Art Retreat | Painting in Portugal
Large-Scale Abstract Painting with Heather Chontos
Marvão, Portugal | September 1 to September 8, 2026
Join us in rural Portugal for an abstract painting experience with renowned artist, painter, and sculptor, Heather Chontos. Together, we’ll travel to the the Alto Alentejo region of Portugal, Heather’s chosen home.
Five years ago, Heather bought a small plot of land with just a stone ruin. She has transformed this property into a rural home, studio, and working farm, where she lives and works with her dogs (large and small), horses, and chickens. We’ll meet up as a group in Lisbon. From Lisbon, we’ll transition to the countryside where we’ll be welcomed by Heather into her home and studio for an exclusive tour. We’ll enjoy lunch together, while enjoying the unique materials Heather has used to create her space and the inventive ways she’s used her artwork to add focal points and visual interest to both the indoor and outdoor spaces.
Then, we’ll make our way to our home away from home—a rural retreat located just minutes from Heather’s home, inside the protected area of the São Mamade Natural Park and moments from the walled medieval village of Marvão. We’ll join owners Claudia and Miguel, personal friends of Heather, at their incredible property. We’ll stay in restored ruins that have been transformed into modern houses that fit effortlessly into the landscape. We’ll enjoy chef-prepared meals using fresh ingredients from their organic farm, and we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the views, lounge by the pool, and explore the natural landscape.
At our rural retreat we’ll spend our days painting and mark making with Heather. Using intuition and internal impulse as our guide, Heather will show us how to build multi-layer paintings that combine color, line, shape, texture, and negative space that reflect your own unique style and perspective. We’ll experiment with Heather’s non-traditional mark-making tools and materials and work on both paper and canvas, learning how to work through our fears of working at a large scale.
This exclusive experience has maximum of 10 guests, with limited private room availability.
This Ace Camps Travel trip is open to all skill levels. Trip Itinerary, Details and Important Notes below.
DATES
September 1 to September 8, 2026
8 Days + 7 Nights
PRICING
SharedRoom - $5,495 USD
PrivateRoom - $6,495 USD
Full Rooming + Pricing Details Below
BOOKING FOR THIS TRIP STARTS ON
MARCH 17, 2026 AT 1:00PM PST
ART RETREAT HIGHLIGHTS
Exclusive tour and visit to Heather Chontos’ home and studio in rural Portgual
Multi-day abstract painting workshops with Heather, including 1:1 guidance and her unique “call and response” collaborative teaching technique
Rich selection of workshop supplies, including Heather’s non-traditional mark-marking tools and paints
Half-day basket weaving workshop with a local artisan
Half-day guided visit of the rural, local surroundings
Chef-prepared meals, featuring local ingredients, home-grown organic fruits and vegetables, and regional dishes
Transportation during included meals and activities, as well as roundtrip transportation from Lisbon to Marvão
Dedicated Ace Camps Travel Host, with you throughout your trip
Trip Prep call to meet fellow travelers and talk through schedules, recommendations, and questions
Learn with Heather Chontos in Portugal,
the place she calls home
Heather is a creative force to be reckoned with, a dynamic and energetic personality with a passion for her creative talents. She exhibits a complex layering of color, texture, lightness, spontaneity, intensity and love in everything she does. There is a playfulness to her nature, somewhat childlike, but always achieving sophistication and grace in her final product.
Heather has a great passion for art, gastronomy, travel, fashion, and interiors. She holds a strong foundation in the understanding of the intricate balance between color, form and space. And, with her expertise she applies the same visual concept to perfect a sense of natural and effortless beauty in all of her work. Her “can do” spirit opens all doors for her to imagine and then execute whatever artistic elements are required to make the most beautiful and inspiring image. Whether it be her hand drawn line, her bold markings of painted color, an incredibly beautiful table of food, enhancing a location in the middle of nowhere, creating the perfect background design for a celebrity portrait or putting together the room of your dreams, Heather will bring it! It will be original and boldly unique. She simply will inspire.
Heather has lived in London, Berlin, and the Dordogne region of France. She currently lives and works on a multi-acre property in rural Portugal, which she has restored and regenerated. The land, natural surroundings, and found objects have become a key source of inspiration in her recent work.
Learn more about Heather and her artwork at heatherchontos.com or follow her at @hchontos on Instagram.
Day by Day Itinerary
Nota Bene: This is a prospective itinerary. It is subject to modest modifications, dependent on local weather, partner schedules, unexpected opportunities and the needs of the group.
Day 1
Tuesday September 1, 2026
Welcome to Lisbon! Make your way to our hotel in the Príncipe Real neighborhood of Lisbon. Please plan to arrive at the hotel no later that 4pm so you have time to get checked in and settled before dinner.
