Beyond the Surface: Art Retreat in Taos, New Mexico

If you’d love some creative time in the studio, with a group of like-hearted women, join us in the magical landscape of Taos, New Mexico. Creative expression is settling down with your Inner Child, allowing yourself to create without expectation or judgement.

We’ll be making a hand-made journal, some SoulCollage® cards, Spirit Wands, Santos, and other soul-nourishing projects.

We will also have “open studio” space for you to work on your pieces and experiment with art materials.

The studio is open until the last person turns off the lights. You’ll discover your own expressive style and develop and enhance your creative process in guided studio sessions involving a variety of art materials.

What is your unique creative voice?

What is the story you are telling?

Let’s find out together, exploring art-making and your Self.

This retreat is designed to invigorate your artistic senses and help you find new ways to relax and renew. You will feel welcomed and encouraged to explore your creative side. Your imagination and sleeping “inner artist” will awake and delight you. And you will be given tools to continue your exploration of the arts when you return home.

Let us help you answer these questions in a beautiful space:

Who are you creatively, without your Inner Critic?

How do you express yourself with words and images?

What is your own “creative language”?

Who are you when you feel your best?

You will find that making art can be fun, especially when you don’t consider yourself artistic. “Really?” You might ask. Just imagine… changing your view from “I can’t draw, I am not creative” to “I created this!”

This retreat takes place at Blue Sky Retreat Center at San Geronimo Lodge, in Taos, in the northern part of New Mexico. Directions for getting here are located further down this webpage.

Rooms are spacious and comfortable, all with private baths.

About the retreat center:

Blue Sky Retreat at San Geronimo Lodge

https://blueskyretreatcenter.com/

Step into a world of beauty as you nourish your soul and body in Taos, New Mexico. Enjoy the limitless blue sky as you walk the labyrinth or the meditation trail. Allow a deeper connection between yourself and Mother Nature as you let go of your “to do” lists, unplug from your daily routines, and get back to yourself. Your original, creative, “kindergartener self” wants to come out and play!

The San Geronimo Lodge is a rustic and stunning, 100 year old, classic adobe lodge with original fireplaces and hardwood floors. It offers the best of both worlds: historic ambiance and charm, with all the comforts and convenience of modern day accommodations.

Enjoy the delicious meals lovingly prepared by chef-owner Marina. Relax on one of the verandas, or enjoy reading a book on the patio. You will have lots of time to enjoy your surroundings, or play in the studio, or just “be.”

Directions for getting to the retreat center:

https://blueskyretreatcenter.com/getting-here/

Travel Info:

Check in starts at 3pm Wednesday

Meet and Greet in the lobby from 5-6pm

Dinner 6-7pm

After dinner - Studio

Check out time is 11am on Sunday

Your Guides: Deborah and Kat

Deborah Milosevich

Lubbock, Texas

I have been a professional artist for more than forty years. My work has been shown in galleries in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. I served as the director for the Lubbock Arts Alliance for several years and taught Art Appreciation at Texas Tech University for 18 years.

Over the past 20 years, I have led various art workshops in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Some of the workshops included painting, shrine building, mixed media construction and spirit dolls. I discovered SoulCollage® several years ago and became a facilitator. I have gotten so much out of my own SoulCollage® practice that I wanted to share it with others and have led several workshops that focused on just that. I thoroughly enjoy being with workshop participants as they discover new levels of creativity and personal insight.

dmalaka@yahoo.com

806-252-4110

www.dmilosevich.wordpress.com

Your Guide:

Kat Kirby

Prescott, AZ

Kat Kirby was born and raised in New Jersey, into a family that valued art, music, theater, and all things creative. She learned at an early age that creativity and self-expression were keys to a fulfilling life.

Since the early 1970s, Kat has been a believer in the healing power of the arts and creative self-expression. After retiring from a 40-year career as an Expressive Arts Therapist, her passions include teaching a variety of workshops such as creating art journals, mosaics, SoulCollage®, handmade books, Mixed Media arts, watercolors and doodles, and more. She has led art retreats around the world, including France, Portugal, the Caribbean, as well as Sedona, Carefree, AZ, and California. Kat enjoys exploring and experimenting with art materials, and loves encouraging her students and retreatants to make friends with their inner kindergartener.

When she teaches, whether it be virtual or in person, her two rules are:

1) You can’t be wrong, and

2) Have fun!

https://katkirby.com/

kat4clay@gmail.com

619-977-2345

Agenda

(approximate and may change due to weather, new opportunities, or the whim of the group!)

