A little update
We are grateful that our summer Creative Studio Weeks are now fully booked. Thank you to everyone who has chosen to spend time creating with us in the Vallée des Peintres.
There are still places available for our autumn Studio Week, from 19 to 23 October 2026. A quieter season, with changing colours, softer light and plenty of space to explore, experiment and create.
We would love to welcome you.
Five days of making in the Vallée des Peintres, France
Join us for five days (six nights if you choose to stay with us) in the rural village of Chéniers, in the Vallée des Peintres.
A shared studio. A maximum of six participants. An inspiring landscape just outside the door.
A week without the pressure to produce finished work. A week to slow down, observe, experiment and rediscover the pleasure of making.
When was the last time your own work surprised you?
Not because you accidentally made something beautiful, but because you stayed a little longer with an idea that made you curious.
Many artists spend years refining techniques. Far fewer spend time learning how to recognise and develop ideas by making variations, following unexpected paths and allowing them to grow through working in series.
This Studio Week is about exactly that.
Not another workshop. Not a painting holiday. But five days inside a working artist’s studio, where making, questioning and experimenting are part of everyday life.
Where ideas begin
One of the most challenging parts of making art isn’t learning a technique.
It’s learning to stay with uncertainty. To keep exploring when the obvious ideas have run out, and to trust that ten small studies often reveal more than one carefully finished piece.
We don’t tell you what your work should become. We create the conditions in which your own ideas can emerge.
Through creative exercises, individual conversations (in English, Dutch or French) and thoughtful questions, we invite you to work in series rather than focusing on individual pieces. You’ll discover how moving between several works allows ideas to grow, connect and evolve in unexpected ways.
Sometimes we’ll suggest making another version. Sometimes we’ll encourage you to remove half of what you’ve made. Sometimes we’ll simply ask: What keeps drawing your attention?
Because the most valuable discoveries rarely come from finishing one piece. They come from recognising where your curiosity is leading you and giving it the space to grow.
How we work
During the week you’ll gradually move through four layers.
Explore
Your creative practice becomes a laboratory, not a place to record ideas, but a place to discover them.
You’ll learn to observe differently and to collect visual fragments that spark your curiosity.
Experiment
Rather than searching for one successful drawing, you’ll make many small investigations.
Quick studies. Variations. Unexpected combinations. Questions without immediate answers.
Because quantity often opens doors that perfection keeps closed.
Transform
Each morning, if the weather permits, we’ll gather inspiration in the landscape surrounding our studio. Back inside, those observations slowly become something else.
You simplify. Combine. Abstract. Imagine.
Little by little your own visual language begins to emerge.
Develop
Towards the end of the week you’ll notice that certain ideas keep returning. Instead of making one finished artwork, you’ll develop one or more small series.
Because artists don’t simply make images. They follow questions. And often one question is enough to begin an entirely new body of work.
Inside the studio
This isn’t a classroom. It’s our home and studio. The place where we make our own work throughout the year. During the Creative Studio Week we’ll be working too.
You’ll see how we begin. Where we get stuck. How we make decisions. When we abandon an idea. And why we sometimes keep going just a little longer.
We believe that sharing an artistic process is just as valuable as demonstrating a technique.
Working alongside each other creates conversations that don’t always need words. One person’s experiment often becomes another person’s starting point.
Time to explore
During the week, there is also a day without scheduled guidance.
This day is an invitation to follow your own curiosity. You are welcome to continue working in the studio, explore ideas that have emerged during the first days, or take the time to discover the landscape that has inspired artists for generations.
The Vallée des Peintres offers many places to wander, observe and find inspiration: rivers, villages, forests, old paths and hidden corners waiting to be discovered.
On this day, we don’t provide lunch, giving you the freedom to make your own plans and experience the surroundings at your own pace. In the evening, we come together again and share a nourishing meal.
Space to explore
We intentionally keep the group small. No more than six participants.
That allows the two of us to offer plenty of individual guidance while creating an atmosphere where everyone has the freedom to follow their own path.
No one works in exactly the same way. And that’s exactly the point.
Is this Studio Week for you?
You’ll probably feel at home here…
- If you’ve reached a point where you’re looking for more than techniques.
- If you’d like to develop a more personal way of working.
- If you enjoy experimenting.
- If you’re curious about building ideas through series rather than single finished pieces.
- If you’d like your own work to surprise you again.
