Exploring Colorful Croatia with Sketchbook and Paints

with Susan Abbott - May 22-29, 2025

Exploring Colorful Croatia with Sketchbook and Paints

with Susan Abbott - May 22-29, 2025

An artist's perspective of Croatia!

Dates: May 22-29, 2025
Instructor: Susan Abbott
Venue: Palazzo Angelo d’Oro, Rovinj, Croatia
Medium: Pen, watercolor, oil, acrylic, gouache. Susan demonstrates and teaches in watercolor and oil
Level: Beginner to advanced

Supply List

Join renowned painter and instructor Susan Abbott as we record our impressions of the beautiful coastal town of Rovinj with sketchbook and paint.  We’ll dive into the techniques of travel sketching in the mornings as we explore vibrant streets, harbors, and markets. After a leisurely lunch at a local taverna, we’ll take a deeper look at our favorite sites with painting sessions in your medium of choice. All through the week, Susan will provide guided exercises and demos to help build your skills with drawing, color and composition. This workshop is the perfect way to experience this unique coastal town, which has been described as a little Venice on a hill.

About the Instructor

About the Instructor

Susan Abbott was born in Takoma Park, Maryland and grew up in this Victorian suburb of Washington, DC. Because her father was an artist and graphic designer, there were many art books and supplies at home and Abbott was drawing and painting from an early age. Her mother was a skilled seamstress and taught her to sew, knit and embroider. These hand crafts and time outdoors exploring the creeks and woods in her neighborhood were favorite childhood activities that have informed her work as an artist. Abbott graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and went on to receive an MFA from the Institute’s Hoffberger School of Painting, with the renowned abstract expressionist artist Grace Hartigan and realist master Israel Hershberg as her advisors. She’s been working as a professional artist since that time, exhibiting her oils and watercolors in galleries and museums around the country.

Luxury Accomodations at Hotel Angelo d'Oro, Rovinj, Croatia

Angelo d’Oro is a beautifully converted 17th Century Bishop’s Palace, a Croatian historic preservation site located in the heart of Rovinj’s old town.  Built around a charming interior garden where breakfast and evening drinks are served, the three-story site offers elegant accommodations in 21 rooms on three floors. Interior art workshop space is available in a vaulted room on the first floor.

The town of Rovinj, the jewel of the Istrian Peninsula, is heavily influenced by Italian architecture and culture, and indeed formed part of Italy until recently.  Surrounded on three sides by water, medieval and renaissance Rovinj consists of a warren of cobble stone streets, tunnels and stairways, the entire town banned to car traffic.  Waterfront restaurants, shops, cafes and a vibrant marketplace are all within steps of our venue.  At the top of the town is a cathedral, surrounded by a park with dramatic views of the crystal-clear Adriatic Sea. 

In addition to workshops led by nationally acclaimed instructors, and a day excursion arranged by Winslow Art Center, participants, and their non-painting companions, will have access to beaches, boat excursions, bike rental and an extensive public park created in the late 19th Century when Istria was still under Austrian rule.

The pick-up and drop-off point for those traveling to Rovinj by transportation arranged by Winslow Art Center is in Trieste, a city near and convenient to Venice and other locations. 

Itinerary

Thursday, May 22
  • Pickup at meeting spot in Trieste at 1:30 PM
  • Arrive at Angelo d’Oro, Rovinj
  • Welcome Orientation/Aperitivo at Hotel 
  • Welcome Dinner at Local Restaurant
Friday, May 23
  • Breakfast at Hotel
  • Professionally guided tour of Rovinj
  • Break for Lunch
  • Afternoon Painting Instruction
  • Dinner on Your Own
Saturday, May 24
  • Breakfast at Hotel
  • Morning Painting Instruction
  • Break for Lunch
  • Afternoon Painting Instruction
  • Group Aperitivo at Hotel
  • Group Dinner at Local Restaurant
Sunday, May 25
  • Breakfast at Hotel
  • Morning Painting Instruction
  • Break for Lunch
  • Afternoon Painting Instruction
  • Dinner on Your Own
Monday, May 26
  • Breakfast at Hotel
  • Morning Painting Instruction
  • Break for Lunch
  • Afternoon Painting Instruction
  • Group Aperitivo at Hotel
  • Dinner at Local Restaurant
Tuesday, May 27
  • Breakfast at Hotel
  • Excursion day to be arranged to local town, nearby island or other site
  • Dinner on Your Own
Wednesday, May 28
  • Breakfast at Hotel
  • Morning Painting Instruction
  • Break for Lunch
  • Afternoon Painting Instruction
  • Exhibit of Work/Farewell Aperitivo
  • Dinner at Local Restaurant
Thursday, May 29
  • Breakfast at Hotel
  • Depart for Trieste 9:30 AM
  • Arrive at drop-off point in Trieste 12:30-1:00 PM
(Planned itinerary is subject to minor alterations.)
Exploring Colorful Croatia with Sketchbook and Paints
with Susan Abbott – May 22-29, 2025

Total cost is based per room and number of occupants:

Solo workshop participant: $4,600.
Workshop participant with travel companion: $6,850.
Two workshop participants sharing a room – Limited availability, please inquire 

What’s Included:  

  • 8 days, 7 nights accommodation, private room with ensuite bathroom at Angelo d’Oro, Rovinj, Croatia
  • Ground transport from Trieste to venue and return
  • All breakfasts, 1 lunch, 5 dinners with wine
  • 5 full days of art instruction
  • Additional activities include: welcome aperitivo, professionally guided tour of Rovinj and historic sites, excursion day to be arranged to nearby town, island or other site, closing reception.
A deposit of $750 per person will reserve your room and space(s) in a workshop. You may cancel your reservation for a full refund of the deposit within 24 hours. After 24 hours, the deposit is non-refundable. Full balance and signed contract are due four months before the beginning of the workshop.

Deposit Options:

Solo Workshop Particpant - $750 deposit

Workshop Participant with Travel Companion - $1500 deposit

Please read the contract for complete terms and conditions.

Experience Counts

With over 10 years of experience organizing art tours, and with part of our team, my daughters Anne and Amy, living in Europe and fluent in Italian and Spanish, we have the ability not only to maintain long term relationships with the owners and staff of our favorite venues, but to seek out and vet new and unique locations each year. We personally participate in every travel workshop to ensure the quality of the accommodations and cuisine as well as to coordinate the special needs of the art instruction program.

If you have any questions, please use the form below, phone 206-715-6663 or email martha@winslowartcenter.com to contact us.

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