Mixed Media Art Workshop in Paris, France with Mary Beth Shaw
Join teaching artist Mary Beth Shaw for 8 days on a mixed media art workshop in Paris, France.
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Overview
Join us for a seven-night mixed media journey through Paris with teaching artist Mary Beth Shaw, based in Montmartre so you unpack only once. Mornings and early afternoons move on foot and by Metro through the city: flea markets, museums, quiet corners of neighborhoods most visitors never find. Afternoons bring class back at the hotel, layering the day’s finds and impressions into a travel journal.
Mary Beth is an intensely sensory traveler, drawn in by texture, color, and the shape of things she stumbles across. She works alongside her guests rather than directing from the front, helping each person find their own voice on the page rather than imitating hers. By the end of the week, your journal holds Paris in collage, paint, and found paper.
The Creative Experience
This is a mixed media program, taught in the hotel breakfast room most afternoons, in about 2 to 3 hours of class time most days. Working with collage, acrylics, stencils, and mark-making tools, you’ll build a travel journal layer by layer, sketches, painted impressions, handwritten notes, and tactile finds gathered along the way. By the end, your journal holds Paris in a way photographs alone never could.
This Vacation Includes
- Art Workshop Program: Daily mixed media art class with Mary Beth Shaw
- Blue Walk Program: Daily walks to discover Paris
- Hotel Accommodations: Seven nights at our select hotel in the heart of Paris
- Daily Breakfast: Buffet breakfast
- Welcome lunch
- Farewell Dinner: Dinner in the home of a local artist
- Dedicated studio space
- Transfers: Prepaid Navigo Pass for free access to Paris Metro
- Gelato!
- Guided tour Montmartre: Guided tour with local guide to discover Montmartre
- Seine River Cruise: Sunsent and champagne Seine River Cruise
- Museum Admissions: Admission to Musee D'Orsay and Rodin
- Taxes and fees: Hotel taxes and fees included
- Food tasting: Tastes of famous patisserie and street food snacks
What's Not Included
- Airfare
- Porterage of luggage
- Tips and gratuities
- Meals not mentioned
- Airport transfer
- Travel insurance
- Art Supplies
About YourArtist-Teacher
Mary Beth Shaw
Mary Beth spent eighteen years in the insurance industry before leaving in 2000 to reignite a childhood love of art. She started with collage paintings, and these days works primarily in her travel journal. She’s a full-time painter and author. Mary Beth is also the founder of StencilGirl Products. She’s written two books: Flavor for Mixed Media and Stencil Girl.
She’s an intensely sensory traveler, and her surroundings — a tree root, the sound of waves, light falling across a path — shape her work directly wherever she goes. “Doing an Art Walk is perfect for me,” she says, “because my surroundings tend to influence me quite a bit.” Her top priority as a teacher is helping guests find their own creative voice rather than imitating hers.
Day by DayYour Itinerary
Programs are subject to change. Actual daily schedule may differ.
Day 1 · Arrival in Paris
Settle into Paris at your own pace, then meet the group for a welcome and orientation walk of the neighborhood. An optional group dinner is a relaxed way to start the week together.
Day 2 · Flea Markets & First Finds
A Metro ride to one of Paris’s iconic flea markets, a paradise of vintage papers, textiles, and ephemera, followed by a welcome lunch with the group. Back at the hotel, a show-and-share session compares the day’s finds, followed by the first class of the week.
Day 3 · Montmartre's Quiet Lanes
A walk through Montmartre beyond the usual paths, quiet lanes and artists’ corners, with free time for lunch and browsing textile and art supply shops. An afternoon class layers the day’s impressions into the first pages of the journal.
Day 4 · Île Saint-Louis to Saint-Germain
An optional soufflé-making class opens the morning. In the afternoon, a walk from Île Saint-Louis past Notre-Dame toward Saint-Germain, stopping at boutique art stores along the way, followed by a class translating the walk’s textures and colors into layered pages.
Day 5 · Impressionists & a Seine Sunset Cruise
A morning at the Musée d’Orsay among the Impressionists, then a stroll through the Louvre grounds to the Tuileries Gardens for lunch. An afternoon studio session follows, and the evening brings a sunset and champagne cruise on the Seine.
Day 6 · Dior, Rue Cler & the Eiffel Tower
A morning visit to the Dior Museum. Then dive into the market stalls of Rue Cler for picnic supplies, carried to the Champ de Mars for lunch beneath the Eiffel Tower. An afternoon class folds the day’s moments into the journal.
Day 7 · Last Finds & Farewell
An open morning to shop, explore, and collect any last finds for the journal. An afternoon class adds finishing touches, followed by a journal-sharing session and farewell dinner in a Parisian artist’s home studio.
Day 8 · Departure
Breakfast, then depart at your leisure. The hotel will hold bags for later departures.
A Note on Pace
View MapWhere in the World?
The trip is based in Paris, France. Charles de Gaulle (CDG) is the primary airport, with the most flights from North America; Orly (ORY) may also serve your arrival or departure.
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Traveled, Created, Loved It
“We were so well taken care of: I felt properly spoilt! Well organised, excellent guides and inspiring teacher in lovely company.”
Carol Ann S