Explore an expressionist style with Karen Bishop and David Shkolny

18-22 September 2025 

Add on Seville 22-25 September 

Karen Bishop and David Shkolny are professional artists based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As well as sharing a hometown they share a passion for the outdoors and can often be found in and around Edmonton painting outside, in almost any kind of weather. Both artists have a loose expressionist style, with Karen working primarily in Watercolour and David in pastels. They are both experienced artists and teachers, and have led classes across Canada and in Italy.
 
Their shared goal for your 5 days of painting is for you to experience the culture of Portugal and absorb it through painting. You will be inspired by beautiful Monsaraz and the surrounding countryside and learn how to capture the essence of the scene before us.
 
You will have the opportunity to work in both mediums, or just pick one, while you learn from the painting style of these two award winning Canadian artists. All levels are welcome, from complete beginner to those wishing to expand their knowledge of painting and experiment with something new. To practice what you have learned in Monsaraz but in a different environment we have organized some extra days in the Spanish city of Seville, only 3 hours away by bus, from Monsaraz. This add on is optional.

You will learn with:

Karen Bishop was born in Cheltenham, England, in 1968 and moved to Kingston, Ontario, in the winter of 1992. In 2002 she graduated from the University of Alberta’s Extension centre with a Fine Arts certificate. Since 2007 I have been pursuing my art full time and between May of 2011 and January of 2016 I co-owned and operated The Daffodil Gallery in the heart of Edmonton’s Gallery district. To know more about Karen’s work @karenbartist

David Shkolny, a Canadian by birth, received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1992. He has been teaching painting since 2001, and specializes in Soft (chalk) Pastel. David’s plein air classes in Europe have been very successful over the last few years and he is an enthusiastic and patient teacher to all levels of skill. To know more about David’s work @daveshko 

Dates:

18-22 September 2025
(5 days and 4 nights)

Add on: 22-25 September 2025 (optional) – Seville

Price:

Shared Room:
1.800€ PP (+vat 23%, only 6 rooms available) = total 2.214€

Single Room:
2.000€ PP (+vat 23%) = total 2.460€

(Paid 2 times: Reservations Until end December, and Final Payment 15 June 2025)

Paid 2 times:

Reservations:
1st Payment:
  1107€ (shared room)
  1230€ (single room)

2º payment until 15th June 2025:
2nd Payment:
  1107€ (shared room)
  1230€ (single room)

What is Included:

   3 full day Art Classes with Karen Bishop and David Shkolny

  3 Dinners 

  3 Lunches 

  Yoga Class

  Visit Estremoz

  Olive Oil Tasting

  Visit old rug factory 

  4 Nights Acommodation (with breakfast included)

  Transport from Lisbon Airport to the Hotel (2 hours) and transport in the area.

• It is advisable to book the plane after the final confirmation that the retreat will happen, or sooner until we have 10 participants.

• If we cannot gather the minimum participants of 10, the event can be canceled and the payments refund to the participants, less 50€ for cancelation costs.

  • The Seville Program (3 nights with hotel, transport, 4 meals and other activities) costs 1.900€ pp. Minimum number of participants 8. More info when requested.
BOOK NOW

ITiNERARY:

Day 1

WEDNESDAY, 17 September 2025

The bus will pick up the participants at Lisbon airport at 4 pm. It is advisable to arrive at Lisbon airport before 3.30 pm. The trip to Monsaraz, to the hotel at Telheiro, lasts 2 hours, so we will arrive at the hotel around 6 pm.

A light dinner will be served at the hotel upon arrival.

Day 2

THURSDAY, 18 September 2025

After breakfast at the hotel, we will have a 15 minute walk to the retreat centre “Sofia In Monsaraz” with our teachers around 9am. Once there we will introduce ourselves in a welcoming session before starting the first class at 10am.

Karen will demonstrate the unique properties of yupo paper and there will be an opportunity for participants to “play” with the paper creating colourful and expressive patterns that can be used as backgrounds for future paintings. David will demonstrate some essential elements of building a solid drawing with vine charcoal followed by how to layer in colour, working from an image on the large screen together. Weather permitting we will head into the grounds of SIM for an afternoon of painting en plein air.

After a visit to the old rug factory and to the lake you will have dinner at the castle in a local restaurant. 

Day 3

FRIDAY, 19 September 2025

After breakfast at the hotel you walk 15 minutes to “SIM” with our teachers around 9 am. After a yoga lesson you will start your third class. In the morning you will work outside, weather permitting and in the afternoon, focus on studio work, deciding when a work is finished and working from the large screen on an agreed image.  
 
The lunch will be served in the garden, before an olive tasting experience. In the afternoon you will continue to develop your skills with the teachers. Karen will demonstrate with an emphasis on simplification and focusing on her mantra of Looking three times, Thinking Twice and Drawing once! David will demonstrate working directly from the landscape, building upon the skills from the previous day, and focusing on proportion and nailing down values in the landscape.
 
By the end of the afternoon, you will travel back to the hotel where participants make their own dinner arrangements (dinner not included).

Day 4

SATURDAY, 20 September 2025

After breakfast at the hotel,  you will depart to  Estremoz (one hour way in bus) where we visit the Tile Museum and the Market. You will have lunch in a local restaurant.

After lunch, when you return to SIM, you will have an informal “mini group show” to appreciate and review the sketches and paintings done during the retreat and to discuss what we have learnt. 

