Briefly Price includes, – all tuition fees, local transportation (including transfers to and from Pisa airport, including the mid week excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinqua Terra. All meals including breakfast, gourmet picnics on location, pre dinner aperitifs, dinner at the Mill or at a small friendly local restaurant with regional Italian dishes and wines. All you have to do is get to Pisa, Bill and Lois will do the rest. The accommodation is lovely, due to it being in an old watermill it varies from room to room, for full details look at the Watermill web site, there is a link on the homepage for all the foreign holidays.

Painting holiday’s itinerary

The following is a typical painting course itinerary but it will all depend on the weather and other unpredictable factors.

According to the weather, we’ll pick the best locations for each day’s painting excursion.

Itinerary Saturday Pick-up at Pisa airport between 10am and 1pm.

Light lunch/afternoon snack. Settling in at mill; exploring the gardens and river. Facilities for making tea and coffee at the mill. Aperitifs at the mill.

Dinner at the Elvetico in the Piazza Medicea, in the walled medieval town of Fivizzano, including wine.

Sunday Breakfast at the mill. Painting around the Mill, with individual tuition. Light buffet lunch at the mill. Painting around the Mill, with individual tuition. Facilities for making tea and coffee at the mill Aperitifs and dinner at the mill, including wine.

Monday Breakfast at the Mill. Transport to Verrucola: impressive castle with village nestling around it. Painting at Verrucola, with individual tuition.

Lunch at restaurant in Verrucola. Painting at Verrucola, with individual tuition. Pick up Verrucola late afternoon, with option of drop-off in Fivizzano. Facilities for making tea and coffee at the mill. Aperitifs and dinner at the mill.

Tuesday Breakfast at the Mill. Transport to Fivizzano (market day in Piazza Medicea, views over valley and Posara from Piazza Belvedere). Painting in and around Fivizzano, with individual tuition. Panino, ice cream and coffee at the Ricci gelateria in Fivizzano. Painting in and around Fivizzano, with individual tuition. Pick up late afternoon or stroll back to Posara. Facilities for making tea and coffee at the mill. Aperitifs and dinner at the mill.

Wednesday – (No formal tuition this day) Breakfast at the Mill. Excursion: either to Lucca or to the Cinque Terre (at breakfast time we’ll provide materials for your own picnic lunch or, if you prefer, you can buy a snack or a more formal lunch when you are out – it’s up to you). Sightseeing in Lucca or the Cinque Terre. Individual sketching. Packed lunch or buy yourself lunch or a snack early afternoon train back. Facilities for making tea and coffee at the mill. Aperitifs at mill. Dinner or pizzas at the mill.

Thursday Breakfast at the Mill. Transport to ‘Il Convent dei Carmine’, a privately owned monastery with ancient cloisters and frescoes, gardens and views. Picnic lunch at the monastery. Painting at the monastery, with individual tuition. Pick up late afternoon. Facilities for making tea and coffee at the mill. Dinner at the mill.

Friday Breakfast at the Mill. Transport to Monte dei Bianchi. Painting in the village of Monte dei Bianchi and/or in and around the grounds of the Vecchio Tino restaurant with individual tuition: ancient houses and church, spectacular mountain views, valleys, hill-top villages, olive groves, etc. Special lunch at the gourmet Vecchio Tino restaurant (local specialities), including wines. Painting in Monte dei Bianchi with individual tuition. Pick up late afternoon. Facilities for making tea and coffee at the mill. Aperitifs and farewell dinner at the mill.

Saturday Breakfast at the Mill. Transport to Pisa airport between 8.30am and 9.30am. Those with late flights may leave their bags at the airport and take a (very short) taxi ride to Pisa for sightseeing. What you need to bring your tutor will be in touch well before the course with a suggested list of materials, but we are generally very relaxed and there’s no obligation to bring anything specific. To save you being overloaded on your flight we can provide: portable chairs drawing boards water bottles white spirit rags easels as for clothing the days are usually warm to hot, but it can rain, sometimes for a day or two at a time. So we recommend a lightweight waterproof coat and perhaps an umbrella to protect your work. The evenings might be little cooler, so warm pullovers or tops are a good idea. Sensible shoes for walking are also recommended.

The Mill is a beautiful place, with lots of painting possibilities, plus great locations to paint.

“I have known Sue Ford for a few years and attended many of her courses at Higham Hall and most recently a painting holiday in Italy.  Sue has also carried out an acrylic workshop for my own art groups which was greatly enjoyed.

Sue is very versatile and covers many mediums.  Her knowledge, her easy and patient style is an asset for beginners with little of no experience and the experienced artists who are trying a new style or medium. 

Personally I have attended Sue’s courses on mixed media, acrylic, pastel and collage and the Italian painting holiday where drawing with ink was a feature which I appreciated most.  All Sue’s courses are informative, enjoyable and the fact that her students return many times is a good endorsement of her skills.

Sandra in Cumbria “

Cost for 2024

single £2185

sharing £1980 per person (there’s a £250 discount for non participating partners

Deposit and balance

Please view the Watermill Main web site for a full breakdown of prices, because this is an historic building, the rooms are quite unique, prices vary

Deposit of £250 per person is required to confirm your booking.

The balance for your holiday is due eight weeks before arrival.

Please note our cancellation conditions set out below. (We recommend that you take out normal holiday insurance, including cancellation insurance.)

Cancellations

A handling charge of £75 per person per course will be levied on all cancellations. In addition, if you have to cancel four to eight weeks before departure, a charge of 40% of the total price is payable; at two to four weeks, 60%; at one to two weeks, 80%; at less than one week, 90%.

We reserve the right to cancel any course at two months’ notice and, where possible, provide you with an alternative course.

Getting there

You can book your own flights (there are good connections from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, East Midlands, Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester and Bristol and an increasing number of other UK airports).

Or, to make life easier, you can use the services of our Personal Travel Adviser, Peter Grant, who will fix everything for you at very competitive prices. There is absolutely no obligation to use him, but if you would like his help, his phone number is 0844 736 9336 (local call charge) [From outside the UK. Dial +44 844 736 9336] and his email address ispeter.grant@futuretravel.co.uk. We have found that many travel agents these days are not very helpful and are often tied to big tour operators. Peter will give your personal service.

We pick you up at Pisa airport on the first day between 11am and 2pm. Our departure times from Posara on the last Saturday are between 7am and 11am. If you arrive or leave outside these times we can arrange transportation for you but you will have to pay for it

“ I attended the course at the Watermill in 2017,   the group on the course enjoyed a varied week of painting at different out-door locations. Sue has a relaxed and methodical style of teaching both to the group and to individuals which meant that students had every opportunity to complete their work. We used watercolours, acrylics, sketching techniques and collage,