Artful Journeys Abroad

Where Creativity and Connection Bloom

There’s something alchemic about stepping into a new country, breathing in unfamiliar air, and letting your senses guide your creativity. My art workshops in Portugal and Paris weren’t just about making beautiful travel journals—they were about becoming more fully ourselves through the act of creating in places steeped in history, charm, and inspiration.

Together, we wandered cobblestone streets and vintage markets, collecting treasures and stories along the way. We paused to sketch sunlit courtyards, pressed petals into our journals, and layered found papers with meaning and memories. Over coffee, wine, and laughter, we shared not only art supplies but also moments of vulnerability, joy, and soul-deep connection.

In these workshops, art became a language of belonging—a way to see the world with fresh eyes and reflect that beauty back onto the page. Joy, joy, joy.

Whether we were perched by the Seine or tucked into a Lisbon atelier, each session was a gentle invitation to slow down, tune in, and create something that could only be made here—with these people, in this moment.

Sunlight, Paper, and Kindred Spirits: Creating Abroad

In Portugal, the mornings began with the scent of strong coffee and the slow rhythm of cobblestone streets waking up around us. We wandered past crumbling facades and laundry dancing on balconies, collecting textures with our eyes and tiny treasures for our journals—bus tickets, a feather, snippets of conversations caught in the breeze.

Later, in the soft hush of our art studio, we gathered. There was the gentle rustle of vintage paper, Fado music playing softly in the background, and the kind of laughter that only comes when women feel safe to be wholly themselves. We stitched stories into pages, layering torn maps with watercolor dreams, letting intuition and memory guide our hands.

In Paris, the rhythm shifted—quickened by café life and the sparkle of the Seine. We sat in tucked-away courtyards, sketchbooks open, journaling between sips of vin rouge and moments of quiet awe. At the flea markets, we foraged like magpies, our eyes trained to spot the beautiful and broken—old postcards, delicate lace, a perfect imperfection to turn into art.

Every day held space for discovery, both out in the world and within ourselves. There was magic in the making, oui—but also in the meandering. In the slow walk back to the hotel with inky fingers and hearts humming with connection. In the spontaneous group dinners, the shared glances of “Can you believe this is our life for the week?”

It’s hard to describe fully, except to say: we made art, and something in us shifted. And maybe that’s the truest souvenir.

If you’ve ever longed to make art in magical places with kindred spirits, this is your invitation.  Join me next spring in Lake Como, Italy or next fall in Perigord, France.

Read more about my recent Portugal workshop here and Paris workshop here.