Art Workshop Sicily: Capture Baroque Beauty
Exploring Sicily Through Paper, Texture, and Color with Cecile Yadro
Your teaching artist, Cecile Yadro
Dates: October 28 – November 4, 2026 SOLD OUT
Duration: 8 days / 7 nights
Start: Palermo, Sicily, Italy
End: Catania Airport, Sicily, Italy
Cost: from $3995 based on double occupancy
Single Supplement: from $595
All prices in US dollars, land only.
Collage Journal Art Workshop in Sicily
Discover the perfect blend of small group travel and inspired art classes on Cecile Yadro Collage Travel Journal Workshop in Sicily. This special, program will be a time for lots of fun, laughter, and creativity. For those who want to experience a unique and authentic side of Sicily, join us for Ceciles’s sketchbook-based art vacation. We start with two nights in Palermo, spend 5 nights in Ragusa, and finish with a group transfer to Catania Airport. Walk, collage, and paint your way through beautiful Baroque Sicily. Capture it all in your very own sketchbook travel journal.
Overview
Art Workshop in Sicily, Italy
On this 7-night mixed media art workshop in Sicily you will be immersed in equal parts travel and art program.
Art Program
Walk, sketch, collage, and collect your way through Sicily as you create a travel journal that feels entirely your own. Cecile will guide you in using the streets, architecture, colors, and everyday details of Sicily as inspiration, learning to simplify, select, and combine what catches your eye rather than record everything exactly as seen. Working in a concertina sketchbook, you will mix drawing, watercolor, collage, printed papers, mark making, and found ephemera. Some pages may begin on location, others may grow later from photographs, collected papers, or small sketches made along the way.
No prior sketching experience is needed. You may draw a lot, a little, or build pages mainly through shape, color, and collage. The aim is not a perfect record of Sicily, but a playful, personal visual story of your journey.
Teaching Approach, Daily Exercises, and Takeaways
Each day begins with a simple idea or technique inspired by what you encounter: simplifying a building, capturing a roofline, creating shapes with collage, working with color, collecting textures, or combining several views into one page. Cecile’s demonstrations are short and practical, followed by time to work independently with individual guidance, adapting each exercise to the location, weather, and interests of the group.
You will explore different ways to begin a page, from a blank surface to prepared ink or collage backgrounds, and learn to build a page gradually without overcomplicating it, along with composition, visual rhythm, repeated colors, shadows, layering, and ways to connect separate moments into one coherent travel story.
By the end of the week, you will have a personal concertina travel journal filled with sketches, collage, color, texture, found papers, and memories of Sicily, along with techniques to carry into future travels.
Touring
Your Art Walk adventure weaves together Sicily’s culture, landscapes, and flavors. In Palermo, enjoy two memorable nights featuring a guided market walk with a local chef and an inspiring visit to Monreale and its magnificent cathedral.
From there, travel south to Ragusa Ibla, stopping en route at the extraordinary Villa Romana del Casale, famed for its ancient mosaics. During your days in Ragusa Ibla, we will also explore the nearby villages of Modica, Scicli, Sortino and Ragusa Superiore. Along the way you’ll sample artisan chocolate and local olive oil, and take a gentle countryside walk that reveals the quiet mystery of the Necropolis of Pentalica.
Throughout the journey, you’ll travel by public bus, private mini‑buses, and vans—immersed in Sicily’s rhythm, one step at a time.
Example Itinerary
Mixed Media Art Workshop in Sicily, Italy
Actual daily schedules may differ.
Day 1
We’ll gather at our hotel in the historic center for a relaxed introduction and orientation meeting to ease into the week ahead. From there, we’ll head out on a short neighborhood walk to get acquainted with the surrounding streets, landmarks, and local rhythms. For those still feeling energized after travel, we’ll end the day with an optional, convivial aperitivo. It’s a chance to unwind together and toast the start of our Sicilian adventure.Mixed media art workshop in Sicily
Day 2
In the morning, you’ll dive into one of Palermo’s historic markets with a local guide and chef. Taste your way through the city’s vibrant food culture as you explore its lively stalls and stories. After a midday break, and a chance to pick up your sketchbook, we’ll head to the hilltop town of Monreale. There, you’ll visit its breathtaking cathedral before settling in for an art session with Cecile, inspired by golden mosaics and sweeping views.
