Retiros em agenda
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![Floral Painting Creative Retreat]()
Floral Painting Creative Retreat
By Victoria Johnson
May 26 to June 1, 2026
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![Collage Creative Retreat]()
Collage Creative Retreat
By Naomi Vona
June 16 to 21, 2026
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![Knitting Creative Retreat]()
Knitting Creative Retreat
By Anna Husemann
September 22 to 27, 2026
Alma Flor, Alentejo - Creative Retreat
Alma Flor, Alentejo - Creative Retreat
With Victoria Johnson
May 26 to June 1, 2026
7 days / 6 nights
From May 26 to June 1, 2026, join us for a unique experience of creativity and inspiration with the amazing British artist, Victoria Johnson, at O Val Farmhouse!
This unique experience blends tradition with contemporary art, offering an inspiring journey into creative, intuitive expression inspired by the region’s beauty.
Join us for five days, including six workshop sessions with Victoria Johnson, in addition to the following activities and visits:
The small Joaquim Vermelho Museum in Estremoz Castle showcases local folk art collections of horn, cork, and wood by master artisans. Three of the rooms recreate an Alentejo Home from the late 19th to the early 20th century. It also houses Estremoz UNESCO clay figures and historical local pottery.
A visit to the inspiring Azulejo (tile) Museum in Estremoz.
A stroll through Estremoz’s Flea and Antiques Market, where you can unwind and discover regional products and local crafts.
Lunch at “Fundação de Veiros” an NGO in the lovely village of Veiros. The foundation responds to the urgent needs of children entrusted to its care by Social Security through a Residential Care Home.
This entire experience is based in Monforte, at O Val Farmhouse – an inspiring space that invites you to create at your own pace.
What to expect from the retreat
This immersive, creative experience features six hands-on workshop sessions. During your week with Victoria, you’ll learn to draw from the Alentejo cultural and historical aesthetic and combine its rich visual bounty with your own taste and style to create unique floral artworks.
Victoria will share her painting and drawing techniques, focusing on curiosity and exploration, and can’t wait to show you the architecture, textiles, ceramics, and natural beauty of the region. She’ll demonstrate a charming and exciting way to record visual treasures, so you can use them in the future, as a reference library to inspire your artwork or to bring back wonderful memories.
Throughout the week, Victoria will be hands-on, delighted to help with a huge range of queries, whether they’re about painting techniques, how to photograph and edit your inspiration or artwork, the logistics of running an art business, or anything else you can think of! Victoria loves to have a chat - especially one that helps you reach your goals!
Victoria Johnson
Victoria Johnson is an English artist based in Italy. Her design career began in America, where she opened a New York / London studio, collaborating with leading women’s wear designers and retailers.
After many years in New York, Victoria moved her creative business to Rome. Her
artwork has featured on a variety of beautiful products for well-known clients, including Anthropologie, Gap, Hallmark, Papyrus, and Windham Fabrics.
Victoria distills thirty years of experience into powerful online art and design courses, motivating and inspiring thousands of artists to create authentic and original artwork that’s true to their taste and style.
At her art retreats, Victoria encourages guests to understand what makes them different, value what they gravitate towards, and lean into it!
Victoria will show you how to be curious and open to new things while staying true to yourself. You’ll gather inspiration from the cultural and aesthetic riches of stunning parts of the world, combine that with an exciting array of media and techniques, and create intuitive works of art, vibrant with colour and texture.
Retreat Information:
6 nights
Minimum: 5 participants — Maximum: 8
Participants Level: all.
Languages: English and Italian
What’s included?
6 nights + 6 Continental breakfasts with regional products
3 Lunches at the farmhouse + 1 Lunch at Fundação de Veiros + 1 lunch in Estremoz.
5 Dinners at the farmhouse + 1 Dinner in Estremoz
Welcome aperitivo + Tea/coffee and biscuits breaks
Food restrictions – We will do our best to find alternatives available in our region to respect the food restrictions of our guests, but the meals we serve are traditional Portuguese and Mediterranean cuisine.
