This 4 – day workshop is for botanical artists who wish to deepen their understanding of botanical illustration with a focus on spring bulbs. The workshop will combine wet and dry watercolour painting techniques, color theory, and detailed observation to capture the delicate beauty and intricate structures of spring flowers. Participants will enhance their skills in realistic rendering and learn new methods for working with botanical subjects.
Mary Dillon returns to Barcelona to offer this exciting workshop.
Whether you are a beginner or experienced, this will be
the perfect opportunity to enhance your skills and increase
your competence using Mary’s simple and effective
approach to drawing and painting spring flowers.
Course Content:
‘Getting to know your plant…’
Examining the structure of the plant more closely.
Light and shade to create form in your drawing.
‘Grow in confidence with painting techniques…’
Tips and tricks to simplify colour mixing and matching.
Learn, practice and apply controlled washes and layers.
Master watercolour techniques for painting flowers and leaves.
‘Finish with a Wow!’
Use dry brush watercolour to create detail, texture and depth.
Join me at Atelier Clos Mirabel in 2026 for a week long botanical art workshop in the French Pyrenees ~ South West France. Enjoy wonderful surroundings, delightful accommodation and delicious meals.
About this course:
Escape to the breathtaking Pyrenees for a week of creativity and inspiration! Join me for an immersive botanical art retreat at Clos Mirabel, where you’ll explore the beauty of summer blooms and refine your artistic skills in a serene, stunning setting. Connect with fellow artists, discover new techniques, and let the vibrant surroundings inspire you. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to create, relax, and grow — all while surrounded by the enchanting landscapes of south west France.
Dates: from 18 July 2026 to 25 July 2026
25 hours of tuition per week
Medium: Watercolour
Level: Beginner / Experienced
Language: English
Full Board Accommodation: 1595€ to 2895€ per week based on room choice & single or shared occupancy + tuition fee
Non-painting guests: we are more than happy to welcome non-painting guests, accompanying partners, family or friends. There are plenty of activities to experience around Clos Mirabel, that will make your holiday unforgettable
Botanical Painting Holiday – Programme Outline:
Saturday 4.00 – Check-in time from 4pm onwards. Guests arrive, settle in and explore Clos Mirabel 6.00 – An introduction to the course by Mary Dillion over welcome drinks 7.00 – 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace
Sunday 8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce 10.00 – 1.00 Getting to know your subject…. Choosing, Lighting, Observing, Drawing, Composing 1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel 2.00 – 4.00 Return to Studio to continue work with individual tuition 6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace
Monday 8.30 – 9.15 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce 9.30 – Depart Clos Mirabel 10.00 – 12.30 Morning visit to the higher slopes of the Pyrenees to observe alpine plants in their natural habitat, followed by field sketching 1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at local Auberge 3.00 – 4.30 Studio: Colour mixing and matching, practicing wet watercolour painting techniques and laying the first washes. 6.00 – An evening talk on prominent local landscape artists by Xavier over aperitif 7.00 – 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace Please note this programme may be subject to change depending on the weather. Please ensure you bring sensible walking shoes, layers, waterproof jacket, water bottle, sunscreen and a hat.
Tuesday 8.30 – 9.30 Breakfast 10.00 – 1.00 Studio: Mixing greens, painting petals, painting leaves, painting shadows 1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel 2.00 – 4.00 Studio: Layering washes for impact 6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace
Wednesday – Free day (Lunch is not provided) 8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce Free day to explore the locality. We suggest wine tasting in local vineyard, explore Pau or beyond. 6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace
Thursday 8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast 10.00 – 1.00 Studio: Learn and practice dry brush techniques. Building form and create texture in your painting. 1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel 2.00 – 4.00 Studio 6.00 – Aperitifs before 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace
Friday 8.30 – 9.30 Buffet breakfast of local and regional produce 10.00 – 1.00 Studio: The Wow Factor! Finishing with finer details using dry brush techniques. Troubleshooting your painting. Bringing it all together. 1.00 – 2.00 Lunch at Clos Mirabel 2.00 – 4.00 Studio 6.00 – Evening exhibition in the art studio of Atelier Clos Mirabel with aperitif 7.00 – 4 course dinner in the Manor House or on the terrace
Saturday 8.30 – 9.30 Buffet Breakfast and departure (Check-out time 11am)
This was one of my Dad’s favourite sayings, usually quoted as he stood washing dishes looking out the kitchen window at the birds, the hedgerows and the fields here on the outskirts of Kilkenny in the south east of Ireland. He had a fascination for nature, people and all of life so who knows what thoughts he mused over as he reached for his synopsis of Darwinian theory.