Day 1 Wednesday September 14th

3-5pm Registration

5-6pm Welcome, Introductions, Beverages and hors d'oeuvres

6-7pm Dinner

7pm Intro to Studio

Day 2 Thursday

8-9am Breakfast

9:30am - 12pm Session 1: Handmade Journals with Kat

12 - 1pm Lunch

2:30-5:00pm Session 2: SoulCollage® with Deborah

6-7pm Dinner

7pm - onwards Open Studio

Day 3 Friday

8-9am Breakfast

9:30am- 12pm Session 3: Santos with Deborah

12pm onwards: Free time, lunch and dinner on your own, explore Taos

On return: Open Studio

Day 4 Saturday

8-9am Breakfast

9:30am-12pm Session 4: Spirit Wands with Kat

12 - 1pm Lunch

2:30-5pm Session 5: Fireflies with Deborah

6-7 Dinner

7pm Gallery Walk and Closing Ceremony

Day 5 Sunday

8-9am Breakfast

11am Check-out

Goodbyes! Safe Travels!

The Art Projects

Handmade 16-page journal: Taking one large sheet of watercolor paper, you will learn how to cut and fold it so that you wind up with a unique, 16-page art journal. During the retreat, you will decorate and embellish it with paints, stamps, stencils, papers, ephemera, writing, and more.

SoulCollage® – Using found images, imagination, and intuition; you will add to or begin to create your own personal deck of collaged cards. Part creative and part spiritual practice, SoulCollage® allows you to deepen your understanding of yourself and tap into your inner wisdom.

Santos: Folk-Art Saints and Angels. You will be creating objects of personal devotion through collage and assemblage. Your santo can celebrate and protect anything that is dear to you – your home, your studio, even your personal creativity and muse.

Spirit Wands or Talking Sticks: Let’s find the perfect stick from the grounds of our retreat center, and create a sacred object to hold in your hand or hang on the wall. The talking stick is an indigenous tool used for honoring the one who is speaking in a group. Everyone listens quietly until the next person is given the talking stick and then it’s their turn to speak.

Fireflies- A firefly is like the optical equivalent of a wind chime. These small light catchers will cast sparks of reflective light all around the space they are hung in. They are like fireflies…but they shine in the light of day.

Prices: (Please contact us if you would like to hear about our payment plan.)

Single: $1175.00

Shared: $1035.00

What’s included: (please note, space is limited!)

Your comfortable single or shared bedroom

4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 3 dinners

All art supplies and materials

Encouraging instruction from your guides

Daily group walks in the labyrinth or meditation trails

Taxes and gratuities

What’s not included:

Your travel costs

2 lunches and 1 dinner

Alcoholic beverages

Souvenir shopping and other expenses outside the retreat center

Personal, Medical, and/or trip cancellation insurance

Cancellation Policy:

A full refund, less a $250.00 processing fee, will be given at the cancellation of a retreat registration as long as the cancellation request is received by midnight, three months prior to the retreat.

No refund or credit is given for cancellations made with less than three months notice, if you fail to attend, or if you leave the event early, or if you miss part of a session.

Some exceptions may be made for sudden incapacitating illness or family emergencies. You might be able to apply a partial credit toward another retreat led by Kat Kirby or Deborah Milosevich, within the next 24 months.

If you, or we, are able to find someone to take your place, you will receive a full refund minus the $250.00 processing fee.

If we have to cancel:

While we have never cancelled a retreat to date, if we must cancel a booked retreat date for any reason, you may transfer your full retreat payment to another retreat, or you may request a refund of your payment to us, constituting a full settlement.

We cannot be held responsible for your expenses incurred in preparation for any cancelled retreat, such as airline tickets, loss of work, and/or other costs associated with preparing for your trip. For this reason, we highly recommend travel cancellation insurance.

Here are a few companies to consider for insurance:

https://www.worldnomads.com/usa/travel-insurance

https://www.insuremytrip.com/insuring-your-trip/

https://www.travelinsurance.com/travel-insurance-quotes/

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan

https://www.travelguard.com

Covid Policy:

In order to maintain a safe environment, we require proof of a negative antigen home test taken the morning of the workshop. Well fitting masks may be required when indoors. Social distancing will be done whenever possible. Should you test positive, you will not be able to attend. A partial refund or a voucher for another workshop may be offered.

PAYMENT PLAN OPTIONS