Practical information
2026 dates
We offer a small number of Creative Studio Weeks each year, allowing us to keep every group personal and unhurried.
The following weeks are planned during 2026. We are delighted that most of our 2026 Creative Studio Weeks are already fully booked.
A few places are still available for the week of 19–23 October:
Monday 27 April – Friday 1 May 2026 (fully booked)Monday 22 – Friday 26 June 2026 (fully booked)Monday 13 – Friday 17 July 2026 (fully booked)Monday 27 – Friday 31 July 2026 (fully booked)- Monday 10 – Friday 14 August 2026 (fully booked)
- Monday 24 – Friday 28 August 2026 (fully booked)
- Monday 21 – Friday 25 September 2026 (fully booked)
- Monday 19 – Friday 23 October 2026 (places available)
If none of these dates suit you, or if you’d like to know more before booking, please get in touch. We’d be happy to hear from you.
Price for the Creative Studio Week
€595,- per person
This includes:
- Four full studio days with personal guidance (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday).
- One day for independent exploration (Wednesday), with time to continue working in the studio or discover the inspiring surroundings.
- Creative exercises, thoughtful questions and individual feedback.
- Free use of all available shared studio materials.
- Coffee, tea and a small treat during the day.
Travel to and from Chéniers, accommodation and meals are arranged separately. That gives everyone the freedom to shape their week in the way that suits them best.
Getting here
By car
Free parking is available in and around the studio at the village square.
By train
The nearest railway station is La Souterraine. If you’re travelling by train, we’re happy to collect you from the station (€40 transfer).
Not included
- Your journey to and from Chéniers.
- Travel and cancellation insurance.
- Soft drinks and alcoholic drinks (water, coffee and tea are available throughout the day).
After registering, you’ll receive a payment request for the first deposit.
Accommodation & Meals (optional)
Everyone enjoys the week differently.
Some participants like staying in our guest accommodation and sharing meals together. Others prefer the privacy of their own gite, tent or camping car nearby.
You’re free to choose what suits you best. Simply select your preferences on the registration form below.
Stay in our home (optional)
If you’d like to stay just a few steps from the studio, in a comfortable private bedroom, you’re very welcome to book one of our guest rooms. Read more about our guest rooms here.
€300,- for six nights during the Studio Week (arrival on Sunday after 4:00 pm, departure on Saturday before 11:00 am).
This is a separate private accommodation booking and will be reserved and invoiced independently.
If you’d like to arrive earlier or stay a little longer, that’s usually possible too. Additional nights are €60 per room, per night, including use of the studio and materials, excluding meals and drinks.
Simply indicate your choice on the registration form below.
Stay elsewhere
If you prefer camping or another type of accommodation, there are several options nearby.
We’re happy to share our recommendations.
Shared meals (optional)
If you’d like, you’re very welcome to join us for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner throughout the week.
Everything for a relaxed breakfast will be availabvle in the guest’s kitchen and taken at your own time and pace. Lunch and dinner are prepared using fresh, seasonal ingredients whenever possible and are enjoyed together around our table. For many participants, these shared meals become a natural continuation of the conversations and discoveries in the studio.
In true French tradition, lunch is the main hot meal of the day, while dinner is lighter.
Lunch is not provided on Wednesday, giving you the freedom to make your own plans during your independent exploration on that day.
The meal package is available whether you stay in our home or choose accommodation elsewhere.
€200,- for meals during the Creative Studio Week.
Of course, you’re equally welcome to arrange your own meals if you prefer.
Simply indicate your choice on the registration form below.
About us
We are Erna and Marco, visual artists living and working in the Vallée des Peintres.
For years we’ve been guiding creative people who want more than technical skills.
Our passion is helping artists and makers discover that creativity grows through curiosity, experimentation and trust, not through perfection and pressure to perform.
Everything we invite you to do during this Studio Week comes directly from our own artistic practice.
Not because we expect you to work like us. But because we’ve learned that every artist develops their own voice by staying with the process long enough for it to emerge.
English is the main language of our workshops and explanations, creating a shared language for everyone. Alongside English, we speak Dutch and French, and we love the richness that different languages and cultures bring to our studio.
Curious about how other people experienced this week? You can read some stories here.
You’re welcome
If you’d like to join us for a Creative Studio Week, simply fill in the form below.
If you’re unsure about anything or would like to talk things through first, just send us a message. We’d be happy to hear from you.
We hope to welcome you to Chéniers.
À bientôt, Erna & Marco