Visit to Joaquim Vermelho Folk art Museum + free time to visit Estremoz’s Castle area.
Visit to Azulejo (tile) Museum in Estremoz
Free time to explore the Estremoz flea and antiques market
6 Workshops (total 18 hours) with Victoria Johnson
A mini- exhibition and aperitivo
Transfers between Lisbon Airport and O Val farmhouse in shared van or car. The pickup time will be determined by the arrival and departure times of most of the group. You may have to wait for the arrival of another guest at the airport.
What’s not included?
Workshop materials – Supply list in the next page.
Extra drinks - The meals include 1 glass of wine, water or soft drink per person.
If your flight is delayed and you’re not in time for the group pick-up at Lisbon airport,
you’ll be charged an additional fee for a personalized pick-up.
Any expenses not mentioned in the program.
Travel /health insurance.
Program: May 26 to June 1, 2026
Tuesday, May 26
TBC – Pickup at Lisbon airport – not before 13:00
16:00 - Check-in
19:00 - Welcome dinner at the house
Wednesday, May 27
9:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
10:00 - Workshop Session 1 - 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch at the house
15:30 - Visit to the local art and crafts museum Joaquim Vermelho and walk in the Estremoz’s castle area.
19:30 - Dinner in Estremoz
Thursday, May 28
08:30 - Continental breakfast with regional products
09:30 - Workshop Session 2 – 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch in Estremoz
14:30 - Visit to the “Azulejos” - tile Museum in Estremoz
19:30 - Dinner at the house
Friday, May 29
09:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
10:00 - Workshop Session 3 - 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch at the house
15:00 - Workshop Session 4 - 3 hrs
19:00 - Dinner at the house
Saturday, May 30
09:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
10:30 - Estremoz antique and flea market
12:30 - Lunch at Fundação de Veiros
14:30 - Workshop Session 5 - 3 hrs
19:00 - Dinner at the house
Sunday, May 31
08:30 - Continental breakfast with regional products
09:30 - Workshop Session 6 - 3 hrs
12:30 - Lunch at the house
15:00 - Pack up
18:00 - Mini exhibition and aperitivo
19:30 - Dinner at the house
Monday, Jun 1
09:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
11:00 - Check-out
TBC – Arrival at Lisbon not before 13:30, and depending on traffic.
NOTE: Please do not book any flights until the retreat is confirmed and make sure you have travel insurance.
Prices and Payment Conditions:
Single Room – 2900€
Shared Room (2 guests) – 2600€ (each)
We have 3 single rooms and 2 double rooms available.
A deposit of 900€ (non-refundable) is required to confirm the reservation, with the remaining balance due by March 15th, 2026.
More Information About the Retreat:
Patterns and Collage Exploration journey in Alentejo!
With Naomi Vona
June 16 to 21, 2026
6 days / 5 nights
From June 16–21, 2026, embark on an unforgettable journey of creativity and inspiration led by acclaimed Italian artist Naomi Vona.
Immerse yourself in a unique cultural experience that bridges tradition with contemporary illustration and collage. Drawing inspiration from Alentejo’s rolling landscapes and the intricate “empedrado” pottery of Nisa, this retreat celebrates the harmony between local craftsmanship and modern pattern design, illustration and collage.
Over 4 full enriching days, you will enjoy five hands-on workshops with Naomi, alongside a curated itinerary designed to unveil the region’s hidden gems:
Nisa: Discover the Museum of Embroidery and Clay, where you’ll learn about the “empedrado” technique—a meticulous process of inlaying white quartz into clay to form motifs inspired by local nature.
Castelo de Vide: Wander through flower-lined alleys in this romantic medieval village, home to one of Europe’s best-preserved Jewish quarters.
Estremoz: Experience the authentic charm of the traditional Saturday flea and antique market.
Based at the soulful O Val Farmhouse in Monforte, every detail of this retreat has been crafted to ensure an unforgettable creative escape.
