Art Retreat in Southern Spain - 10 Most Memorable Moments
Our “Artrepreneur” retreat in Spain was a huge success!
After nearly a year of planning, we were able to once again create an opportunity for a group of creatives to come together, make connections, build community, and learn from each other.
I truly love hosting these retreats. It's important to me to help foster a community that has been so valuable to artists just like me.
Our attendees this year came from all different experience levels, backgrounds, and countries. Some were still working full time jobs, others had already taken the plunge into pursuing creative passions, and a handful were just beginning to explore the possibilities the art world has to offer.
Everyone had something to contribute and one of the benefits of having such different attendees means a richer pool of knowledge to share.
Last year, during our retreat in France, it was obvious that magic really happens when artists of all levels and backgrounds come together with the intention of sharing and growing their creative business or art side hustle.
But that magic happens at a completely new level when that group comes together in a beautiful place. After all, artists are at their best when inspired!
Teaming up with the crew at UpTrek made this creative business retreat feel like more like a European vacation. UpTrek scouted the ideal location, arranged travel and excursions, did all the coordinating work to ensure that my cohosts and I were able to show up and do what we’re good at: hosting, teaching, and hanging out! (Shoutout to Logan Elliott and Adam Palmeter for joining me in becoming such a great hosting team!)
Our week in Andalucia, Spain was one for the books! The retreat was held in a historic farmhouse with charming villas, rolling wildflower-covered hills, five swimming pools, and the occasional passing herd of goats.
The retreat center is located in a protected national forest in the province of Cadiz, one of Spain’s most scenic and historic destinations.
From the moment we arrived and took a look around the natural beauty of our surroundings, we realized this was going to be an incredible week.
Sometimes, you just know when a special moment will become a cherished memory. This week just had so many of those moments to offer. Between the stunning views, day trips, deep conversations, delicious food, and of course the famous Spanish wine, it's genuinely difficult to narrow down my favorites.
Please enjoy my attempt to list out the top ten best moments of this year's “artrepreneur” watercolor retreat in Andalucia, Spain!
10 Most Memorable Moments:
Memorable Moment #1: Daily painting sessions in the garden
One of the most amazing aspects of these retreats (besides the cool people, tasty food, and vacation vibes) is coming together as a group every afternoon and painting outside.
I was blown away by the creative diversity of our group. True artists, indeed! There were so many unique styles all coming together during our daily painting sessions.
We’d convene together under the shade of the ivy-covered trellis and draw inspiration from all around us. After all, our retreat center was nestled in the middle of a national park– talk about an ideal setting for getting our creative juices flowing! The view of the towering mountains of Andulucia became a lovely source of inspiration.
The scenery around us was reflected in our artwork– incredible arrays of flowers, trees, and nearby stunning views of the famous Spanish white villages. It was a perfect blend of magical countryside muses for every artist there.
Did I mention the 5,000 year-old tomb that was literally next to us as we painted? Turns out, this place has been popular for a while!
Puja painted mini landscapes on special postcard-sized watercolor paper, Elizabeth painted stained glass from a cathedral she visited in Barcelona the week prior, and Irene pulled her chair over to a lemon tree and painted the lemons right in front of her.
For me, it’s always a pleasure to see the diversity of artists that join us on these retreats– each person brought their own unique set of artistic skills and abilities to the table (a very long table!).
But what always began as a group painting session usually turned into this incredible mix of conversations spanning from professional goals, painting techniques, interactive feedback, and deep personal stories that truly helped this group of “artrepreneurs” connect on so many levels.
Plus, what a great opportunity for freebies! If you’ve watched any of my classes on Skillshare, you know I love hooking my students up with free stuff. This retreat was a rare opportunity to hand freebies out in person!
Last year, I gifted little tins of honey-based watercolor metallics, which were a total home run. What artist doesn’t love new materials that can be used on the retreat?
This year was no different– I gave out Vivia Colorsheets to all the attendees. Each packet contains 16 intense watercolor pigments. If you haven’t used watercolor sheets before, they’re a treat. The colors are the most highly-pigmented I’ve ever used and some swatches are even infused with shimmery metallics.
Bonus– Colorsheets are extremely portable. They allow you to paint anywhere: in a cafe, on a train, out in nature, or wherever your inspiration strikes. (Spoiler alert: we’ll get to that later!)
Memorable Moment #2: Portfolio Reviews & Biz Workshops
One of the most valuable aspects of these retreats is the opportunity for me and my cohosts, Logan and Adam, to share everything we know. During our week together, I had the chance to give personal portfolio reviews to attendees and the results were incredible.
