EMPÚRIES AND COSTA BRAVA
Premium visit through the ancient Greek and Roman cities with a dedicated expert guide who will reveal fascinating stories and timeless secrets. After the ruins, we will visit one of the most beautiful seascapes of Costa Brava.
CATHEDRAL OF GIRONA AND MEDIEVAL WALL
Discover the heart of Girona with a guided visit inside its magnificient Cathedral and cloister, exploring its rich history, legends, and stunning architecture. Afterward, we'll continue along the city's medieval walls, enjoying panoramic views and plenty of opportunities to sketch or capture beautiful photos of Girona.
Note: Participants should be comfortable climbing steps and walking uphill with light to moderate physical effort.
What is Included
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6 nights in a hotel room with private bath at Casa Anamaria Hotel with rural surroundings.
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Breakfast + lunch + studio break + dinner for each day.
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All encaustic workshops + 3 open studios.
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All art supplies for workshops.
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Excursions and bus transportation to Girona and Costa Brava.
Not Included
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Airfare
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Bus transportation from and to the airport.
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Special taxi arrangements.
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Extra food, drinks, or cocktails outside of the package meals are not included.
Payment Plan
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A 500€ deposit is required to save your spot.
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The hotel lodging and studio rental is due May 31, 2026.
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Workshops, supplies, meal fees, and excursions are due July 31, 2026.
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All payment links will be sent to your email.
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The amounts can be split into different payments to make things easier for everyone.
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Please, read the cancellation policy HERE.
Cost
Total cost per person in a shared room (king, queen, or twin bed): 4,050€
Total cost per person in a single room (king or queen bed): 4,785€
- Accommodation is based on double occupancy rooms. Let us know whether you'll be attending on your own or with a family member or friend.
Deposit: A 500€ deposit is required to secure your spot. This amount will be applied toward the total cost of the retreat.
Notes
- Rooms will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Upgrades to Junior Suites are available.
- You are welcome to bring a friend or family member. If they prefer not to join the workshops, they are still welcome to join us for meals and excursions.
- Additional supplies will be able to purchase during the retreat.
- All meals will be enjoyed together, offering a wonderful opportunity for participants to connect, share experiences, and build meaningful relationships throughout the retreat.
- Lunch is served buffet-style for the whole group.
- Dinner is more formal and offer a selection of menu options.
- Excursions are optional. If you decide not to participate, please note that the studio will be closed.
- Transportation: once you’ve booked your flights, please send us flight details so we can coordinate your transportation. The easiest option is a private taxi from Barcelona Airport to Casa Anamaria Hotel, and back for your return trip. We can arrange this service for you.
- Download the FAQs below.
Schedule
DAY 1
Around noon - Arrivals at the venue | Check-in
1:00 - 2:30 pm - Lunch
4:00 pm - Welcome and Orientation
7:30 pm - Dinner
DAY 2
8:00 am - Breakfast
9:00 am - 1:00 pm - WORKSHOP
1:00 - 2:30 pm - Lunch
3:00 - 5:00 pm - WORKSHOP
5:00 - 7:00 pm - OPEN STUDIO
7:30 pm - Dinner
DAY 3
8:00 am - Breakfast
9:00 am - 1:00 pm - WORKSHOP
1:00 - 2:30 pm - Lunch
3:00 - 5:00 pm - WORKSHOP
5:00 - 7:00 pm - OPEN STUDIO
7:30 pm - Dinner
DAY 4
8:00 am - Breakfast
9:00 am - 1:00 pm - WORKSHOP
1:00 - 2:30 pm - Lunch
3:00 pm - Bus to Costa Brava
4:00 pm - Ruins of Empúries visit
7:00 pm - Dinner in Costa Brava
Around 9:30 pm - Bus to Hotel
DAY 5
8:00 am - Breakfast
9:00 am - 1:00 pm - WORKSHOP
1:00 - 2:30 pm - Lunch
3:00 - 5:00 pm - WORKSHOP
5:00 - 7:00 pm - OPEN STUDIO
7:30 pm - Dinner
DAY 6
8:00 am - Breakfast
9:00 am - 1:00 pm - WORKSHOP
1:00 - 2:30 pm - Lunch
3:00 pm - Bus to Girona
3:30 pm - Cathedral and medieval walls guided route
8:00 pm - Dinner in Girona and Wrap-up Party
Around 10:30 pm - Bus to Hotel
DAY 7
Farewell breakfast | Departures
Instructors
Your host for this retreat, Andrea Carracedo, is based in Banyoles, a small city in Catalonia, where she teaches encaustic and cyanotype to her students. Her artistic style favors abstracted landscapes, with an emphasis on accretion, fields of color, and experimental techniques. She's an R&F Paints Core Artist Instructor and a member of International Encaustic Artists. Her work is collected in Europe, Australia, and the U.S.
Andrea graduated from University of Girona with a License in Art History and a Masters in Communication and Art Criticism. She has curated and organized art shows, including benefit shows and auctions, through different galleries, and Taller Joan de Palau in Banyoles, the same studio where she studied drawing and painting.
She took an autodidactic approach to encaustic because she couldn't find anyone in Spain to teach it in person, so her learning process was through online videos, attending workshops when she was in the U.S., and trial and error in her studio.
Christina Brady lives, plays, and explores on a large piece of land in Saugerties, New York—once partly a dump—where she often uncovers forgotten objects, rusty parts, and old glass bottles that spark her imagination. Though she has always been an artist, it’s on this treasure-scattered property that she has fully embraced her creative self.
Her practice is rooted in endless curiosity and a joyful need for creative play. She paints, sews, builds, and transforms what others might see as junk into soulful objects. From tiny paintings and mixed-media collages to whimsical sculptures and felted creatures, she allows her creative spirit to roam freely, layering colors, textures, and materials to form dreamlike, fairy-touched worlds.
Even away from her studio, she keeps her artistic impulses close, carrying a bag of tools and materials wherever she goes. Finding her way into the process isn’t always easy, but each challenge yields a small, rewarding “nugget” that keeps her moving forward—proof that beauty can be found almost anywhere.
Photo: Terry A Thiele
August Hoerr, an American-based artist living in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, brings 30 years of creative exploration to his work —spanning painting, drawing, mixed media, and music.
He has a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Montevallo. His first two decades focused on figurative oil painting using impasto techniques and palette knives. He began to incorporate landscapes, and R&F pigment sticks into his work, creating spaces full of texture and tenebrism. He also creates meticulously detailed liquid drawings, using media such as graphite and gouache to explore landscapes and figures —all of it moving between realism and expressive abstraction.
His work has been exhibited in the US, UK, and EU. August is currently working on an ongoing series of paintings of castellers, and participates in the Catalan tradition of building human towers. He is also scoring music for Andrea's instructional videos, creating compositions for extended sequences of encaustic painting.
Christina & Kevin, NY
“This retreat was above and beyond anything we imagined! We especially enjoyed the special guests... Amazing. The most perfectly orchestrated retreat!"
Kara, TX
"THE DETAILS!!! Everything was SO wonderfully thought out, presented, and explained. I also appreciated the time we had (on excursions, over dinner, etc.) for the retreat participants to bond and create meaningful relationships."
Cathy, NY
"I still can't stop thinking about how much fun I had!! Hope to be able to do it again!"
Marty, VA
“A very fine retreat. It was such a creative effort. I loved the playfulness of the instructors and the intensity of the instruction.”
Feel free to contact me for any questions!
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