An Art Retreat You Wont Want To Miss!

[caption id="attachment_575" align="aligncenter" width="597"]Believe In Your BeautyClick Here To Purchase Believe In Your Beauty
Click Here To Purchase[/caption] In six short weeks I will be packing my bags and heading to Lake Geneva to teach a class at the Creatives Celebrating Sisterhood Art Retreat. If you have never attended an art retreat and are looking for a couple of days away - this is the retreat for you! With several talented teachers, you will immerse yourself in creativity and come home holding the key to your heart's next creative step! This picture, Believe In Your Beauty, is what I will be teaching there.  Join me to learn how to create these luscious backgrounds, and to make a reminder for yourself that believing in your inner beauty is something to focus on every day! The first art retreat I attended changed my world. I had never even picked up a paintbrush - but I knew I wanted to try! So I took myself out to the retreat and learned HOW to do all of the lovely things I was drooling over on line and in art magazines. And along the way I collected a tribe of creative sisters who mean the world to me! Here are the details: April 17-19, The Abbey Resort in Lake Geneva, WI, Click Here for pricing details and to register! As an added bonus, Linda Barutha, creator of the retreat, has graciously written this guest post!!  Read her unique journey towards developing retreats like this - and join us soon!!

Creative Strength: Honoring Your Inner Adventurer

Ever heard the saying “there’s strength in numbers?” I am one of those firm believers in the fact that alone time is great, but we as human beings are at our creative best when we are together in a group setting. [caption id="attachment_999" align="alignright" width="100"]Linda Barutha Linda Barutha[/caption] The energy of a group of like-minded individuals fuels passions and desires that may have been just quietly simmering within us for years. I think my desire to be with groups started when I was 11 years old and it was a big deal when my mom agreed to let me go on a Girl Scout overnight camping trip. Overnight and alone. Wow. I felt like an explorer or adventurer! Even though I didn’t know any of the other people going on this trip, I thought the whole concept of camping with a large group was so enticing. My intuition served me well because this truly was a trip that left me with lasting impressions. Once immersed in my camping trip, I was mesmerized by the way everyone worked so well together. It was fascinating to me the way the older girls were empowered to help the younger ones and the whole camp hummed smoothly like a well-oiled machine. Instead of the adults leading and telling everyone what to do or doing it for them, everyone seemed to fall into place and do their part. I didn’t realize it at the time, but they were all following a kaper chart which divides responsibilities evenly for every task that needs to be completed. It was a process, a system, and a recipe for success. That fascination of teamwork and group achievement has stayed with me well into adulthood. Now, as I pour my passion into running my own creative retreat business Live, Laugh, Love Retreats, LLC, I feel the same satisfaction and empowerment as I did during that overnight camping trip so many years ago. Founded in 2005, Live, Laugh, Love Retreats started as a scrapbooking retreat business. As my artistic experience expanded into mixed media, so have my creative retreats. Again, I am drawn to the energy and passion of women in a group setting whom are learning and growing creatively together. [caption id="attachment_998" align="alignleft" width="119"] Linda's Art[/caption] But that’s not all. My inner “explorer or adventurer” was called upon again when I saw an incredible opportunity to own my own retail brick-n-mortar store last Fall. Calling upon the many friends I have made at the various retreats or group events for support, I took a leap of faith and started Linnie Blooms Shop & Create. To make it even more fun, I offer art classes to both adults and children, which always brings me back to that feeling of empowerment that I had when I was just 11 years. old. I firmly believe everyone should seek out peers and mentors to share in what they are truly passionate about. I am living proof as to how these connections with like-minded creatives have given me the strength and confidence to spread my wings and take chances. And it’s these emotions that I try to capture when I create a new piece of artwork. It truly makes me happy when I can share my passion with others and see how it improves their lives too. What have you done this year to honor your inner creative? Honor your inner “explorer or adventurer?” Is it time to spread your wings and take a chance on something new?
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Linda Barutha is mixed media artist and creative retreat organizer. Her business Live*Laugh*Love Retreats brings like-minded artists, crafters and creative together for a weekend of love, laughs, learning, and creative growth. You can find Linda at her Linda Barutha Designs.com or on Twitter.

Check out this art retreat!

Why attend an art retreat?  Because it can change your life.  Seriously.  It changed mine!  How?  Because it opened my eyes and my heart it an entirely new world.  I had never even picked up a paintbrush.  But there was a little voice whispering inside me... I kept looking at paintings and thinking - I think I could do that, I just don't know how!  I saw an add for a retreat in Portland, OR so I ordered some art supplies, packed up my bag (and my courage!) and set off on an art journey.  What I learned there was amazing.  Not only did I learn the HOW behind the gorgeous art I admired, but I found a whole new community of women to celebrate creativity with. I will be teaching at the Creatives Celebrating Sisterhood retreat in April 2013.  Find out all the juicy details here.  The other teachers are Junelle Jacobson (yes ladies - she is a serious rock star!), Kris Lanae Binsfeld (who has a smoking new deal with Demdaco!), Rachel Payne (big time advocate of artists), Ann Marie (awesome and inspirational mixed media artist), Linda Kinnaman (who will be debuting an awesome collaborative art journal there!), and Jacquie Williamson (artist extrodinaire!). The head of the retreat asked me to do a video about this retreat.  This is my FIRST attempt at video - but its from the heart and it shares with you my journey about what a retreat did in my life.  I hope you come.  I hope it changes your life!! Check out the video!  Mary's Retreat Video   See you at the retreat - and don't forget the early bird discount available until July 1!  

A Retreat That Will Rock!

I'm so excited to tell you about a retreat that not only am I attending - I am teaching at!  The Creatives Celebrating Sisterhood Retreat promises to be an amazing time of art, connection, and learning.  This retreat was created by Linda Barutha of Live, Laugh, Love Retreats. Have you been to an art retreat?  I went to my first one in Portland, Oregon about a year and a half ago.  I had barely even picked up a paintbrush before, but I kept looking at art around me and thinking "I can do that - I just don't really understand HOW to."  But I knew the creativity was inside of me.  So I found a retreat, signed my bad self up for it, and off I went to Portland - paintbrush in one hand, blank canvas in the other - not knowing a soul there. What I found there was the artist inside of me.  What I learned there is that mixed media art was the home I didn't even know I had been longing for.  What I took home with me was the knowledge of how to do all those cool techniques that make me stop and want to TOUCH a piece of art.  The texture, the colors, the layering, the beauty....I learned how to do it all.  Going to that retreat might have been the best gift I have ever given myself. The Creatives Celebrating Sisterhood Retreat will be special for another reason too.  I took an online class with several hundred amazingly creative women last summer.  We have stayed in close contact, supporting each other in our creative and artistic endeavors.  Many of them will be attending this retreat.  And I am DYING to meet these women who have become my creative sisters!! I am going to be teaching a mixed media class on how to create the painting below.  It's called Believe In Your Beauty and is part of my Body Fab-YOU-lous line.  I will show you how to do the layering of paints, ink and papers.  We will learn how to do collage and incorporate an awesome transfer technique.  Plus, you will learn all about creating hidden messages inside of a painting for yourself.  While things dry I will share with my class what I have learned about finding peace in the body you inhabit - right now.  That is what Body Fab-YOU-lous is all about! I hope you join us at the retreat - we would love to have you there!!