Day 3
After checking out, travel by private mini‑bus to the extraordinary ancient mosaics of Villa Romana del Casale. Next, enjoy a relaxed countryside lunch at a favorite agriturismo. Afterward, journey on to Ragusa Ibla and check in to your hotel. Ease into the baroque surroundings with a leisurely art class on property. You’ll settle in with Cecile to translate the day’s pattern, color, and layered detail into your own sketchbook pages.
Day 4
Today we stay close to home, giving you time to enjoy the charm and gentle pace of Ragusa Ibla. We’ll begin with a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood’s winding lanes and sunlit piazzas, taking in its Baroque details and everyday rhythms. The rest of the day offers plenty of space to relax, explore at your own pace, and settle into your art practice. Cecile will be teaching, offering inspiration and guidance as you capture the textures, colors, and atmosphere of this beautiful hilltop town.
Day 5
Today we venture into the Sicilian countryside for a guided walk to the Necropolis of Pantalica, a serene UNESCO‑listed valley carved into limestone cliffs. Your local guide brings the landscape and its ancient history to life as you explore this remarkable site. We then continue to Sortino for an olive oil tasting, sampling some of Sicily’s freshest and most fragrant oils. In the afternoon, return to the hotel for class, translating the day’s impressions into your travel journal.
Day 6
Today we travel to Modica, a Baroque town known for its dramatic hillsides, elegant architecture, and centuries‑old chocolate tradition. We’ll explore its charming streets before enjoying a tasting of Modica’s famous chocolate—made using techniques that date back to the Spanish and Aztec worlds.
In the late afternoon, we’ll return to Ragusa Ibla and Cecile will lead a creative class inspired by Modica. In the evening join us for an outing to the village of Scicli.
Day 7
Today we stay close to home, beginning with a leisurely stroll from our hotel up to Ragusa Superiore. As we wander through cobbled stairways and take in the sweeping panoramas, Cecile will lead a class inspired by the textures, viewpoints, and layered architecture that define this beautiful hilltop town.
The afternoon offers time to relax, explore, or continue working in your journals at your own pace. In the evening, we’ll come together for a festive farewell dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. There, you’ll share your travel journals, enjoying local, seasonal specialties and celebrating the week we’ve shared in Sicily.
Day 8
Check out of the hotel and board your private mini‑bus for the group transfer to Catania Airport, where you’ll continue onward—home or to further travels. Wishing you safe journeys and fond memories until our next adventure together.
Make Sicily your next artistic escape!
Cecile Yadro Collage Sketchbook Gallery
Important Notes
Art Workshop Vacation in Sicily, Italy
Deposits
Your place on a tour is secured once we have received and confirmed your deposit payment. Before the final payment date, a non-refundable deposit of $500 for walking vacations and $750 for art vacation workshops is required. After the final payment date, the entire tour amount must be received to hold a space on a program.
You may cancel for any reason up to 90 days prior to departure and your non-refundable deposit may be forwarded to a future tour. Any balance on your account will be returned. For complete details please see our Terms and Conditions.
Solo travelers and single supplements
For our guests who are traveling solo... for your comfort we offer private rooms. Whenever possible singles will be placed in the same room category as our double or twin rooms.
Twin / Double Rooms
Please be aware twin beds in Europe may have very little or no space between beds. Also, for double beds, instead of a king or queen mattress, double beds are often two adjoining twin mattresses secured together and made with double bedding.
Fitness
Walking is a part of this program. It is both a means of visiting locations and a way to immerse yourself in a place. Our scheduled walks are usually 1-2 hours long at a casual pace. Participants should be able to comfortably walk 2 miles in an hour. We provide a general description of our walks here. It is your responsibility to know your own physical and medical condition with respect to the advisability of participating in a chosen trip. Please be realistic about your physical abilities when booking an active walking vacation. We suggest you prepare by doing at least 1 hour of walking several times per week, and a longer walk at least once per week. Ideally, include walks with elevation change and stairs. (There are always stairs.) If you have compromised knees, hips, back this tour will be challenging and perhaps not appropriate.
As with any exercise program, we recommend you consult with your physician prior to your arrival regarding the suitability of a walking tour.
Some of our guests find trekking poles helpful on steep or uneven terrain. In Europe they are quite common. Before using them on a vacation, please practice at home. We strongly advise you get comfortable using trekking poles on familiar paths first.
For additional information on these topics and more, please see our FAQ page.
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