If you can, we encourage you to arrive early, as the neighborhood is filled with incredible boutiques and restaurants (before you arrive, we’ll share our #shopportunity guide!).
This evening we have a casual welcome dinner so you can meet everyone in the group.
Meals included: Dinner
Day 2
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Today is a rare and unique treat—we’ll meet and spend time with Heather at her home and studio in rural Portugal.
After breakfast, we’ll journey from Lisbon to the Serra de São Mamede nature park. Arriving at Heather’s rural oasis, we’ll admire the incredible environment she’s created for herself, her five dogs, three horses, and numerous chickens.
Starting with just a small, stone ruin, Heather has transformed the unassuming structure to a studio, then carefully connected a home she designed and built with a team in Austria, made of compressed wood, an all-natural material ideal for the Portuguese climate. She has also begun regenerating the land, planting more than 200 trees, including fig, pomegranate, orange, peach, and lemon.
After out time with Heather, we’ll check into our rural retreat. This incredible property has been meticulously built by owners Claudia and Miguel who have restored ruins into modern houses that fit effortlessly into the landscape, respecting local tradition and history.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3
Thursday, September 3, 2026
This morning begins our the first of our series of hands-on workshops with Heather where we’ll focus on learning how Heather approaches her unique style of abstract painting.
Heather will begin by giving a talk and live demonstration about her process and how she uses her intuition, internal impulse, and observation to create her paintings, including how she takes cues from the landscape around her to inspire her work. She’ll demonstrate some of the unique techniques she’s developed to create marks, shapes, and textures, using a variety of non-traditional mark-making tools
This afternoon, Heather will show how to mix colors for different applications of tone to help create rich layers. Then, we’ll spend some time preparing our larger canvases. Heather will demonstrate her process for stretching canvas, optimizing for an ideal painting surface, but making it easy to remove the paintings later so you can pack them up easily and take them home.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4
Friday, September 4, 2026
Today is another full-day workshop with Heather. We’ll take what we learned a step further and begin working on our large-scale paintings. Heather will help us work through “fears” of working on a larger scale. She’ll teach about the firm foundation of structure in your paintings using shape, value, color, edges and how to create movement and a center of interest.
We’ll experiment with layering, mark-making, brushstrokes, line and different depths of color on paper to discover new ways these elements can interact with one another in balance to make an abstract painting work.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5
Saturday, September 5, 2026
With a variety of new techniques and inspiration in hand, today we’ll continue working on our large-scale paintings. We’ll incorporate color, shape, line, and texture into our abstract work in a bold and beautiful way.
Throughout the day, Heather will work with you individually to look at a painting that feels “stuck” and guide you through her unqiue call and response process to help you see the possibilities of your work.
Later this afternoon you’ll join Claudia for a one-of-a-kind olive oil tasting experience. Using centuries-old olive trees on the property, Claudia has developed, Azeitona Verde, a small-batch brand that is celebrated by local chefs.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6
Sunday, September 6, 2026
Today we’ll take a break from our painting practice and enjoy what our amazing surroundings have to to offer. This morning we’ll enjoy a hands-on workshop with a local artisan. Basketry has a rich history in Portugal and we’ll learn the basic techniques, while making a basket of our own.
This afternoon, we’ll take some time to explore our natural surroundings. We’ll take a tour of the region to enjoy the unique scenery, including ruins and waterfalls.
Tonight, dinner is a special treat. We’ll dine in the walled, medieval village of Marvão. We’ll enjoy a specially-prepared tasting experience, featuring micro-seasonal and local products from the Alto Alentejo border region.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7
Monday, September 7, 2026
Today will be our final hands-on workshop with Heather where we’ll put finishing touches on the paintings we’ve worked on throughout the week.
Later this afternoon, we’ll have a mini gallery showcase to share and celebrate our work and achievements from the past few days together. You’ll have time to discuss your work with Heather and get her personal feedback and guidance. Heather will also show you how to remove your paintings from the stretcher bars and pack them up for safe transport home.
Tonight we’ll gather as a group for a final group dinner to celebrate our week together.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Departure Day: After breakfast, we’ll pack our bags and say our farewells. Together, we’ll make our way back to Lisbon.
We’ll have one drop off at the Lisbon Airport and a second drop off in Central Lisbon.
Please plan your flights or onward travel after 3pm to give yourself plenty of time.
Meals included: Breakfast
Where We’re Staying
In Lisbon, we’ll be staying an urban boutique hotel in the Príncipe Real neighborhood, which is filled with incredible boutiques and yummy restaurants.
