Need to feed your creative soul? Fill it to the brim with creative transformation and fresh inspiration. Revel in the Handmade: watercolor painting with Pedro – who incorporates personal symbols, talismans, Oaxacan culture and the natural world into his work – and mixed media/collage and experimenting with mark making with Corrie to develop your unique visual voice. Plus: a hands-on full day of pure alchemy, making your own watercolor paint with natural pigments with our guest art instructor Indiana Christov. Our field trips include the Sunday market, a studio visit with a master papermaker, a women’s red clay collective, a famous art center housed in a renovated textile factory – all mixed in with art instruction and creative play time.
 
Location: Oaxaca, Mexico
Instructor: Pedro Cruz Pacheco + Corrie McCluskey
Cost: $2650 (lodging included)
Sponsor: Talismán Oaxaca / Oaxaca Dreams
Website, email, 707-529-9050

Join Cindy Briggs and Theresa Goesling for their 2nd workshop at the stunning Salinara Art Farm on the west coast of Sicily. Sicily is a unique island that has been shaped by many cultures over many thousands of years. Excursions and painting to surrounding salt pans with colorful sunset, fisherman boats, local markets, picturesque villages with narrow streets, churches, a never ending range of restaurants and cafés, blue skies and beautiful nature, jovial, kind and friendly people, traditional foods and great local wine, medieval hill town of Erice, Archeological Park of Selinunte with Greek temples. And many beaches where we can swim in the blue water of the Mediterranean Sea. Limited single rooms for a supplement.
 
Location: Marsala, Sicily, Italy
Instructor: Theresa Goesling and Cindy Briggs
Cost: From € 3100
Sponsor: Salinara - Art Farm | Retreat Centre
Website, email

Join watercolor artist Jeni Caruana on the beautiful island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea on the South side of Italy. Jeni is an experienced tutor for all levels of artists, from beginners to advanced. She encourages everyone to challenge their boundaries and make new discoveries about their own unique expression. Whether it’s basic techniques to give a firm background, or a nudge into loosening up rigid habits, Jeni gives individual attention and inspiration to everyone in the group. The sessions are taught in watercolour, because it is so portable and easy to use on site, but the principles of drawing and colour apply to all mediums, so artists are welcome to bring whatever they are most happy with.
 
Location: Marsala, Sicily, Italy
Instructor: Jeni Caruana
Sponsor: Salinara - Art Farm | Retreat Centre
Website, email, (+39) 339 77 57 062

Join textile artist Davana Robedee in South West France for a week of experimentation with shibori techniques to create patterns on cloth. For thousands of years and all across the world, people have been fascinated by the magic of indigo dye. In this five-day retreat, students will learn how to create graduations of blue from light to dark, and do a deep dive into shibori exploration. We will start with folded and clamped resist using Itajime shibori and then learn several stitch resist shibori techniques. Davana will introduce techniques with step-by-step demonstrations, but will also discuss methods of creating depth, perspective, and imagery to develop one of a kind artworks. Each student will leave with beautifully dyed fabrics, scarves, or wearables.
 
Location: Pau, France
Instructor: Davana Robedee
Cost: 1595€ to 2895€ for accommodation + $950 tuition fee
Sponsor: Atelier Clos Mirabel
Website, email, +33.6.79.59.04.91

Join visual artist Sarah Grace Dye in South West France for a fun week of paper making, mark making and book arts. You will also learn about natural ink making and develop the skills to create one or many keepsakes that capture the essence of your time in this beautiful place. Telling a story is always done through layers. Memories are always formed through a collection of layers drawing together the unique insight of our five senses. During this course we will consider each of the layers that make up a place. How do we recognise, acknowledge and document these layers?
 
Location: Pau, France
Instructor: Sarah Grace Dye
Cost: 1595€ to 2895€ for accommodation + tuition fee
Sponsor: Atelier Clos Mirabel
Website, email, +33.6.79.59.04.91