Bowen Island Weekend Art Retreat

This past weekend I had the great pleasure to facilitate a private art workshop for a group of seven female dynamos on Bowen Island - a place I last visited as a teenager many moons ago. Bowen Island is a short, scenic ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, BC.  I arrived on the island on Friday afternoon with my car loaded - 7 easels, drop cloths, and a suitcase full of paints, ready to create!




So great to see these mountains of my childhood from a slightly different viewpoint!

 The birthday girl and her posse were ready and willing to embrace a creative endeavour together!

 Over the bridge and through the woods...

 To this lovely Sanctuary on the hill.


 Saturday morning, after a relaxing yoga session and breakfast, we are all assembled in the Sanctuary, an incredible building of wood and glass, ready to get in touch with our intuitive selves and get creative.





 The end of day 1, and the blank canvases are now explosions of colour and texture. Some folk headed for the hot tub, I took a scenic walk around the neighbourhood and along the beach, and we all met back at the house for a fabulous dinner - thank you Sunny!

 Day 2, and we are starting to refine and reshape with colour and form. Cathy's painting looks like a magical undersea garden to me.


 

 Intuitive painting often yields surprises - just when you are wondering where the heck this painting is going, a cow with a flower on its nose materializes!



 
Corrie's vibrant painting has a great balance of dark and light.


 The wonderful thing about intuitive painting is that there is no right or wrong way to express your creativity (obviously) and there are NO mistakes. JoAnn created this luscious abstract full of colour and movement.

This close-up shot shows the depth and layering in JoAnn's painting.

 I love this shot of the afternoon sun shining down on Trish's creation. So full of colour and movement, much like her!

 It was an absolute delight to paint with these women. What a wonderful weekend of fun and creativity. I have the best job ever!

Waiting for the ferry to take me home to my island.

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