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arts · Saturday 15 August 2026 · 10:00am 
Golden Glow: August Watercolour Workshop
At Festina Lente · Wicklow, Co. Wicklow
At Festina Lente · Wicklow, Co. Wicklow
August brings a particular quality of light to County Wicklow - long mornings, the gardens still in full abundance. The Golden Glow watercolour workshop at Festina Lente in Bray is built around exactly that: two morning sessions in a Victorian walled garden, painting the flowers in front of you under the guidance of Patricia Morrison, a member of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists. If you have ever wanted to try botanical illustration, or to push your watercolour work further in a quiet, unhurried setting, this is a good place to do it.
Patricia Morrison leads both mornings (Saturday and Sunday, 15-16 August), each running from 10am to 1pm. The focus is on observing and painting the flowers available in the gardens - August-flowering plants brought right to your easel in a setting that does the mood-setting for you. Sessions cover drawing, illustration, watercolour technique, and basic plant identification, moving at a pace that suits beginners as well as painters who have been at it for years.
Festina Lente is a not-for-profit organisation with a restored Victorian walled garden at its Bray site. The garden is a working, productive space used for therapeutic and educational programmes - it is the kind of place where the planting is looked after properly and the flowers are actually worth painting. Materials and refreshments are included in the price. You will receive a personal materials list in advance if there is anything specific to bring.
The workshop is part of Festina Lente’s Green Care: Nature and Wellbeing series, so the atmosphere leans towards the relaxed side. Small groups, hands-on instruction, something finished to take home.
Bray is on the DART line - about 35 minutes from Pearse Station in Dublin city centre. If you are travelling by car from Wicklow town, the N11 north takes you into Bray in under 30 minutes. Festina Lente is on Old Connaught Avenue (Eircode A98 F702), on the southern edge of Bray. Street parking is available in the area; check the Festina Lente website closer to the date for any specific directions to the garden entrance.
Bray sits at the northern tip of the county, with the Wicklow Mountains rising immediately to the south and west. The coastal walk south from Bray along Bray Head is one of the more scenic short walks in the east of Ireland. There is more to see in Wicklow and across Co. Wicklow.
Heading to Festina Lente in Wicklow? Wicklow has plenty more to see. Read the Wicklow area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.