Set on several peaceful acres at the historic Connecticut River Valley Inn in the charming town of Glastonbury, this intimate five-day retreat invites you into a slower, more intentional creative experience—one that reconnects you with play, creative wellness, and the leadership that emerges when you feel truly aligned. Hosted exclusively by Dionne Woods, this refined gathering is designed for women who already create, already lead in some way, and feel a quiet inner shift calling them toward deeper alignment—artistically, personally, and professionally. This is not a retreat about pushing harder or producing more. It is about leading with intention—by reconnecting to joy, curiosity, and the inner creative child who knows how to play.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Dionne Woods
Cost: $1,596
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389

Nature will be our starting point, but rather than copying what we see, we will look for the underlying structure, rhythm, color relationships, and emotional character of our subject. Guided exercises and demonstrations will help participants simplify complex natural forms, take creative risks, and move beyond predictable solutions. We will explore how colored grounds and expressive underpainting can establish mood; how Notan and value patterns can strengthen impact; and how cropping, repetition, and variation can generate compelling new compositions. The emphasis is on exploration, discovery, and building a process that can continue long after the retreat. Students gain a clearer understanding of how to move from observation into abstraction; and practical strategies for beginning, revising, evaluating, and extending their work into a cohesive series.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Debora Stewart
Cost: $1,596
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389

Who is this workshop for? If you are a beginner, you’ll be given the opportunity to learn composition, color mixing, mark making and more, all in a welcoming environment. If you are an advanced artist, Jodie will help you create your most honest work through understanding the personal energy you bring to your art, embracing your personal mark making and how you choose color combinations in a more intuitive way. Either way, this workshop will help you and your art advance to a new level in a judgement-free, joy-filled zone.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Jodie King
Cost: $3,300
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389

Join us for inspiring demonstrations, lectures, encouragement, and practice. You’ll learn how to coax hints of reality from an abstract background, how to control values and colors for emotional emphasis, and how to suggest rather than delineate. We will work intuitively, responding to what emerges, with less censorship and greater freedom. There will be daily demonstrations of various techniques for layering acrylic paint and paper. Students will produce two paintings per day, and we’ll discuss them using descriptive language to expand our individual creative voice. By adopting an attitude of “play”, this workshop will promote greater innovation and receptivity to the small voice of intuition and imagination. With a body of several paintings, we’ll pursue editing solutions for a final product.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Joan Fullerton
Cost: $1,596
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389

Learn to paint looser and more confidently during this four-day workshop with artist Sarah Sedwick. Take a step-by-step approach to alla prima oil painting, from black-and-white studies to brilliant color. Build a beautiful composition with life and movement, and get a new perspective on the still life. Instead of struggling with overworking your paintings, practice stopping sooner to keep the freshness you crave in your work! Explore how limitations can set you free, creating a painting in 20 brushstrokes, and another in 20 minutes. Learn the fundamentals of good design, and walk step-by-step through Sarah’s process, creating a dynamic still life from start to finish! Oils and acrylics are welcome - particularly Open acrylics, that stay wet longer.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Sarah Sedwick
Cost: $1,596
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389

Impressionism provides a platform for stretching the boundaries of realism. In this workshop, I will focus on color while introducing some new tools for painting Impressionistic images. While some may go more representational and others more abstract, the basic tenet of impressionism relies on broken color and a heightened sensitivity to color. I am known to rely on the palette knife to help generate highly colored images, but your tools will be of your choosing, be it palette knives, brushes, wedges, or spatchers. My goal is to help you cultivate your skills and use of color as you explore and enhance your personal visual voice (the unique way in which you interpret and reflect what you see in creating your image).
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Cynthia Rosen
Cost: $1,596
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389