Michael deMeng & Andrea Matus

June 4-12th, 2027

SPOTS HAVE OPENED! Contact Alex

There is something extraordinary about Sintra

A land of wonder and timeless beauty
There is something extraordinary about Sintra — a place that seems to exist be-
tween reality and imagination. Nestled among lush hills just beyond Lisbon, Sintra has inspired artists, vision-aries, seekers, and explorers for centuries. Its atmosphere is unlike anywhere else: ancient forests wrapped in mist, magnificent palaces perched among the trees, and hidden pathways leading to unexpected discoveries. Here, every landscape tells a story. Nature and history intertwine, creating a sense of mystery that invites you to slow down, become present, and reconnect with something deeper. The energy of Sintra is subtle yet powerful — a place where inspiration arises naturally and the ordinary begins to feel extraordinary. A journey into creativity, connection, and discovery This retreat is centered around a transformative workshop experience with Michael & Andrea — an opportunity to deepen creative expression, cultivate presence, and explore new dimensions of personal growth within a supportive and inspiring community. Yet the experience extends far beyond the workshop space. Together, we will immerse ourselves in the magic of Sintra: wandering through enchanted gardens, discovering remarkable palaces, breathing in the fresh Atlantic air, and allowing the beauty of the landscape to awaken new perspectives and insights. Expect unhurried mornings, nourishing meals shared in good company, walks beneath ancient trees, breathtaking coastal views, meaningful conversations, and quiet moments of reflection. This is an invitation not only to learn and create, but to experience a slower rhythm, reconnect with yourself, and leave feeling renewed, inspired, and deeply enriched.

Mouras Encatadas: The Shrine Beneath The Stone

Mixed-Media Collage & Assemblage workshop by Andrea Matus & Michael deMeng
Every old place has its guardians. In Portugal, she is the Moura Encantada, an enchanted woman said to linger near wells, caves, ruins, and buried treasure. Part protector, part apparition, part spirit of the land itself, she becomes our guide into a richly layered mixed-media artwork that is part portrait, part relic, and part enchanted object. In this four-day collaborative workshop, Andrea Matus and Michael deMeng will each bring their distinct mixed-media languages to the legend of the Moura. Andrea will begin by guiding you through the creation of a legendary figure, using collage, pattern, portrait fragments, veils, architectural references, and symbolic layering. You’ll learn her approach to constructing luminous, excavated surfaces that make your creation feel like an artifact pulled from a forgotten shrine.

Michael will then guide the transformation of that surface into an evocative relic through assemblage. You’ll learn Michael’s secrets for incorporating found objects, dimensional elements, faux aging, and narrative construction. By the time you are done, your work will have the weathered authority of something that might have survived for centuries. With the folklore of the Mouras Encantadas as our starting point, together we will create a contemporary relic of place, one that honours the stories and atmosphere of Portugal while weaving image, surface, and symbol into a personal guardian, somewhere between portrait, artifact, and shrine.


MEET THE ARTISTS

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Michael de Meng
Michael deMeng is an assemblage artist from Vancouver, Canada who exhibits and teaches throughout the world. He has three books exploring his methods, Secrets of Rusty Things, Dusty Diablos, and the Art Abandonment Project, published by NorthLight Books.

In his art, he addresses issues of transformation. Discarded materials find new and unexpected uses in his work; they are reassembled and conjoined with unlikely components, a form of rebirth from the ashes into new life and new meaning. Often using myth and legends as source material, Michael use his assemblages as metaphors for the evolutions and revolutions of existence: from life to death to rebirth.

These forms are examinations of the world in perpetual flux, where meaning and function are ever-changing.

INSTAGRAM

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Andrea Matus
Andrea Matus is insatiably curious. A systems engineer and trainer turned mixed media artist, she has a habit of looking at a torn photograph, a strip of patterned wallpaper, or a rusted doorplate and wondering what else it could become. That way of seeing shapes every piece she creates. A botanical engraving becomes a shoulder. A shell becomes armour. A fragment of vintage pattern stops reading as decoration and becomes a collar or a fold of cloth. Matus dismantles familiar forms until they lose their original identity, then rebuilds them into new relationships within the portrait itself, artworks that sit somewhere between portrait and relic. Working across collage, paint, epoxy clay, found objects, and digital tools, Matus is drawn to the emotional weight of old materials and the histories they carry. Many of her portraits reclaim female-centred stories that have been hidden, mythologized, or quietly written over. The invitation, every time, is to look again. For more than twenty years Matus has taught over sixty distinct workshops to more than a thousand artists internationally. She teaches studio fundamentals thoroughly, while encouraging students to discover that there is rarely only one successful solution. The goal has never been to create artists who work like her. It is to help them see their own work more clearly, an eye that stays with them long after the class ends. Matus's work has been exhibited internationally and is held in private collections throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia. With her husband and creative partner, assemblage artist Michael deMeng, she co-founded Art Abandonment, a global community of more than a hundred thousand artists who leave finished work in public places for strangers to find.