From technical questions about using Procreate, to how to attract the attention of a major agency, we covered a lot of ground. For some of these artists, it was their first portfolio review.
Portfolio reviews can be a challenging interaction, especially because in most cases an art career is a solo venture. Throughout the week, I’d sit down with another artist and we’d take these vulnerable deep dives together. Many of these very talented artists were only a few steps away from the right recipe for turning their artwork into a profitable income stream.
During these talks, I found myself becoming inspired through sharing my feedback and strategies on design techniques, trend forecasting, and actionable steps towards nailing licensing deals.
When I was first starting out, nothing would have been more valuable than to have my questions answered. That is why it's so important to me to make the time and offer everything I can to artists who are in the same place I once was.
I wasn’t the only one dropping value bombs– my co-hosts Logan and Adam also had plenty of professional and artistic advice to offer as well.
Logan’s daily workshops were jam-packed with his expertise on marketing tips, social media actionables, and building a career-shaping mindset. Logan, who holds a masters in business entrepreneurship, is passionate about coaching creatives and taking them to the next level (and several levels beyond what artists think is possible).
Adam, our photographer, is a Skillshare Top Teacher, professional muralist, stand up comedian, and children’s book author whose life revolves around D.I.Y. creativity and entrepreneurial education. His entertaining dinner table chats about how to approach clients, develop a large international creative network, as well as how to self-publish books were common each night.
In my experience, it really makes a difference aligning myself with professionals who share a passion for teaching what they know. Art and entrepreneurship is all about consistent growth and learning, and this week in Spain was so perfect for fostering that type of atmosphere.
Memorable Moment #3: Sunset aperitivos & drinks
Spain is known for its warm hospitality and our retreat host, Antonio, went above and beyond to make everyone feel welcome. At the end of each day, he invited us to gather on the patio and unwind together at “Antonio’s Bar”.
As the sun set before dinner each evening, Antonio arranged a few of his favorite local wines and fresh-squeezed juices paired perfectly with an array of tasty tapas.
From pickled lupin beans (my new fav!), to zesty Spanish salsas, each day we were reintroduced to Antonio’s passion and pride for the food and drinks Southern Spain is known for. Bonus: We learned about them from a native Adulucian! I certainly wasn’t alone thinking that all the dishes were somehow even more delicious after learning the regional origin and back story from Antonio.
The golden hour was also a perfect setting for some impromptu photo shoots with our professional photographer and retreat co-host, Adam. Nothing goes better with a sunset than a pose and a smile.
Happy hour was exactly that: an hour of happily enjoying wine & cheese and creating the perfect conditions for even more in-depth conversations.
One of my favorite moments was when Irene made her way over and asked, “What drives your creativity?” She’d been asking this question of several of us throughout that evening’s happy hour and she was curious to hear individual answers.
For me, my creativity is driven by my desire to live this incredible lifestyle in moments just like these– sharing delicious food and having inspiring conversations with artists from all around the world.
These retreats have given me a deeper connection to why I do what I do and if you’d like to hear more about it, I’ll see you at Antonio’s bar. ; )
Memorable Moment #4: Excursion to Ronda
It’s difficult to travel anywhere in southern Spain without having your eyes glued to the gorgeous countryside, ooo-ing and ahh-ing at just about every corner. Rhoda began as an optional trip to get a little extra sightseeing in, but it ended up turning into so much more.
What began as a dinner chat about seeing the ancient city turned into a personal mission for our fearless venue host, Antonio. He was happy to lead a tour through the historical city, pointing out all the interesting facts, less touristy shortcuts through the streets, and of course information that only a local can give.
We even caught a few eavesdroppers listening in as he explained some local jokes about Ronda’s history in his vibrant way. It almost felt like we were getting juicy insider gossip about 1000+ year old history! (Try to find that in Lonely Planet!)
After getting the highlight reel tour, Antonio arranged an outdoor seating area for lunch and painting for our group at a restaurant he knew. But what he didn’t mention was that the restaurant had the best view in all of Ronda.
We were stunned as we came to the terrace overlooking the famous bridge that split the city in two. We saw mountains in the distance, the river down below, and of course the faces of all the jealous tourists who wondered “How’d they get those seats?”
Coffee, tea, and our new travel watercolor sheets made for an easy set up for us to paint with these magical views and ease into the afternoon breeze.
Throughout the day, small groups would take painting breaks to wander the city and admire the old churches, quiet backstreets, lush parks and the very first bullfighting ring in the world, now a museum. (No bulls were harmed in the making of this blog post.)