In Marvão, we’ll stay at a rural oasis where owners, Claudia and Miguel, cherish the simplicity and beauty of nature. Located in the heart of the Alto Alentejo, within the São Mamade Natural Park, they’ve built on what the land naturally gives—millennial olive trees, majestic oak and chestnut trees, and an organic farm that produces their award-winning Azeitona Verde organic olive oil, as well as boundless seasonal fruits and vegetables, which we’ll enjoy in our daily, chef-prepared meals. Modern houses fit effortlessly into the landscape, respecting local tradition and history, and feature carefully-selected neutral palettes, natural materials, providing both comfort and beauty.
Rooming Options
Please read below carefully and make your rooming selection on the Booking Request form.
The style and layout of every room is unique and may not be exactly as pictured.
Note: If you are two guests traveling together and would like to share one bed, please contact us for details about a shared bed option.
Group Size: This exclusive trip is limited to a maximum of 10 guests with limited private room availability.
All prices are in USD.
BOOKING FOR THIS TRIP STARTS ON MARCH 17, 2026 AT 1:00PM PST
OPTION 1 - SHARED ROOM
with ensuite bathroom
$5,495 per person, paid in two separate installments.
Rooming Details:
1 night in Lisbon in a boutique hotel in a shared room with an en suite bathroom, shared with one other guest. Each guest has their own twin bed.
6 nights in Marvão in a rural retreat in a shared twin room with en suite bathroom. Each guest has their own twin bed and will share an en suite bathroom and separate living area. Note: The sleeping area is separated from the en suite bathroom with a curtain.
Initial Payment due immediately:$2,495
Final Payment due April 17, 2026: $3,000
OPTION 2 - PRIVATE ROOM
with ensuite
$6,495 per person, paid in two separate installments.
Rooming Details:
1 nights in a Lisbon boutique hotel in a private room with a double bed and an en suite bathroom.
6 nights in Marvão in a rural retreat in a private room with a double bed and en suite bathroom. You’ll share a separate living area with one or two other guests.
Initial Payment due immediately: $2,495
Final Payment due April 17, 2026: $4,000
Important Trip Details
Culinary Notes
Portugal has a rich culinary history and we look forward to sharing local ingredients and regional dishes with you. While we will try our best to manage allergies, unfortunately we are unable to accommodate strict vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, or dairy-free options and some severe allergies. Vegetarian options can be available for all provided meals.
If you have any allergies or dietary restrictions, you will need to submit those on your booking request form. We cannot accommodate any allergies or dietary restrictions if you do not advise us when you submit your initial booking request.
Please contact us before booking if you have any questions.
Accessibility
In Lisbon, you can expect a bit of walking, which may include hills and cobblestones. In the Marvão, each day you’ll need to walk 5-10 minutes between the main house for your meals, as well as to other locations on the property workshops. You may also be standing during workshops for an hour or two at a time. We suggest wearing comfortable, sturdy walking shoes as you’ll walk on a variety of surfaces (gravel, cobblestones, grass) and have some changes in elevation.
Who is this Trip for?
This trip is for the open-minded and patient traveler. You should be eager to learn and work hands-on during your workshop session and be curious about regional culture and cuisine. This is an immersive adventure and best suited for those who enjoy traveling as a part of a small group.
You should also be comfortable with animals and working farms, as we will be visiting the home and studio of artist, where you’ll be exposed to a variety of animals, including dogs (large and small), cats, horses, and chickens, as well as possible allergens, such as hay, straw, and a variety of grasses, trees, and native plants.
Supplies
Essential supplies for your workshop will be provided. In addition to the supplies we provide, you’ll need to bring a few of your own things. Closer to your departure date, we’ll send more information about supplies you’ll want to bring with you. At the end of the workshop, you’ll need to take you paintings home with you. We’ll provide the information and packing materials you need to take your artwork home safely.
Trip Start + End Locations
This trip starts and finishes in Lisbon, Portugal. Humberto Delgado Airport, also known simply as Lisbon Airport, is an international airport located 7 km northeast from the city centre of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. The airport is the main international gateway to Portugal with many direct flights from all over North America + Europe.
On Departure Day, we’ll have two drop offs in the early afternoon, first at the Lisbon Airport, then at a pre-determined location in Central Lisbon. We suggest booking flights or onward travel for no earlier than 3pm Lisbon time.
Weather
Early September is a lovely time of year to visit Portgual. The days are sunny and warm and are perfect for an afternoon swim in the pool. Daytimes temperatures are usually range in the mid 80s F with evenings in the mid 60s F. We recommend packing clothes you can layer so you can adjust throughout the day as temperatures rise and fall. Rain is unlikely, but possible, so we suggest bringing a light jacket and umbrella, just in case. Our rural retreat has a beautiful swimming pool and we encourage you to bring swim suit, in case you want to cool off in the pool.