INSTAGRAM

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    Workshop Details

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    Your own SINGLE ROOM where you can be completely at ease. YES! I mean you get your very
    own bedroom! (DBL room by request)

    • 9 days and 8 nights in an old 150 year old house overlooking the magical Sintra forest.
    • 4 days of Workshops with Michael and Andrea
    • 8 Breakfasts
    • 7 Lunches
    • 3 Dinners
    • 1 Welcome drink
    • Airport pick up from the Lisbon airport to the House on June 4th
    • Transfer to airport on June 12th
    • Collecting found objects and old fotos in our richest flea market Feira da Ladra
    • Sightseeing walking tour in Alfama
    • Guided tour in historical palace Quinta da Regaleira Sintra
    • All transfers during the tour
    • Guide service during the tour
    • Headphones during guided visits
    • Continuous support from an English-speaking coordinator
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    Workshop Schedule

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    Friday — Arrival into the Magic of Sintra

    Your journey begins the moment you land in Lisbon. A transfer takes you away from the city and
    into the enchanted hills of Sintra, where nature feels ancient and alive.
    You arrive at your home for the week - a beautiful sanctuary surrounded by greenery and silence.
    Time slows down.

    At 17:00 we gather for a Welcome Drink with amuse bouche, a soft landing into connection,
    presence, and arrival.

    As the sun begins to fade, we share our first evening together - a Welcome Dinner accompanied
    by live Portuguese music, where voices, stories, and strangers slowly become a group, a circle, a
    retreat family.

    Reserve through Deposit Now

    Michael de Meng + Andrea Matus

    Sintra, Portugal  | June 4th-12th, 2027

    *This workshop is not refundable* 

    You may transfer this workshop to another person if you can't attend. If there is a waitlist we will connect you with the next person on the list. Once transferred or sold, your reserved spot will be removed. If we cancel this workshop you will be refunded.

    Registration is Open- Click to pay your deposit to reserve your spot.

    Reserve through Deposit Now

    Share this Workshop!

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    What people are saying

    Some gathered voices on taking one of Alex's courses or workshops!

    Dear Alex For the second time only in my life, I have truly felt HOME in my heart while in a new place away from my own family. There is no Portugal for me without you. With all my love and light.

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    D Artist

    Im so delighted and inspired by your lessons and techniques. Love this class and the big concept of LOST + FOUND TREASURES. You are a most excellent teacher.

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    Susan Artist

    I have learned so much with this course (and will never look at a rusty item quite the same) A big thank you to you Alex for stretching my imagination and teach me the art of mixed media. I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

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    Andrea Artist

    Im not new with Art Journals and know a lot of technics but your course is really an enrichment to me and for my work. New for me is the resin paper and dying with black beans. Your course is awesome. Also the assemblage ideas are so great.Thanks Alex so much for this wonderful and generous course for us.

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    Petra Artist

    My four treasures in honor of my beloved ones. Alexs workshop opened up a whole new world for me and gave me a chance to deal with my grief. THANK YOU dear Alex. From the bottom of my heart.

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    Anne Artist

    I think your workshop is amazing. Your theme of using memorabilia from our family members is brilliant.

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    Cecile Artist

    This is the first project that had me completely focused on the process. I get to escape. What I love about it is the richness and meaning behind the content.Im completely absorbed in the organic feel of the materials. LOVE IT! Ill be looking forward to your next class.

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    Stephanie Artist

    "After participating in Alex's wonderful online classes, I had the pleasure of meeting Alex in person at a retreat she organized in Portugal with a guest teacher artist.  We were welcomed by Alex and her partner Marina with open arms to a gorgeous setting.  All our needs were taken care of!  The group bonded beautifully as we were offered a nice blend of artistic activities, touristic adventures and gastronomic delights.  Alex and Marina connect with people quickly and naturally.  Participating in their retreat is a treat you do not want to miss! 