After a nice big lunch, we all agreed that this was such an amazing day in Ronda and the perfect end cap to an incredible week.
Memorable Moment #5: Mastermind sessions
If you’re unfamiliar with the term “masterminds”, I’ll start by saying that they are an absolute game changer and one of the most impactful activities our attendees experienced on the retreat.
Here’s the setup: Each person gets a dedicated amount of time in the “hot seat”. To kick things off, this individual has a few uninterrupted minutes to lay out their current business challenges, goals, hesitations, opportunities, vulnerabilities, or anything else they feel like discussing.
Next, the whole group dives in: We ask questions, offer feedback, and share our opinions. Because each of us have different backgrounds and areas of expertise, the resulting feedback is a compilation of collective experience, knowledge, skills, and networks. Diversity is the spice of life, after all.
This mastermind structure leads to authentic conversations, deeper connections, and an opportunity for a better understanding of how important community is to artists who are growing their businesses on their own.
The end result is a mixture of realizations, creative problem solving, sometimes confronting some uncomfortable truths, and a catalyst for powerful growth in business and in life. It truly takes a village and I get so much joy from the mastermind sessions.
Logan, Adam and I have been in enough masterminds over the years to know that these micro communities of professional creatives truly thrive by utilizing the connections made while in the “hot seat”.
Pooling our professional resources, diverse skill sets, and personal advice, we are able to focus on a more collaborative approach to business, as opposed to a competitive one.
Having been in the hot seat plenty of times times over the years, I understand their struggles as artists but also recognize their potential to take the steps necessary to help them make the change. Already looking forward to the next mastermind!
Memorable Moment #6: Cave Wine Tasting
I’ve always said, if you’re going to have a wine tasting, have it in a cave. That’s exactly how our day went when we visited the cave city of Setenil de las Bodegas, an ancient city with a very interesting past.
The city is literally built into the rock face and old streets carve pathways through the caves that have housed people and businesses for centuries.
After another one of Antonio’s colorful tours through the historical sites, we had a nice coffee break, wandered a bit, and then made our way to a wine shop that was closed for our own private wine tasting.
The wine shop was carved inside the rock face and led to an intimate setting– two walls were literally just the bare stone of the mountainside. We were treated to samplings of several wines from the region of course paired perfectly with cheeses, olives, and several styles of Iberian ham prosciutto.
We were given in depth descriptions of each wine by the wine cellars’ owner (3rd generation!) who was able to help our palettes along this gastronomical adventure. We all left with delicacies from bottles of wine, cuts of cheese we couldn’t pronounce, and I even grabbed a jar of black garlic for my own charcuterie board the following week.
This was yet another fantastic excursion all before returning to the retreat center to have our lunch waiting for us! Also wine in the afternoon? Well, it is Spain after all. Siestas await.
Memorable Moment #7: Painting the village of Gastor
Gastor was the closest town to our retreat center and was a gorgeous walk to our first outdoor painting destination.
We began by setting up our painting sites at the several picnic tables on a hillside that overlooked the quaint white village. This was only our third day together but the conversations were flowing as I shared technical tips for watercoloring as well as a few business experience stories that prompted several more conversations.
After a few hours on a perfect day, we ventured to the town center to explore its famous flowers and walking paths.
All the homes in these villages are required to be white to keep in tradition with the generations old aesthetics, so the locals take pride in decorating their homes with vibrant flowers. We enjoyed our stroll taking in every color of flower you could think of as the home owners proudly stepped outside to welcome our praise, even posing for a few photos!
All in all, this was the perfect opportunity to get some fresh inspiration, high level Instagram photos, as well as a Sunday afternoon coffee in the town square.
Memorable Moment #8: The Food. Oh man… the food.
Let’s talk comida! The food on the retreat were some of the best prepared meals I’ve had in my life. The small kitchen prided itself on local produce and the finest and freshest of ingredients. So much so, our retreat hosts even published their own cookbooks that featured every meal we ate and many, many more.
I actually noticed what a difference it made as well as I felt amazing each day and not dragged down by poor food choices. Each meal was healthy and delicious and all of our guests agreed that there was a lot of love in that kitchen.
We had a daily chef rotation that would prepare our meals and in true Spanish hospitality tradition, no one left the table until they had juuuust a little more from our smiling cooks.
One thing these retreats have taught me is that when you are at your best physically, you can perform your best mentally and these meals were just the right fuel everyone needed.