What to expect from the retreat:
This immersive, creative experience features 5 hands-on workshop sessions with Naomi Vona. Each session lasts 3 hours, allowing processes to unfold with calm, attention, and enjoyment. The workshops are interconnected: what emerges one day transforms in the next.
Workshop 1 - Pattern design - Introduction and landscape exploration
This session will introduce the participants to my pattern vision and how to start to work on your own research, based on my tips and tricks for a creative project. We will also explore the natural area around us to photograph organic elements that could be translated into inspirational patterns.
Workshop 2 - Landscape pattern database
During this workshop we will bring together the images we captured in the morning, to transform them in pattern cards inspired by the nature. These will be useful material to keep for future reference for our final project.
Workshop 3 - Nisa’s Pottery pattern database
This class will allow us to analyse all the inspirational images taken during our trip to visit Nisa’s pottery, to create other pattern cards to add to our database.
Workshop 4 - Colours and pattern - find the perfect match
During this session we will combine colours with our patterns, to find the perfect match and to bring together all the research done in the previous classes. Colour and pattern swatches can become a beautiful colourful cards stack that will help us to envision our final piece.
Workshop 5 - Photo and patterns - bringing all together!
Now it’s time to take our pictures and use our favourite patterns and colour combos to make a standout piece. During this session we can also introduce the use of text as a decorative element, to enrich our final composition.
Materials
All materials are included but you are welcome to bring your own pictures (printed on paper) to make your art piece in this final session.
Naomi Vona
Naomi Vona is an Italian artist.
The artist defines herself as an "archival parasite, with no bad intentions".
Her works combine different interests like photography, collages and illustration.
Her research is focused on altering vintage and contemporary found images, creating a new interpretation of the original shots.
Using pens, washi tape and stickers she gives every image a new life.
Her passion for illustration and photography drove her to experiment with collage since she was a student, developing a personal recognisable style.
Since 2017 Naomi runs workshops around Europe, involving local communities to her art practice and creative research.
Her works revolve around the main topics of feminism, anti-capitalism and dark humour.
Retreat Information:
5 nights
Minimum: 5 participants — Maximum: 8
Participants Level: all.
Languages: English and Italian
What’s included?
5 nights + 5 Continental breakfasts
3 Lunches at the farmhouse
5 light dinners at the farmhouse
Welcome aperitivo + Tea/coffee and biscuits break
Food restrictions – We will do our best to find alternatives available in our region to respect the food restrictions of our guests, but the meals we serve are traditional Portuguese and Mediterranean cuisine.
Visit to Nisa’s Embroidery and pottery museum.
Visit to Castelo de Vide
Free time to explore Estremoz’s flea and antiques market
5 Workshops (total 15 hours) with Naomi Vona.
All necessary materials are included, so you only need to arrive with open hands and curiosity.
Transfers between Lisbon Airport and O Val farmhouse, 2 hours trip, in shared van or car.
Transport from O Val to Nisa, Castelo de Vide and Estremoz.
What’s not included?
Flights to and from Lisbon. We recommend participants to only book flights after we confirm the retreat (minimum 5 participants).
Free Lunch in Castelo de Vide
Extra drinks - The meals include 1 glass of wine, water or soft drink per person.
If your flight is delayed and you’re not in time for the group pick-up at Lisbon airport, you’ll be charged an additional fee for a personalized pick-up.
Any expenses not mentioned in the program.
Travel /health insurance (mandatory).
Program: June 16 - 21, 2026
Tuesday, June 16
15:00 – Pickup at Lisbon airport – 2-hour travel to our house.
