Katie Walton Artist Inspiration Tour

TOUR WITH THE ARTIST KATIE WALTON

STUDY OF MOSAICS/POTTERY/SKETCHING/PAINTING

9 Day Tour: September 9 – September 21, 2023
13 Day Tour: September 9 – September 17, 2023

(The Katie Walton tour was a HUGE success!  If you are interested in joining the fall, 2024 tour, please email us at: info@magicalmoroccantours.com)

 

Come to Morocco on an extraordinary adventure with other artists and art lovers to fill your spirit with vibrant color, romance, and exotic grandeur. You will create art and appreciate art of many mediums.

Katie Walton is thrilled to be working with Magical Moroccan Tours, combining her favorite things in the world, art and travel. She has traveled the world since she was 14 doing group travel in the arts and later as a tour guide. She started with a trip to the USSR with a collaborative Russian/American theater troupe, did humanitarian work in Nicaragua, and then studied Spanish in Spain, where she met her husband. Katie was then a guide for Rick Steves and Earthbound Expeditions to Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Cuba. She took a break from guiding as she raised her family and started Red Barn Art Studio in Skagit Valley, Washington.

As a ceramic and mosaic artist, she has shown her work in galleries, exhibitions, did community projects, and private commissions. Her teaching career focuses on nurturing creativity and self expression in children and adults. Her mediums are drawing, painting, ceramics, mosaics, and crafts. She is passionate about encouraging people to findjoy in artistic creation and cultural appreciation. Most recently, she completed a three year collaborative ceramic mural project between girls in Skagit Valley, WA, and Jordan, where she taught ceramics. Then she traveled to Jordan to paint and install the mural with Voices of the Children.

Prices starting at $3850 USD

   Click on the tour map for a larger view.

Day 1: Casablanca

You will be picked up at the airport and transported to your lodging. A meal will be provided. Depending on arrival time, options include: touring the Hassan II Mosque with its amazing mosaics and breathtaking beauty. Driving by or going in for a drink or a meal at Rick’s Cafe, identical to the “Casablanca” movie set, exuding the ambience and playing the scintillating music.

 

Day 2: Rabat

On your way to Fes you will stop in Rabat: the current Imperial City and begin your immersion into the culture and history of Morocco. You will stroll along the rampart and see the Hassan V Mausoleum, the Hassan Tower (built in the 12 Century) and the Unesco World Heritage Site, Oudaya Kasbah.

 

Night 2: Arrive in Fes: the second largest city in Morocco.

You will be transported to your lodging.

 

Day 3: Day trip to Meknes and Volubilis

Both are Unesco World Heritage Sites. You will travel back in time and feel the culture and history that is present everywhere you look. There will be many places of inspiration to sketch, paint and take photos.

 

Day 4: Fes

Fes is considered the holiest city in the Islamic world after Mecca. It was founded in the 9th century and is the best example of an ancient Moroccan city. You will walk through Fes-el-Bali (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the longest indoor pedestrian-only alleyway in the world, filled with artisans, workshops, fragrant spices, brightly colored fabrics and endless opportunities for artists and those who appreciate art in its many forms.

The tannery:
We’ll take you to this view of the dye pits and opportunity to sketch, paint and photograph them, as well as the opportunity to purchase amazing, high quality leather products.

Add on options:

1. Pottery workshop
2. Food and wine tasting in a nearby vineyard.

Morocco produces 50 million bottles of wine per year.
This could happen near Essaouira instead.

 

Day 5: Travel to the Sahara Desert

Options:

• Ride camels at sunset to your tent camp while absorbing the surreal and mystical changing colors of the sand dunes.

• Ride in 4×4’s to arrive at the camp where you will have dinner and stay in luxury tents that include bathrooms/showers.

 

Day 6: Skoura

On the way to Skoura you will pass through the Todra Gorges (nearly 1000 feet high) and the beautiful Valley of Roses.

Then, you will have a free afternoon to relax by the pool or in hammocks in the olive grove, have a hammam experience, massage, or tour the nearby Kasbah Amridil.

 

Days 7/8/9: The Magic of Marrakech

On the way to Marrakech, you will see the ancient Ksar, Ait benHaddou (a Unesco World Heritage Site), backdrop to many movies and Game of Thrones. You will tour Atlas Movie Studios, where many movies have been filmed, and then pass over the picturesque High Atlas Mountains on the curviest road in the world!

The medina (a Unesco World Heritage Site)

You will be immersed into the bustling medina filled with vendors, musicians, snake charmers, monkeys, fortune tellers, the vibrant colors of textiles and pottery, the intoxicating scents of delicious Moroccan cuisine, and inspiring artist visions everywhere you look.

Optional things to see and do:

• Bahia Palace (19th Century)

• Saadian Tombs (16th Century)

• Jardin Majorelle, restored by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, has plants from all over the world, and an Yves Saint Laurent costume and antique collection.

• Atlas Mountains/Berber encounter

• Cooking Class

• Hot Air Balloon Ride

 

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Day 9: End of 9-day tour

If you are on the 9 day tour you will be leaving us at this point. If you depart from Marrakech, transportation to airport is included in the cost of your tour. If you depart from Casablanca, we will offer you transportation for an add-on fee. Please make plans for an early departure as the rest of us need the vehicle, driver and guide for traveling that day.

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Days 10/11: Essaouira

On your way to the beautiful fishing village of Essaouira, you will pass the goat filled argan trees, stop at an Argan processing business run entirely by women, and have an opportunity to make purchases of the many products they create (cosmetics, cooking oil, medicinal argan butter).

Essaouira has a relaxed vibe. Musicians including Prince, Cat Stevens, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones used to hang out here, playing their music on the beach.

Kite surfers come from all over the world to enjoy the wind and magic of the surf here. You will see them on your way into town.

Essaouira Immersion Tour:

Explore the seaside town, a former Portuguese settlement. Meander the local alleyways including shops of handcrafted Thuya wood (native only to Morocco), leather and textile artisans, jewelry and spices, and several fabulous art galleries.

Walk along the rampart with its cannons and Fish Market, where fishermen bring in their catches of the day and cook them right there on the pier. This is where you could sketch/paint/photograph the iconic blue fishing boats.

Optional:

• Wine tasting/Vineyard tour

 

Day 12: Return to Marrakech

You’ll have a free afternoon to relax, do whatever you still have on your wish list, and we’ll meet for a complimentary final dinner where we can recap our tour and enjoy the bonding and art we were blessed with in this magical place.

 

Day 13: Departure

If you depart from Marrakech, transportation to airport is included in the cost of your tour. If you depart from Casablanca, we will offer you transportation for an add-on fee.

B’ slama till next time!