Nosara, Costa Rica
March 7-13, 2016
We'll take over a lush secluded retreat center for 6 days & nights of making art, nurturing relationships with other women, and adventuring in the jungle paradise of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. Our group will lodge in a private villa compound with our own pool and secret path to the beach surrounded by jungle, falling asleep to the sound of the surf. Each morning I'll lead us on a nature mandala walk to the beach to begin our day. Mati Rose McDonough and I are teaming up to take you on a layered painting adventure! After a delicious fresh breakfast served by our in house cook, each morning we'll dive into lessons on our gigantic open air porch filled with hammocks and comfy couches. We'll lead you through collage, working with stencils, silk screening, spray painting, gold leafing, layering with drips and washes, incorporating geometrics, and creating abstract layers along with painted Mandalas and Feather Power Girls! At the end of our time together you'll leave with 3 finished paintings and tons of new skills under your belt to invigorate your painting practice back home!
What’s Included:
- 6 nights accommodation in a private compound, our own Jungle Beach House.
- healthy breakfast and lunch daily by a private chef—lots of amazing yummy fresh tropical fruit, veggies and fresh local fish!
- daily painting lessons by both Faith & Mati…using our jungle beach location for inspiration we’ll dive into mixed media layered goodness with lessons in creating abstract paintings through a variety of marks and materials to express natural space and tropical inspiration. Through a slow build up of process you’ll create three 16 x 20 inch paintings in our open air studio. Mati and Faith will lead you through lessons in collage, wash painting, stenciling, silk screening, spray painting along with painted mandalas and feather power girls. You’ll come away with work that you love, and lots of new ways of seeing and working, to take home to jump start your own studio practice.
- a gift bag full of goodies & gifts for you to use in your art making, along with a collaborative original painting made by Faith and Mati!
- around the clock access to our own open air art studio, a thatched roof central space full of hammocks and lounges where you can let your inspiration run wild and work into the night if you desire.
- most of your art supplies, paints, silkscreens, stencils, brushes, including three 16 x 20 inch canvases for each person. If you have favorite supplies from home we ask that you bring those along!
- meditative morning nature mandala walks
- private beach access
- private pool on site
- optional yoga a short walk away
- optional massage just a short walk down the dirt road
- daily housekeeping
- free day for horseback riding, zip-lining, massage, surf lessons, local wildlife tours, fishing and jungle hikes.
- lots of free time in the afternoons to explore the local beauty, nature preserve, and nurture relationships with other creative women.
- a short distance to Nosara, a funky, holistic, hip enclave in the jungle, with cute restaurants, juice bar, shops, spas and yoga.
Also as a bonus gift for our lovely retreaters: ~You'll receive a FREE year of access to 52 Paintings: A Year of Joyful Self Discovery and Community Through Painting; the year long online painting class with Faith & Mati (a $1200 value).
Due to popularity this retreat is already sold out!
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The Jungle Beach House
Here's some more information on our beautiful location at the Jungle Beach House compound:
The Jungle Beach House is an amazing group accommodation, made up of three separate buildings in a walled compound full of gardens and pathways, with a total of 8 bedrooms, this unique place is what vacationing in the tropics is all about.
The Jungle Beach House has its own private walkway to the beach (1 min. walk) so falling asleep to the sounds of surf is a definite. This large property is very private, lushly landscaped and has a swimming pool, covered parking (for rental cars if you decide to rent one) and many great features.
The primary gathering area is in the oldest building, the Rancho, a rustic rancho open to the outdoors with soul. It has a gigantic open air porch with a soaring gthatched roof which will become our own large jungle studio space for the length of our stay, complete with hammocks and comfy couches, a living room, two dining areas, convenient bathroom and a large kitchen.
There is also the newest area: Private Swimming Pool / Cabina compound which contains two private bedrooms with additional loft area and private full bathrooms (mirror images of each other) both are adjacent to the large pool.
Finally, there is the Main Guest House which has four air conditioned bedrooms. Two of the upstairs bedrooms include private, rustic balconies that overlook the grounds.
5 day week maid service is included and Marta our amazing cook will spoil us with a fantastic fresh breakfast and lunch daily. In addition to being just steps along a private path to the area's best beach, Playa Guiones, the house is a short walk down a dirt road to the very cute town of Guiones and to several excellent restaurants, juice bars, spas and surf shops...Casa Romantica, Gilded Iguana, Kaya Sol and Giardino Tropicale, along with a Super Mini Market also just a short walk away.
Check out our Pura Vida video!
A bit more about our teachers...
Mati Rose McDonough is an artist and daring adventurer whose name is pronounced Matey, like Ahoy! She is an Oakland, California based artist, illustrator, painting teacher and author of “Daring Adventures in Paint”. After wanting to be an artist for many years, but feeling like it was “impractical”, at 29 years Mati took the leap and went back to art school at the California College of the Arts. Almost 10 years later, she is still excited and terrified every time she sees a blank canvas. She has had dozens of art shows, taught painting classes internationally and had her art used by clients Patagonia, University Games, Pier 1, as well as greeting cards, and her very own home decor line. She also has illustrated several children’s books including “i carry your heart” written by EE Cummings. Through her workshops, book, and popular online course, she spreads a warm message of creative courage: it’s never too late to show the world your magic.
Faith Evans-Sills is a painter, wife, mother, world traveler and New York City transplant. With 20+ years of personal painting experience she enjoys inspiring others to manifest their most heartfelt ideas through creating art. Her art has been exhibited widely, included in multiple publications and she is very excited to now be fulfilling her longtime dream of offering creative workshops and retreats. She lives with her husband and 3 young children by the sea in Charleston, South Carolina, where they enjoy exploring southern beaches and maintaining a close connection with nature through frequent trips to wild places. Follow along here on her eponymous blog and on Instagram where she posts daily beauty and inspiration.
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