You’ll enjoy dinner at a local restaurant together with your new friends while reliving the best moments of your experience during these days. 

Day 5

SUNDAY, 21 September  2025

After breakfast, at 9 am, you`ll return to Lisbon. The estimated arrival time is 12.30 pm.
 
The group that chooses to continue on to Seville for a 3-day painting experience in this Andalusian city stays another night in Monsaraz and travels on Monday.
 The trip will be by bus and it will take 3 hours. 

Add- On- Seville

22 (Monday)- 24 (Thursday) September 

Monday you will arrive at Seville at 1pm (your hotel is very central)  and then have lunch at Barrio Santa Cruz. The night will end with a  show at Museo del Baile Flameco. Tuesday you will be  drawing in Plaza España and Parque Maria Luisa Park, and evening is free. Wednesday  you will visit Alcazar Palace & Gardens (with sketchbooks) and the rest of the morning is to draw in Alcazar Palace & Gardens. The day will end with a Farewell dinner at a local restaurant.  You will leave Seville Thursday morning, and travel back to your home from this city. 

WHERE YOU WILL STAY:

Hotel Villa Planície

Everything is organised to detail so that nothing will prevent you from enjoying all the peace and quiet of the Alentejo.

All the rooms have air conditioning, full and private bathroom, shared or private balcony and outdoor access. 

This accommodation is a 15-minute walk from the workshop venue (SIM) and passes by the Bulhoa menhir (National Monument) and the Alentejo plain, ideal for reflection before starting work.

The Hotel in Seville will be announced with the registration form. 

Shared Room:
1.800€ PP (+vat 23%, only 6 rooms available) = total 2.214€

Single Room:
2.000€ PP (+vat 23%) = total 2.460€

Paid 2 times:

Reservations:
1st Payment:
  1107€ (shared room)
  1230€ (single room)

2º payment until 15 June2025:
2nd Payment:
  1107€ (shared room)
  1230€ (single room)

PLUS:

Seville Program: 3 nights with breakfast included, 2 lunches and 2 dinners, transport from Monsaraz to Seville, and other touristic experiences: 1.900€

If you are interested to know more, please ask for more detailed info about the Seville add-on. 

BOOK NOW

If you would like to make a direct booking: info@sofiainmonsaraz.site

Q&A:

Internacional roundtrip airfare, transport to the place, alcoholic drinks, activities not included in the itinery, hotel incidentals including room service, expenses during free time, laundry service and hotel bar, food and beverages not included in the itinerary. COVID-19 test, if applicable.

We require all participantes to have a personal travel insurance that at minimum covers medical emergencies and cancellations. We do not provide travel insurance for the retreat and each participant is required to have their own individual travel insurance. The place, where the retreat happens, has an Insurance that covers accidents. Will not be responsible for refunding any lost trip funds if you have to miss your scheduled trip. 

We cannot guarantee to accommodate vegan, gluten free or dairy/egg free, and some allergies. We are unable to accommodate participants with severe food allergies or food intolerances. Please contact us in advance of registering if you have any dietary questions

It will start when arriving at the hotel, Wednesday evening and finish when you leave the hotel, by Sunday morning. The add on to Seville starts Monday morning and finishes Thursday.

We are not responsible for any non-retreat activity that a participant decides to purchase outside of the retreat and such activity will not form part of the participant’s contract with us. The bus transport is insurance secure.

This retreat includes a walking tour where the ground may be uneven. You may be on your feet for several hours at a time and should be comfortable with walking.

The supplies list will be comunicated a few months before the event.

  • Regarding the cancellation we will return the payment (minus 50€) if you make your first payment before the first deadline- December 2024.
  • If you cancel until 60 days before the retreat we will refund all your payments- with the second deadline- (minus 100€).  
  • If you cancel in the period that preceeds the retreat (60 days before) we will refund 75% of the total amount paid.
  • Your payments will be split in two instalments, in addition to an initial deposit to secure your place on the retreat.
  • After you have completed your registration you will be sent an Invoice to complete your deposit payment. Payment can be made by Banktransfer or PayPal in euros.  Additional costs may apply where special accommodations are made available to participants.

In this event we will accept up to 15 people. The event does not include spouses, partners or friends if they are not taking the workshop.Please contact us if you would like to bring a non-participant partner.

If we cannot gather the minimum participants of 10, the event can be cancelled, and the payments refunded to the participants.

Other questions about this retreat please contact: info@sofiainmonsaraz.site  
For more info or questions please consult here our Terms & Conditions.

Where are we?

Rua do Chafariz, nº 6 Aldeia do Outeiro 
7200-179 Reguengos de Monsaraz

(+351) 266 557 091

info@sofiainmonsaraz.site

If you'd like to make a booking, ask a question or suggest a partnership write us:

RNAVT nº: 631/2021

Keep up to date with all the news

Sofia in Monsaraz Ⓒ 2023 – All rights reserved  |  Identity design by Jorge Silva  |  Video created by Janz Anton-Iago  |  Photos by Ana Paula Carvalho

Booking - Choose your retreat

We will contact you with the details for payment.

Sofia In Monsaraz

Getaways

EVENTS

in Monsaraz

LET IT GO

WHERE ARE WE

Se quiser fazer uma reserva, pergunta ou sugerir fazer uma parceria escreva-nos por aqui:

This website uses cookies to ensure the best user experience and improve the quality of our website. By continuing to browse, you agree to receive all cookies and agree with our Privacy Policy .

Accept and close
Know more