Join me in France this summer for a week that promises to be unforgettable. From 25th July to 1st August 2026, I will teach a one-week Urban Sketching course in ink and watercolour in the beautiful Clos Mirabel, a French manor house near the city of Pau in the far south of the country, in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
Atelier Clos Mirabel is an elegant property overlooking the misty mountains of the Pyrenees, the sight of which takes your breath away afresh every morning. A classic 19th-century French country house, Clos Mirabel is set in magnificent grounds with its own potager that provides fresh produce for home-cooked meals every day. If the sun gets a little warm, there is a pool for you to cool off, take a wander amongst the giant horse chestnut, oak and sweet gum trees that line the avenue, or sit on a bench with your book in their leafy shade.
Every evening you’ll enjoy an apéritif on the terrace with your fellow students, followed by an evening meal prepared by the gifted in-house chefs. Fresh baking in the morning, beautiful salads of colour and richness and the best of French home cooking are more than enough reason on their own for a stay in this tranquil oasis in the Pyrenées-Atlantiques.
Choose your accommodation from a room in the main house, in which you’ll think you’re in a French romance novel, or one of the self-contained and beautifully appointed apartments in the Winery, a converted ancillary building next to the main house. It’s up to you, but do bear in mind that if you want to get your choice of room, you will need to be fast, as many are already booked!
But you’re there to learn: what will I offer you as your sketching teacher?
There will be five days of tuition, starting on Sunday, with one day off during the week for you to explore the region. Each morning we will get together in the large classroom and work until lunchtime. A leisurely lunch is followed by an afternoon session. The classroom is open to the students from first thing in the morning to last thing at night, so that you can continue to work on your own. In my course, which emphasises sketching on location, we will be taken on trips to the surrounding villages, to find pretty or quirky details of French architecture: we’ll meet the friendly locals and enjoy some café life.
We will sketch in the markets of Pau and Jurançon – you won’t believe how the vendors love to be sketched! It’s a real taste of a hidden France, and if you’re like me, you’ll feel a sense of privilege for your intimate experience of it.
The hospitality is warm and welcoming, and everything is taken care of. You don’t need to drive, cook, clean or do anything at all for a full week, from the Saturday you arrive to the Saturday you depart – this is your time to concentrate on your own artistic development. You don’t even have to speak French but there will be lots of opportunity to chat with the vendors we’ll be sketching in their native tongue. (You may arrive on an earlier or later date according to your travel plans, as the management is flexible.) It is the ideal educational vacation for the solo traveller, as you will be with other people travelling without partners, and the camaraderie is exceptional.
My style of teaching is extremely accessible. I break everything down to its simplest steps. Never opened a box of watercolour before? I’ll talk you through the colours, and how to use them. Do you love trees? I have a great trick to capture them easily. Struggle with perspective? I make it doable and you won’t get bogged down. Nervous of sketching people? You’ll be addicted by the end of a week with me! Rather than make big paintings, I will get you to fill a sketchbook with vignettes and tiny visual stories of your experiences. On the last day we’ll have a private exhibition on the terrace and you can see what your fellow students have done. But above all, you will go away with a beautiful little resource in your back pocket: the ability to sketch wherever you are. You will have the tools never to be bored again, and you will be an inductee to the amazing, creative world of urban sketching.
I can, if you wish, supply everything you need for the week in terms of art materials. And I mean everything! Paints, sketchbook, brushes, pens, ink and everything else you will need or want. You can even buy your very own SketchPocket and I will bring it with me, or send it to you in advance, as you prefer.
Cost: My tuition fee is €500 for the week, and the rate you pay Atelier Clos Mirabel will depend on the accommodation option you choose. Prices start at €1,895 per person.
Last year was my first time in Atelier Clos Mirabel, but when a course in July 2026 came up for discussion I leapt at the chance. I lost count of the number of students who came up to me at the end and told me the week had exceeded their expectations. I hope you can join us this year…I would love to meet you and share a special week together.
More info and booking: https://atelier.clos-mirabel.com/painting-holidays/vignettes-of-the-pyrenees-sketchbook-workshop-roisin-cure
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions, or just to say hello, even if you already have plans for this summer. I love to hear your thoughts!
Just found you on YT and landed here, plan to do some of your £8 classes. Look like fun. I’m new to sketching. Love your style,