Painting Holiday 2027

ALPHA PAINTING HOLIDAYS

September 7 - 11, 2027

By Joe Dowden

SIMONDSBATH HOUSE HOTEL

www.alphapaintingholidays.com

Whatever your level you can have a relaxing time and enjoy painting combined with the flexibility and comfort of this country hotel.

The family operators are friendly, operating in a sparsely populated Parish where everyone knows everyone else. This is a little piece of "Old England", as we describe our landscape. The original part of the Hotel consists of the first building built in this tiny hamlet. The bar features a vast array of local and regional spirits, plus wines and beers. A well equipped kitchen provides good food supplemented by refreshments during the day. There's a tearoom nearby, and a pub round the corner. When painters come, the proprietor is fully engaged with looking after them and assisting the artist. At other times he is often out and about leading rambling groups, talking about wildlife, local rural life, conservation, and history, often not without a little humour. He takes us out to locations and has given me some great insights into this distinctive region.

A short walk takes you down to the River Barle. Underwater rocks show everywhere through clear water. You can see miles along the valley from the hotel. The air is clean and the whole region is a dark skies area so stars shine incredibly brightly. Speaking as an artist, I can say these are the brightest greens I have seen in the whole of the British Isles and Ireland. On sunny days skies are bright blue - characteristic of the high moorland. Simonsbath sits in a deep valley which at its lowest point here is 1,000 feet above sea level. A traditional Sawmill lies just below the hotel, and the ancient old arched bridge dates back to antiquity. Single track roads follow the valleys and climb the moorlands in four directions, and connect to a maze of narrow highways and byways. Vast views extend as far as Dartmoor and Wales. Endless stone walls lined with trees form Exmoor's patchwork quilt.

Teaching for this holiday is a standalone and complete experience, so you can take enough away with you to carry on yourself. Alpha has a great stable of top painters and I often recommend them.

I have taught in India, China, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia and Thailand. However, Alpha painting Holidays feature my only residential course in the UK, and there are very few places in the world which rival the beauty of Exmoor.

This will be my 25th year since running my first course, which was in Croatia.

The Next UK Painting Holiday will be at Simonsbath, Exmoor, September 7-11, 2027.

Image below:- SIMONSBATH HOUSE HOTEL. Other local images are the River Barle, Simonsbath and the historic Landacre Bridge.

The last three images feature International events in Thailand, China and the UK.