Make Hand Painted Furniture on Vacation - Learn Hand Painted Furniture Techiques

Artisan-taught French hand painted furniture finishing classes in Provence

If you have ever admired colorful, French-style hand painted furniture in shops and boutiques and then flinched at the high prices, why not try your hand and learn how to make hand painted furniture finishes yourself while enjoying the South of France at the same time. In the small, Rhone-side town of Beaucaire, Artisan Bruno Hugounenq,of Atelier Ravanille et Framboise offers short courses in hand painted furniture decoration and finishes that include preparing the paints and waxes from scratch. Hugounenq uses traditional, non oil-based materials some dating all the way back to Medieval France and even ancient Egypt.

Hand painted furniture finishes on wood

• The class One-day, 7-hour class, for from 2 to 6 people, offered year round.
• Price 220 Euros per person
• What's included Instruction, materials and a small item to decorate as well as a light, buffet lunch.
• To Take Home A hand painted wooden frame that you have finished and a leaflet describing the techniques you've learned.

The course can be booked through the Beaucaire Office of Tourism , Tel: 011 33 4 66 59 26 57 which can provide English-language information and can make suggestions and reservations for hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation.

Ferne Arfin is London-based, American travel writer and About.com's guide to United Kingdom for Visitors. She writes for the Sunday Telegraph and other national papers about France and the USA, and is the author of Adventure Guide to Provence and the Cote d'Azur.