Had he lived, Dad would have been ninety this past week. I’ve wondered over the past few months what he would have made of the huge challenges we have been faced with. I think, like so many, he would have been wise, resilient, resourceful, self reliant but empathetic and very conscious of others. He would have adapted. We’ve all had to adapt, to change our plans, our ways of working and being – with the hope of better things to come.
As a botanical artist, I am fascinated by the notion of temporal change in the plant world. Every moment in the life cycle of a plant is just that, a moment in time, even when it seems that all life has left the plant, change continues to occur. The dynamism of growth, from the first sprouting of a seed to the last moment of change in colour and form of the dying plant, utterly captivates me.
While walking in Birr Castle Demesne last winter, I was captivated by the shiny gloriously coloured seedpods of the acanthus as it faded back into the herbaceous border. Moving from warm yellows to greens and into inky deep blues, I was drawn in both by the colours but also by the complex twisty spiked forms. From the first moment this acanthus caught my eye, I thought of the Seamus Heaney anthology ‘Wintering Out’. How apt that his words ‘if we can winter this one out we can summer anywhere’ have encouraged us during these challenging days.
Initially, I intended to make a botanical illustration of Nerines bowdenii. However, life and other commitments prevented me from following my original intention. I kept the flowers in my studio and after about two months I realised that they had continued to change into the most mesmerising colours and forms. I was completely blown away by their beauty as they became more and more frail and delicate in the process of dying.
Bountiful- Punica granatum ‘Nana’ is twice life size. It captures some pomegranates with one dangling precariously from a tree. I found them growing in El Poble Nou, Barcelona, where I was teaching botanical art during autumn 2019. I just couldn’t take my eyes from the jewel like seeds glistening in the fruits. Having completed numerous sketches in situ and taken lots of colour notes and photographs to record details, I began to work on the painting back in my studio at home in Ireland.
It’s been a work in progress over the past few months when life has changed for us all. It brought me to the warmth and colour of the streets in Barcelona and to other pomegranate trees, particularly those I’ve seen in Skiathos in Greece where I first fell in love with pomegranates. It’s brought me to the warmth of the people I’ve met in those places. It’s been a place of solace and focus, a beckoning force taking me to a place apart when there was nowhere else. It’s been a place of joy and solace as I worked in my studio listening to stories on the radio of sickness and death – of resilience, togetherness and hope.
Wintering Out – Acanthus mollis, is currently showing in ‘Through the Artist’s Eye – Birr Castle Demesne’. www.birrcastle.com
Nerines bowdenii and Punica granatum ‘Nana’ will both be shown in ‘Exploring Botany – Botanical Art from Europe and Japan, Past and Present’, The Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Krakow, Poland. The exhibition will open when current restrictions have been lifted in Poland. www.manggha.pl
I was recently introduced to this beauty and commissioned to paint it in all its glory. Tricyrtis formosana or Toad lily is full of interesting features. From its deep magenta unopened buds through to its curiously spotted flowers, its seed head and its magenta marked leaves.
Tricyrtis formosana, Work in Progress
Here are some photos of the work in progress…….
Tricyrtis formosana nearly completed
Finally….. Ready for its new home!
Detail of Tricyrtis formosana
Mary Dillon +353 87 2224260 dillonmary@eircom.net.
MARY DILLON - Botanical 