It’s so weird to leave a retreat and not have to think “OMG I cannot believe I ate all that!” All of us were impressed with how good food can taste so good, and our hosts even sold several cookbooks to the attendees. Looks like we weren’t the only artists working hard each day!
Memorable Moment #9: Artist Headshots
Having a photographer document our retreat was 100% the right move. (Psst– thanks, Adam!) It’s a great chance to catch those candid in between moments that help define just how amazing the week was.
During last year’s France retreat, Adam thought that there were just too many good opportunities for getting headshots as the old French farmhouse was so beautiful. Adam began having photoshoots with attendees to use for their social media, their websites, profile pics, banner images, and everything else they might need in their personal and professional lives. This year, he did the exact same thing, except with a Spanish setting!
At the end of the retreat, I gave an impromptu talk on how I implement these photos into my online content and the several different ways they can be used through business branding. At the beginning of the week, our guests jotted their names on Adam’s “Photoshoot calendar”. For some of them, this was their very first photoshoot.
Sometimes, these shoots can begin a little awkward, but luckily Adam is a professional comedian. In no time, he had our artists offering their most genuine smiles and laughter. It was so amazing to see these artists open up for the camera and make themselves vulnerable for the sake of their business.
Everyone who got in front of the camera walked away with brand new professional headshots, social media ready lifestyle pictures, and another way to grow confidence as an artrepreneur!
Memorable Moment #10: The connections & friendships
From family-style meals to group talks to simple strolls through village streets enjoying one-on-one conversations, we seemed to have endless opportunities for talking and connecting. And it really is these connections that are the bedrock of not just a successful business, but for a fulfilling life.
Two attendees from last year’s retreat in France came back to join us in Spain this year and it was a heartfelt reunion. (I’m talking about you, Jules & Elizabeth!) Having the chance to see what they have been able to accomplish in a year's time got me feeling very excited to see what they have in store in the years to come.
Each retreat brings me such joy in these new found friendships and seeing the connections made between attendees is evident in our end of retreat “sugar cubes”. Sugar cubes are little notes we all write to each other at the end of the week, reflecting on the individual interactions we’ve had with each other.
Each attendee receives an envelope full of these little notes on the last day and we’re not allowed to open them until we leave. After each retreat I usually cozy up on the couch to read each one and find myself inspired anew.
Memories, breakthroughs, growth, love… We end up sharing so much of ourselves and these sugar cubes help remind us that it's these personal connections that turn out to be some of the most valuable aspects of our businesses and lives.
This particular retreat had a special kind of impact for me: I was joined by my former boss from the agency I had worked at before venturing out on my own. However, Ann is no ordinary boss. Ann Willoughby is the founder of Willoughby Design. Established in Kansas City in the 1970s, Willoughby is the first female-founded design firm in the United States that’s still in business today!
Ann worked hard to ensure Willoughby Design was a place of professional empowerment for the women who worked there. My years of working under Ann directly influenced my own passion for empowering other creatives.
Simply put, Ann has been an incredible mentor to me. The drive I have to help other artists succeed is because that’s exactly how she mentored me. In my life now, I get to share that empowerment with other artists through my educational content and through retreats just like this one.
Ann and I have remained friends in the years since I worked at her agency, but I was still shocked (in a good way) when I saw her name on the attendee list for this year's retreat. This retreat became a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to connect more deeply than ever before.
But hey, it’s not all about me! Ann had so much knowledge and experience to offer our attendees from what she has lived and learned over the decades as a design executive. Ann was a value bomb of advice, knowledge, and support to every single guest at the retreat.
Having Ann join us made me feel a sense that this part of my life had really come full circle. Here I was sharing a glass of wine with a former teacher of mine as I was teaching a new group of artists. It was a perfect example of how community and mentorship can take several forms as we grow into our artist lives. Bringing together artists of truly every level to join us and create those new connections is exactly why I host these retreats. (Is someone cutting onions? 😭)
And just like that, our week had come to an end.
It almost feels like summer camp was ending as we said our tearful goodbyes and exchanged hugs and heartfelt sugar cubes.
This art-vacation really had it all: creating artwork in nature, excursions through Spanish history, personal breakthroughs, new friendships, and of course all of the amazing food and wine Spain had to offer.
These retreats give me such perspective on what is actually possible when you bring people together and I’m already excited for what next year’s will bring.
Thank you to all our attendees who travelled from near and far to make this week as special as it was! And a big thank you again to our partners at UpTrek who make these retreats possible. They helped us plan France last year, Spain this year, and next year’s retreat in…. how do you feel about Morocco? Because we feel pretty excited about it :) Hope to see you there!