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    Darquise Artist

    Not only very well organized but a super warm atmosphere thanks to Alex and Marina. Loved the hotel and location in Sintra; loved the food, loved the wine, loved the sightseeing and the bit of spare time that allowed me to explore a bit more on my own. I think the dosage of workshop and sightseeing was just perfect. I was extremely sensitive to Alex and Marina's enthusiasm, energy and generosity.

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    Nelly Artist

    It truly was wonderful! Thank you, Alex, for bringing us all together and sharing your lovely smile and seemingly boundless energy. Thank you, too, for Marina. Her choices and plans made the entire experience even more unique and memorable.

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    Mary Artist

    Thank you from the bottom of my heart for one of my most favorite retreats! You kept surprising us with treats and activities, you lavished on us and you and Marina just made us all feel so special and loved. Thank you doesn't seem like enough. I miss you already!

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    Joy Artist

    When we were in Morocco I felt that you had the incredible ability to make each of us in the group feel special. It’s a rare gift you possess. Thank you for sharing it.

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    C.Sullivan Artist
    Words cannot describe this experience of a lifetime. Alex and Marina were fabulous hosts. Incredibly generous with their time. Lots of laugh, inspiration, sightseeing, food,wine and visit to flea market. 
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    C.Randall Artist
    Jane and I made it home to Denver with no problems except missing all of you beautiful ladies. It was great fun to see several old friends and meet even more new ones. The workshop was wonderful - I love, love, love making books with Alex and Robyn. And it was so good to get to see Marina. Kisses to all of you.
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    Sandy Artist

    The retreat in Miami more than met my expectations! GREAT experience and great people. It filled my soul! Learned so much from both Alex and Robyn and I am enjoying putting those lessons into my work in my studio at home. Much love…

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    Sherry Artist

    I learned a tremendous amount of new skills at the workshop and appreciated the generosity of you, Robin and Alex.  It was my first time working with Alex and found her to be a wonderful and compassionate teacher - with a great sense of humor!  I have followed Robyn on the internet for several years and still I learned several new ways to make art from her. I loved the book structure that she taught,.  I look forward to finishing my book with pictures and mementoes of my grandparents so that I can pass it on to my daughter who never knew them.  I like to make art that has an impact and I can't begin to tell you how meaningful it will be to share it with my children.

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    Claire Artist
    RESERVE NOW
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    Orly Avineri is coming to PORTO - with a 4 days workshop called SWEET & TENDER LITTLE THINGS | An Alternative Book Making Experience. Marina and I feel both grateful and blessed as Orly had decided to give workshops only in the States and after her successful retreat in Lisbon last march, Orly decided to come back to Portugal. Telling you that we are excited is an understatement as Orly is one of the most inspiring and talented artist in our mixed media world, she is one of those free and generous mind that you want to meet once in your life and now we are lucky to call her a friend.

    You are invited for a NINE DAYS ART + TRAVEL RETREAT WITH ORLY AVINERI. We have curated a very special week and hope that you will go home with “Saudades”, a Portuguese word meaning a longing to come back soon. Our journey will start with a welcome drink and dinner so we get to know each others then on Saturday we will discovering Invicta as Porto is called and will continue with us creating and exploring SWEET & TENDER LITTLE THINGS | An Alternative Book Making Experience for 4 days with ORLY.


    Our Retreat will be held in Menina Colina Guesthouse, a house that is over 170 years old next to the city centre, old town and the galleries around rua Miguel Bombarda. Our workshop will be held in the historical music room of the Menina Colina Guesthouse. This ancient House was completely renovated with exquisite taste in 2017.  All the historical beauty of the murals, gardens, and the architecture will surround us. Limited availability of 8 SINGLE ROOMS and 4 DOUBLE ROOMS (have a roomate) where you can fully relax and appreciate our creative week. Please note that this hotel does not have an elevator.

    You will fall in love with Porto and his people called "the tripeiros" as they are authentic generous and welcoming.

    Our inner child will be excited to attend a custard Pastel de nata workshop, going to a fisherman village called Afurada, taking a Douro river trip on the Rabelo famous boats, listening to traditional fado, wandering in the old city with his unique charm and good vibes, visiting the best Wine Port cellar… Our goal is for you to experience the best of Porto, to bring home your very personal and unique creation made with Orly and to nourish your body soul and mind.

    This is Your retreat where you will have time both for yourself and to gather, connect, share laugh with other creatives souls. You Deserve The Best!

    Welcome to my Father António Rui Fonseca e Castro Ferreira hometown!

    warm hugs, alex