A PATCHWORK OF MEMORIES WITH ALEX CASTRO FERREIRA
Our workshop in Oaxaca with Alex Castro Ferreira was so much fun that we have asked her to teach again. But this time, in her own neighborhoods of Lisbon and Sintra, Portugal.
Join us in this UNESCO World Heritage Site in this charming Portuguese town located in the hills of Serra de Sintra, once a summer retreat for Portuguese nobility for a mixed media workshop.
Alex loves to create worn, raw, rusty journals that you can write, paint, doodle, stitch, and play with. What inspires us about her work is the use of rust, resin and metal. All the things we love!
Here are some of the journals created in Oaxaca.
Kathie and Alex
“I have to confess that this is one of the best workshops I have ever attended. Of course, Alex speaks my language with rust, metal, sewing and ephemera. She also has a wicked sense of humor.”
Itinerary
Day 1, May 23. Everyone arrives in Lisbon for a transfer to Sintra, about a 45 minute drive. Plan to arrive by 4 p.m. We will welcome you with a drink, an amuse bouche and then dinner.
Day 2, May 24. All breakfasts will be offered in the hotel. It’s an exciting morning - off to the Feira da Ladra flea market where I’m sure we will find a treasure or two! This will be followed by a 1 hour sightseeing tour. This evening we will eat at Tasca da Ana.
Day 3, May 25. Breakfast and lunch at the hotel, class with Alex. Dinner is on your own to explore Sintra, a quick 15 minute walk into town, or the hotel has sandwiches or salads. You can also order through Uber Eats. The workshop room will be open until 11 p.m. each evening.
Days 4-5, May 26 & 27. Breakfast and lunch at the hotel. Class with Alex. Dinner on your own.
Day 6, May 28. Breakfast at the hotel. We will finish our projects and share our work. Lunch today will be at the Restaurante Nortada on the beach. You will have free time then we will meet at Taberna dos Trovadores for a some traditional Portuguese food.
Day 7, May 29. Breakfast at the hotel, then we will walk to Quinta da Regaleira. Designed and built in the late 1800s, it is an architectural feat. Its design focused on the Manueline, Renaissance, Medieval and Classical styles.
Initiatic Well
You have free time this afternoon to shop and dinner will be on your own.
Day 8, May 30. Breakfast, free time, then lunch at the hotel. We will have a tile workshop at the Fundacao Espirito Santo this afternoon followed by our farewell dinner at Mesa Dos Frades.
Day 9, May 31. We will have our last breakfast together before leaving for the airport. You should make your return flights to leave in the afternoon.
This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.
This Escape Includes
8 nights accommodation at Hotel Sintra Jardim - a historical hotel
Transfers from airport to hotel and return
Welcome reception
Three and a half days lessons with Alex
Visit to the Feira da Ladra flea market
Guided tour in quinta de Regaleira
Portuguese tile workshop at Funacao Espirito Santo
A very special farewell dinner at Mesa de Frades
Private Facebook group
Some supplies
Four dinners, 7 lunches, 8 breakfasts
Free time to explore
New art tribe
The price for this workshop is $3950 and is limited to 15
A $1,000 non refundable deposit is due upon registration. Final payment is due December 1, 2024.
Price does not include airfare to/from Lisbon, alcohol, travel insurance (must have) or personal shopping.
Accommodations:
You will feel like royalty in your own en-suite private room at the historic Hotel Sintra Jardim, once the summer residence of Viscount Tojal. The hotel sits below the hills of the Serra de Sintra.
The Hotel Sintra Jardim
Airport: Humberto Delgado Airport (IATA: LIS, ICAO: LPPT), is an international airport located seven kilometres (four nautical miles) northeast of the city centre of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
We will arrange transportation from the airport to Sintra (and reverse). Please arrive by 4:00 p.m. on May 23. We will meet at the Starbucks and travel from there. Should you plan to arrive earlier to stay at the hotel, you will be responsible for your own transfer fees. Marina, Alex’s sister-in-law and a travel agent, can help you arrange your transfer and extra night.
Supply lists
We will provide:
cyanotype kit
turmeric and sea salt
flowers/plants and transparent film
iron transfer
Artists Supply list:
Original fotos, passports, ID documents, handwritten letters, driver’s license, drawings from you children, old recipes from your mother
White/colored fabric such as linen, cotton, old T-shirt
Gel medium
a foam brush
scissor and a bone folder
needle and DMC threads
1 or 2 alcohol inks (optional)
rusty papers and fabrics if you already have them
an awl
black ink
a brush for the ink
8.5” x 11” pad of watercolor paper
a stapler with extra staples
a rag
2 pieces of cardboard (8 1/2” x 11”)
inkjet small fotos and ephemera like stamps, dictionary pages, washi tapes, etc.
UHU glue
Two vintage hardbound book covers ( 7” x 5”)
Objects that will fit in the book cover like old brushes, feathers, rulers, vintage stencils
double side tape
strong glue
pliers
Portugal mixed media artist Alex Castro Ferreira embraces her French and Portuguese cultures in her altered books and journals. She uses rust, resin, recycled objects and talisman jewelry to tell her story, where she is from, and where she is going. A world traveler, Alex collects ephemera everywhere she goes.