Just a short flight from Europe, Morocco is a world away in culture and appearance. At the northwest corner of Africa, hemmed in by the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Sahara desert, it has a rich and various landscape. Marrakech has a history as exotic as any city in the world. This mix of North African and Saharan colours, of Arab, Berber and European culture, of a light tempered by both mountain and plain, has given the city a unique and complex character, which has inspired artists and writers from around the world. Marrakech is a perfect destination for artists and writers.
Tim Maguire and Anthony Sattin brought a unique combination of skill and experience to this retreat. Both Tim’s approach towards landscape and nature, and Anthony’s understanding of Moroccan culture and history, provided fantastic stimuli.
The aim of this retreat was to furnish novel stimuli through excursions in and around Marrakech where participants could collect visual material using sketchbooks, quick watercolour studies, drawing and photography. Anthony Sattin led the group on visits to sites of cultural interest such as the Marrakesh souk, spice markets, a Berber village, and other sites of architectural significance. A trip into the High Atlas Mountains and to Marrakech gardens offered opportunities for landscape and nature studies to developed into final art works.
2 Comments
The hustle and bustle of Marrakech, Anthony Sattin, travel writer and great raconteur, Tim Maguire world renown artist and Ruth Rich, our host, what a great combination!
The Marrakech art retreat would be without a doubt one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had.
From the very beginning we where greeted by the charming Ruth, who had organized the whole retreat to a T. AS well as Anthony, travel writer supreme. We where enthralled by his wonderful stories, especially relating to the history of Morocco. Then of course we where graced by Tim Maguire, one of my all time favorite artists. Under his guidance and supervision I’ve discovered a totally new way of painting.
All in all an experience not to be missed.
I went into the Marrakech retreat as a colourblind writer with a very limited idea of how to draw or paint. I came out of it ten days later as a colourblind writer with a sketchbook full of drawings and a handful of paintings that I never thought I could produce (and a couple of stories I was happy with, too). More importantly, thanks to writer/guide Anthony Sattin and artist Tim Maguire, we experienced Marrakech in a much deeper and richer way than if each of us had done it alone. They taught the group how to get the most out of this amazing place, and then helped us interpret it for ourselves, expressing our experiences in words and images.