We are so proud of the sketches all our students created during our absolutely marvellous September Sketch tour to Campania. Through our sketches you’ll be able to see our stories and follow our journey.

Cava de’Tirreni. One of my own first sketches here, the day before our group arrived, was in the main square of Cava the very non touristy and delightful town where we stayed for most of the tour. I was looking to capture the feeling of this typical Italian town with so much promenading going on around the fountain as it did today and everyday.

Badia de’Tirreni. Our first visit of the tour was to the lovely hilltop village of Badia de’Tirreni where we did our sketch of the beautiful Abbey Benedettina. We kept it simple by choosing the front facade of this enormous abbey - small village, large abbey!

Restaurant Maximus. Lunch was calling and we went even higher to a family restaurant owned by friends of Gaetano our fantastic tour organiser. This was Restaurant Maximus and a wonderful selection of tasting were presented which meant we simply had to sketch them. You do sketch very quickly when food awaits.

Pompeii. This was an exciting, busy day and very hot day. Pompeii. The city so totally covered in ash by a sudden eruption in 79AD. No one stood a chance. You can fully understand how ghastly it must have been when you see the casts of bodies frozen in their final moments. What was remarkable was some of the beautiful wall art still intact in some of the more wealthy homes. Our sketch took place at the Antifiteatro under the shade of the Roman pines.

Mt Vesuvius. Time then to visit an amazing vineyard, The Tears of Christ, on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius. What a magnificent property and such a beautiful selection of food and wines in the restaurant. We were so immersed in trying the 6 matched wines with the various courses, that we didn’t even think to sketch! Well it is a culinary tour too.

Barlotti Buffalo farm. Gaetano had organised a visit to Barlotti Buffalo farm as one of our food experiences. We were very taken with how gentle these big water buffaloes are, 300 of them. As you’ll see they loved having a head tickle and would close their eyes in pleasure. So funny. We had coffee and cannoli or chocolate layer cake made with the farm products. A quick sketch first. Lunch was a sensation for us. We were served mozzarella with a tiny tart of fresh warm tomato with a pot of ricotta. Never have we tasted flavour like it and since then we are all on a mission to find anything even halfway approaching this. I think Lisa may have found something in Rome! We took a few moments to do some vignettes of the water buffaloes.

Paestum. One of the big surprises of the tour was Paestum. Hadn’t heard of it before doing this tour and Gaetano knew we’d find it a fascinating place to sketch. Paestum contains 3 of the most well preserved ancient Greek temples in the world. Obviously most people don’t know it as there were few tourists there. Suits us fine. There is also a magnificent museum with a fab collection of early artwork.

Cava de’ Tirreni. Later that evening we attended a ceramic tile painting workshop in Cava. Everything was ready for us and the lovely tutor explained how to apply the tile paint and that it does bake to slightly different colours. We could choose any design from some they offered or create your own. We picked them up all baked and ready to take home two days later.

Capri. The island of stories movies and romance. This is a delightful little island at the end of the Amalfi coast. Very large boats take very large numbers of people here so it’s certainly busy. For us it was important to find a good sketching spot and capture in our own way, the essence of this splendid place. Looking down down down to the villages and boats from above was our choice. Some of us managed another sketch on our wanderings.

Ravello and Cimbrone Gardens. We started early on our drive high up to Ravello, and to the utterly gorgeous Cimbrone Gardens. Such breathtaking views over the Gulf of Salerno and Amalfi. It was transformed in the 1920’s by Lord Grimthorpe, with Vita Sackville- West contributing to the English style of garden. We had a very gracious sketching session on the lawns of The Terrace of Infinity. Tea coffee and nibbles were presented to our tables and we felt as though we were back in time. Aaaaahhh.

Villa Agostina. One of the oldest and largest properties in Cava, and where Gaetano had arranged our Italian cooking lesson. What a magnificent property indeed and wonderful hosts and chef. We prepared our ingredients under a spectacular portico dripping with wisteria and roses. The pool and gardens were wonderful. Anyway. On withe lesson and everyone helped make gnocchi and eggplant parmigiana. So delicious and so fresh. Lunch was so welcomed and we got up from the table groaning. Id already sketched the ingredients so we sat in chairs in the garden and sketched to coloured pots. At least those who had the energy did.

Path of the Gods hike. An early drive to Agerola and the starting point for our hike. Thank goodness the cafe there had coffee to get us going. This was probably one of the most amazing walks you could do. Looking down from so high above the Amalfi coast, and passing old ruins, vineyards on the hills, farmers with goats and horses, caves where animals could shelter. Fascinating. A little bit stoney in parts but very doable.
Gaetano and Luigi happen to know a 4th generation shepherd who has a cave and cafe up a secret path. This was where he served us lunch. Everything was made by himself in his very basic kitchen and what a feast. We did get a 10min sketch looking over the bays before heading back to base, and a good lie down.

Positano. One does need to visit these incredible legendary towns along the Amalfi coast. They are awfully busy though but definitely worth dropping in on. The shopping here is rather tempting, and if we had more time not sketching one could have found some very tasteful line outfits. We nabbed ourselves a very nice waterside table and ordered drinks - coffee in my case and put together a black and white sketch. Spent a lot of time gazing at the antics of the beach people.

Castelnuovo.On our way to our Agritourismo we stopped in a tiny hilltop village where Gaetano and Luigi had a prepared picnic lunch for us. Happened to find some old tables by the church. Just right so we set them up, decorated the table and our lunch was served.
We found some steps going down a pathway so this would be a great spot to do a vista with foreground and softer background.

Agriturismo Il Piano Delle Corte. 80 hectares of olives groves, and a restored old villa as the homestead. Such a beautiful setting for our last 2 days. The sun was going down so we had an aperitif and sketched the setting sun. Glorious.
Dinners here are taken on the side terrace and you meet others who may also be staying. The 2 ducks in the fountain certainly intrigued us. Every night they were put to bed safely as predators may well find them tasty!

Roccagloriosa Campania. Breakfast on the terrace of our Agriurismo then a ‘people’ sketching class. Faces and each other. We also wanted to try a hatched sketch of the very ancient olive trees beside us. Colour was added later using espresso coffee!
Lunch was at an Italian Bistro cooked by Nona. Over to the very high wall we wandered and there was a panorama to behold. Wow. This was perfect for a folded out sketch, and that we did.

That evening we had a farewell dinner and said our goodbyes. We presented Gaetano and Luigi with their own custom paint sets as they’d been such keen students as well. A fabulous and utterly memorable 13 days.

We will be returning to Campania for another Sketch Tour in mid September 2021. If you’d like to join us do let me know and you’ll be on the priority list. You are welcome if you are new to sketching or more experienced.

Our Campania Italy Sketch Tour. Sept 1st - 12th 2019