Included in this Trip
Exclusive tour and visit to Heather Chontos’ home and studio in rural Portgual
Multi-day abstract painting workshops with Heather, including 1:1 guidance and her unique “call and response” collaborative teaching technique
Rich selection of workshop supplies, including Heather’s non-traditional mark-marking tools and paints
Half-day basket weaving workshop with a local artisan
Half-day guided visit of the rural, local surroundings
Chef-prepared meals, featuring local ingredients, home-grown organic fruits and vegetables, and regional dishes
7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 7 dinners
1 night at a boutique hotel in Lisbon
6 nights at a rural retreat in Marvão
Transportation during included meals and activities, as well as roundtrip transportation from Lisbon to Marvão
Dedicated Ace Camps Travel Host, with you throughout your trip
Trip Prep call to meet fellow travelers and talk through schedules, recommendations, and questions
Ace Camps Travel Host
An Ace Camps Travel Host will be with you through your trip, dedicated to ensuring you have the best possible experience. Your Host is there for any questions or concerns, to look out for the health and safety of the group and to help resolve any issues that might arise. This Host is not a local guide but will work with our local partners to insure the right combination of pace, information, and duration. Our local partners are deeply knowledgable in the culture and customs of the area and will be there to share their knowledge and passion with the group.
Not Included in this Trip
International roundtrip airfare; required Travel Insurance; alcoholic drinks; activities and food and beverages not included in the trip itinerary; hotel incidentals including but not limited to room service, laundry service and hotel bar tabs; and all expenses during free time.
Travel Arrangements
Ace Camps Travel will send you detailed Trip Planning information when it’s time to make your travel arrangements. We usually send this information once we’ve reached the minimum number of guests required to run the trip. We’ll also send you an Ace Camps Travel “Preparing for your Journey” document prior to your trip, which will include arrival and departure information, a suggested packing list, useful country information, and more.
Travel Health
We recommend consulting a doctor, nurse, health care provider, or travel health clinic once we confirm your booking on this Ace Camps Travel trip so you know what may be required based on your individual circumstances and based on the locations you’ll be traveling to. If you have any health concerns, contact your health care provider for advice prior to booking this Ace Camps Travel trip.
Travel Insurance
As stated in our Terms and Conditions, we require all guests to have Travel Insurance that at minimum covers both medical emergencies and trip cancellations. Cancellations 180 days or fewer prior to the trip start date will incur a cancellation fee equal to 100% of the price for the trip. There are no exceptions to this cancellation policy which is one of the many reasons we require all guests to have Travel Insurance.
For full details on our Travel Insurance requirements, visit our FAQ’s and review our Terms and Conditions.
Health + Safety
Our goal is for each of our guests to enjoy the amazing trip we’ve put together. To ensure that happens, we put the health and safety of the group as our top priority. Individual guests are responsible for ensuring they meet all destination and layover country requirements and laws, including any Covid-19 related requirements, providing proof of vaccination, testing before or after entry, masking, etc.
During the trip, if you feel unwell, exhibit signs of, or test positive for an illness, you should be prepared to follow the advice of local health authorities as well as the Ace Camps Travel Host to ensure the health and safety of the entire group. Depending on the severity of your symptoms and/or viral nature of your illness the Ace Camps Travel Host may determine you need to mask, distance, self isolate, or depart the trip early. You are responsible for any expenses incurred from an illness, injury, or early departure including testing, treatment, isolation, accommodation, transportation, etc. and you will not be issued a refund for any unused portion of the trip. This is one of the many reasons we require all guests to have Travel Insurance, as outlined in our Terms and Conditions.
For full details on our Health and Safety Policies, visit our FAQ’s and review our Terms and Conditions.
Cancellation Policy
If you choose to cancel your trip for any reason, you must do so via email to hello@acecampstravel.com. If we receive written notice 181 or more days prior to the Trip start date, we will refund your initial payment, less a $1,000 cancellation fee. If we receive written notice 180 days or fewer prior to the Trip start date you will incur a cancellation fee equal to 100% of the price for the Trip. There are no exceptions to this cancellation policy, including for reasons related to weather, terrorism, civil strife, pandemics, illness, personal, family or medical emergencies, or any other circumstances beyond our control. For this and other reasons, we require you to purchase Travel Insurance.
Be sure to read our Terms and Conditions for full details on Booking and Payment, Cancellation by You and Trip Changes and Cancellations.
Questions + FAQs
If you have any questions about this Ace Camps travel Trip, please feel free to contact us.
You can also read our FAQs here.
Hear from Our Past Guests