What an absolute delight! This was the first time I’ve drawn anything since I was at school, and I couldn’t have imagined a better place to try again than Portugal’s oldest botanical garden. The atmosphere was magical, centuries-old trees and the kind of calm that makes you want to slow down and just take it all in. My teacher was incredible, a hugely talented artist who somehow managed to make me feel both capable and curious, and who also sprinkled in fascinating stories about the history of the gardens. I walked away not only proud of my first sketch, but so inspired that I immediately went out and bought paper and charcoal to keep practicing. It’s the kind of experience that makes you feel creative, connected, and a little bit enchanted. Highly recommend!

Thank you Steven for this beautiful and peaceful morning.

Amazing! A truly unique way to experience Lisbon and meet people.

This was an amazing experience!
I haven’t done any kind of art more than doodling in over a decade, but the location sounded nice, so I signed up.
Stefan met us at the gate and was very welcoming, brought us into the gardens, and they were simply astounding! They were very well laid out, but had a bit of wildness to them; they felt natural, and were very beautiful!
Stefan gave us a good introduction, with suggestions and then let us go find something we might like to draw - it feel very leisurely and decadent to have nothing to do for an hour except draw, when we met back up again, where Stefan gave helpful feedback, and sent us back out to do another drawing, with more helpful feedback and encouragement afterwards.
It was a really magical experience, the gardens were very inviting and picturesque, and Stefan really knows them and has good ideas for places to look for something inspirational to draw in.
Would love to go back again, and I will keep drawing in the mean time!