17:00 - Check-in
19:30 - Welcome drinks and light dinner at the house
Wednesday, June 17
9:00 - Continental breakfast
10:00 - Workshop Session 1 - 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch at the house
15:00 - Workshop Session 2 – 3 hrs
19:30 – Light dinner at the house
Thursday, June 18
08:30 - Continental breakfast
10:30 – Visit to Nisa’s embroidery and Pottery Museum
13:30 – Free Lunch and visit to Castelo de Vide
19:30 – Light dinner at the house
Friday, June 19
09:00 - Continental breakfast
10:00 - Workshop Session 3 - 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch at the house
15:00 - Workshop Session 4 - 3 hrs
19:30 - Light dinner at the house
Saturday, June 20
9:00 - Continental breakfast
10:00 – Free time to explore the Estremoz flea and antiques market
13:30 - Lunch at the house
15:00 - Workshop Session 5 – 3 hrs
19:30 – Light dinner at the house
Sunday, June 21
09:00 - Continental breakfast
10:30 – Check-out and transfer to Lisbon’s Airport.
Prices and Payment Conditions:
Single Room – 2200 €
Shared Room (2 guests) – 1900 € (each)
We have 2 single rooms and 3 double (single beds) rooms available.
A deposit of 500€ (non-refundable) is required to confirm the reservation, with the remaining balance due by April 30th, 2026.
More Information About the Retreat:
Landscape & Artistry: A Knitting Creative Retreat in Alentejo
A knitting retreat inspired by the serene landscapes and colors of the Alentejo region.
By Anna Husemann
September 22 to 27, 2026
6 days / 5 nights
From September 22 to 27, 2026, join us for a unique experience of creativity and inspiration with the amazing German knitting designer, Anna Husemann, at O Val Farmhouse!
This unique experience blends tradition with contemporary knitting, offering an inspiring journey inspired by the region’s beauty.
Join us for 6 days, including 5 workshop sessions with Anna Husemann, in addition to the following activities and visits:
A visit to Nisa’s Embroidery and Pottery Museum, where you can learn about the history and manufacturing processes of traditional embroidery and pottery. The famous art of Nisa embroidery, is applied across various types of needlework.
A visit to “Castelo de Vide”, a charming medieval town, famous for its historic castle, well-preserved Jewish Quarter, and picturesque flower-lined streets.
A stroll through Estremoz’s Flea and Antiques Market, where you can unwind and discover regional products and local crafts.
This entire experience is based in Monforte, at O Val Farmhouse – an inspiring space that invites you to create at your own pace.
What to expect from the retreat
This immersive, creative experience features 5 hands-on workshop sessions.
Creative Intarsia
Explore the world of colourful motifs and exciting material contrasts: In this workshop we’ll take a closer look at the intarsia technique. You will learn how to work the intarsia join and how to read colour charts and we will create a swatch in stockinette stitch intarsia, garter stitch intarsia as well as seamless intarsia.
Marled Intarsia
Discover this modern variation of the intarsia technique: We combine intarsia with marling, the creative mixing of different yarns, colours and materials. During the workshop, we will knit swatches that explore several ways to create subtle, marled motifs.
Brioche Intarsia
In this workshop, the intarsia technique meets two-colour brioche. We take a look at both knitting techniques in detail and learn how to combine them to create a particularly interesting combination of three-dimensional ribs, vertical lines and colourful motifs.
Moodboard
Our source of inspiration is the landscape, crafts, colours and shapes of Alentejo. In this workshop, you will create your own moodboard by gathering colours, materials, notes, photos, sketches and swatches — and begin shaping ideas for your own intarsia design.
Create your own intarsia scarf design
Turn your inspiration into a knit chart for your own design! Based on your moodboard, we will plan your own intarsia scarf, discuss yarn and colour combinations and create a colour chart you can immediately begin knitting from.
Anna Husemann
Anna Husemann is a textile and knitwear designer based in Hamburg, Germany. Her work is all about colour, shapes and materials and how they interact with each other. She interprets the traditional craft of knitting in a modern, abstract way, taking a step back from small, repetitive motifs to instead create an expressive and pictorial character. In doing so, the intarsia technique is her favourite tool.
