Sketching and Drawing

with Samantha Dion Baker

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When

October 6 – 11, 2025

Price

Single Room: € 3,730

Double Room: € 6,710

Example Program

3:00 to 5:00 pm | Check in

7:00 pm | Aperitivo, welcome chat and a traditional Sicilian dinner at Case Vecchie

9:00 am | Bountiful breakfast with homemade jams, cakes, coffee, tea and seasonal fruit

10:30 am | Painting session in Case Vecchie’s garden – Intro/show and tell, first exercises, getting to know our materials and a talk on color.

5:30 pm | Traditional Sicilian cooking lesson followed by dinner

7:45 am | Visit a local shepherd and cheesemaker, Filippo Privitera, to see ricotta making. Picnic breakfast included. Return to Case Vecchie for a Sicilian cheese tasting followed by lunch

4:30 pm | Enjoy the garden of Case Vecchie, drawing our days together freely with not much instruction, but encouragement and as much guidance as each guest would like, and then meet to discuss thoughts and share our journal pages

7:30 pm | Aperitivo by the pool followed by dinner

9:00 am | Bountiful breakfast with homemade jams, cakes, coffee, tea and seasonal fruit followed by a walk in the garden in search of seasonal ingredients.

10:30 am – 2:00 pm | Cooking lesson and lunch

3:00 – 5:00 pm | Lots of time to draw, paint and experiment in new ways on our pages. We will discuss taking risks, trying new processes and materials, and working around mistakes. On this day we will also experiment with collage

4:00 pm | Visit the Tasca d’Almerita winery for a tour and wine followed by aperitivo and dinner at Case Vecchie

9:00 am | Bountiful breakfast with homemade jams, cakes, coffee, tea and seasonal fruit

10:30 am | Workshop on natural dyeing and plant-based colour painting

1:00 pm | Lunch in the courtyard

4:30 pm | Painting session – Reflection, memory keeping, future goals, and a sketchbook share

7:30 pm | Pizza night in town!

9:00 am | Bountiful breakfast with homemade jams, cakes, coffee, tea, and seasonal fruit

10:00 am | Goodbyes and departure

Planned activities and schedules may change at short notice due to seasonal rhythms of life in Sicily.

Info

Included

Accommodation
5-night stay at Case Vecchie or in one of the nearby cottages.
Shuttle Transfer
Group shuttle service from/to Roccapalumba train station, upon request.
Meals
All meals are included. Lunch and dinner are served with wines from the Tasca d’Almerita estate. Typical menus and cooking lessons feature three or four courses.
Excursions
Guided visits and local experiences as indicated in the program.
Lessons
All cooking classes and other activities specified in the course schedule.

Not included

Transportation
Private transportation to and from Case Vecchie is not included. Take a look here to know what is the best way to reach us.
Flight
Airfare is not included.
Insurance
Travel insurance must be arranged independently by participants.

Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate guests with celiac disease or a vegan diet due to the limited availability of specific ingredients in our rural and isolated location.

During this week-long retreat we will work closely together to help guests establish and/or develop their creative journal and sketchbook practice.

We will begin with getting to know one another, learning about our backgrounds in the arts, and sharing our goals. Then we will move onto basic drawing exercises that are useful for artists at any level. Contour line drawings, blind contour, practicing ellipses and straight lines are some of the exercises we will practice. We will then discuss the endless ways one can capture their dreams, memories, the mundane everyday, and the extraordinary moments on paper. Using a range of materials provided by Caran D’Ache, Blackwing and Sakura of America. At the end of each day we will share and talk about all we are proud of and what we wish to work on. This workshop retreat is a chance to build on a practice that can transform your days, along with delicious food and the most glorious backdrop, I am so excited for this unique experience!

Samatha Dion Baker

Artist, author and teacher, Samatha Dion Baker is known for her detailed illustrations and her daily sketch journal that she shares regularly on Instagram. She graduated from Cooper Union in New York City and spent more than twenty years working as a graphic designer with many iconic institutions including The Whitney Museum of Art, St. Regis Hotels Resorts, and The Shaker Museum. Some of her illustration clients include The High Line Hotel, Atelier Cologne, Kikkerland Design, Blackwing, and Gloria Steinem. Samantha’s self-published daily sketch journals are on permanent collection at The Morgan Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she is the author of Draw Your Day, Draw Your World, and Draw Your Day For Kids! Originally from Philadelphia, Baker lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband and two sons.

My time at Case Vecchie was one of the best experiences I've ever had. The setting is gorgeous, the hospitality amazing, and all of the cooking events were exactly what I had hoped for. I've spent my career in the food business and although I had made a lot of the recipes before I still learned so many things. Emiko is a wonderful teacher-so easy to relate to and a wonderful instructor. I would love to return.

F.C.

That was such a great experience and it was so much fun to be with all of you during the week. Please extend my thanks to the entire team who made things so fantastic. I can't wait to get started in my own kitchen!

C.H.

We've been telling everybody what great experience we've had at Case Vecchie: breadmaking, Sicilian cooking lessons, daily walks to the winery, visit to the flour mill and ricotta maker and the sheep, your beautiful grounds filled with fruit trees and vegetable gardens and the chicken coop.

Y.W.

Everything about the week was worth the effort to get there and the planning was well worth it. It was a week of gourmet eating. The participants were all enthusiastic about being there and that helped make the overall "experience".

S.M

The whole experience, from the accommodations (food, the beautiful location) to all the people we encountered was top notch. The kitchen crew was awesome in every way! I will definitely recommend to friends. David was great, enjoyed his casual style and expertise.

J.N.

My stay at Casa Vecchie absolutely confirmed for me that my future is in food, I cannot thank them enough for solidifying that for me. My stay at Casa Vecchie absolutely confirmed for me that my future is in food, I cannot thank them enough for solidifying that for me.

J.C.

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