Magical Morocco
Essaouira ©HeidiLaughton
Painting in Morocco was an adventure!
It's the second time I've been to Morocco although the first time was for work so I didn't get to see much of it, only the Medina in Marrakesh. This time I spent three nights altogether in Marrakesh and about 5 days in the coastal town of Essaouira. I was travelling with a friend and we were both joining an art retreat run by Tushar Sabale (founder of the London Plein Air Painters group)
Morocco is filled with amazing colours, culture and design. It’s a feast for the eyes!
We started in Marrakesh - a city of colours, noise and vibrancy in every sense. It's utter chaos but with a fabulous infusion of design, music, culture and mayhem. Your eyes try to take it all in but there is so much to see! If you look too hard for a second, you'll be knocked off your feet by a passing moped within three inches of your toes.
It's a profusion of stimulation, but you'll find a small oasis of calm either in the central courtyards of the riads or up on the rooftops, where only the call to prayers will interrupt your ingestion of lemon and olive tagines or orange & cinnamon deserts.
After the maelstrom that is Marrakesh, Essaouira is the smaller, calmer cousin and far more manageable to paint in. The coastal village offers vibrant markets, a harbour, beaches, mosques and a wonderful array of cafes and restaurants, not to mention its most prolific inhabitants - cats - which are sacred and well looked after in Essaouira and they are everywhere. Most are strays even though they tend to attach themselves to certain stall owners.
The first few days were incredibly windy. I wish I could insert video here to show how windy it was (see my instagram). Attempting to paint was foolhardy, I had to hold onto my easel and hat and brushes, but everything blew away at various points. I decided it best just to attempt to get the main colours down as reference and the rest would need to be completed in the studio back home
The second day we visited the harbour in the hope it would be more sheltered from the wind. It was still a little windy (one lady in a nearby painting group had her sketchbook blow into the water) but better than the days before. We painted the little blue sardine boats and watched the fishermen bring in their wares.
Next we attempted a few street scenes - in the jostling markets and small alleyways. It was fun chatting with the local stall holders and the visiting tourists who came to talk to us.
After this we visited a rural market one day and painted some donkeys in a field, followed by some seascapes up on the ramparts of the old city wall. We finished with a beach painting at Sidi Kaouki Beach where there were camels, donkeys and a beautiful ruin. On the way back to Marrakesh to we stayed the night in a rural village - Gmassa and painted in the morning.
The whole trip was a wonderful adventure and experience. I definitely recommend it if you’re thinking of going.
Ps It’s a lot easier to paint in Essaouira than Marrakesh, as Marrakesh is a little too chaotic to paint in.
Archway near the Ramparts, Essaouira ©HeidiLaughton