She is always on the lookout for interesting surfaces, structures, or textures that she can use as inspiration for her designs. Her biggest source of inspiration is nature, especially the seaside: In the natural world she finds endless inspiration for motifs and compositions, as well as for beautiful colour combinations and special colour nuances. It was during her master’s degree in textile design where she discovered the collage technique for her work. Most of her paper collages are created on the spot, by capturing the mood of a landscape, scenery, or specific motifs in an abstract way. She then translates these illustration into knitted textiles by filling their shapes with various materials.
Anna published her first book INTARSIA KNITS in October 2024, which contains 12 exclusive knitting patterns as well as many tips and tricks for mastering the intarsia technique. To follow her work and her current projects, visit:
Retreat Information:
6 nights
Minimum: 5 participants — Maximum: 8
Participants Level: all.
Languages: English and Italian
What’s included?
6 nights + 6 Continental breakfasts with regional products
3 Lunches at the farmhouse + 1 Lunch at Fundação de Veiros + 1 lunch in Estremoz.
5 Dinners at the farmhouse + 1 Dinner in Estremoz
Welcome aperitivo + Tea/coffee and biscuits breaks
Food restrictions – We will do our best to find alternatives available in our region to respect the food restrictions of our guests, but the meals we serve are traditional Portuguese and Mediterranean cuisine.
Visit to Joaquim Vermelho Folk art Museum + free time to visit Estremoz’s Castle area.
Visit to Azulejo (tile) Museum in Estremoz
Free time to explore the Estremoz flea and antiques market
6 Workshops (total 18 hours) with Victoria Johnson
A mini- exhibition and aperitivo
Transfers between Lisbon Airport and O Val farmhouse in shared van or car. The pickup time will be determined by the arrival and departure times of most of the group. You may have to wait for the arrival of another guest at the airport.
What’s not included?
Workshop materials – Supply list in the next page.
Extra drinks - The meals include 1 glass of wine, water or soft drink per person.
If your flight is delayed and you’re not in time for the group pick-up at Lisbon airport,
you’ll be charged an additional fee for a personalized pick-up.
Any expenses not mentioned in the program.
Travel /health insurance.
Program: May 26 to June 1, 2026
Tuesday, May 26
TBC – Pickup at Lisbon airport – not before 13:00
16:00 - Check-in
19:00 - Welcome dinner at the house
Wednesday, May 27
9:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
10:00 - Workshop Session 1 - 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch at the house
15:30 - Visit to the local art and crafts museum Joaquim Vermelho and walk in the Estremoz’s castle area.
19:30 - Dinner in Estremoz
Thursday, May 28
08:30 - Continental breakfast with regional products
09:30 - Workshop Session 2 – 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch in Estremoz
14:30 - Visit to the “Azulejos” - tile Museum in Estremoz
19:30 - Dinner at the house
Friday, May 29
09:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
10:00 - Workshop Session 3 - 3 hrs
13:00 - Lunch at the house
15:00 - Workshop Session 4 - 3 hrs
19:00 - Dinner at the house
Saturday, May 30
09:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
10:30 - Estremoz antique and flea market
12:30 - Lunch at Fundação de Veiros
14:30 - Workshop Session 5 - 3 hrs
19:00 - Dinner at the house
Sunday, May 31
08:30 - Continental breakfast with regional products
09:30 - Workshop Session 6 - 3 hrs
12:30 - Lunch at the house
15:00 - Pack up
18:00 - Mini exhibition and aperitivo
19:30 - Dinner at the house
Monday, Jun 1
09:00 - Continental breakfast with regional products
11:00 - Check-out
TBC – Arrival at Lisbon not before 13:30, and depending on traffic.
NOTE: Please do not book any flights until the retreat is confirmed and make sure you have travel insurance.
Prices and Payment Conditions:
Single Room – 2900€
Shared Room (2 guests) – 2600€ (each)
We have 3 single rooms and 2 double rooms available.
A deposit of 900€ (non-refundable) is required to confirm the reservation, with the remaining balance due by March 15th, 2026.