Artist Retreat Coastal Maine (Summer 2024)
Maine Artist Retreat
August 3-10, 2024
If you are busy and never get a break for yourself, crave the peace and quiet but can barely hear the sound of your own voice, join us at this retreat where you get time to do things just for you:
✔️ quiet mornings -- wake up to no alarm clock
✔️ being present -- no deadlines, due dates, or emails
✔️ time and space to paint -- bring your supplies you never have time to use
If you can't squeeze in this time for yourself at home, join us in Maine for a break from daily life and reconnect to the artist within....
I know the feeling.
Being busy with demanding job and family is a state many of us face. You run from meeting to meeting with barely time for lunch or a workout and then back to the errands of life and then crash into bed without time for you.
But time passes, and something is missing.
Something you wanted to do.
You bought those art supplies, but that was how many years ago?
Well it is time for you.
Time for you to get out those art supplies and spend a week on yourself. Your own dream of happiness.
If you’re ready to spend some time reconnecting to yourself and your art,
If you’re ready to put yourself into the schedule,
You’re invited to join me in Maine for an Artist Retreat August 3-10, 2024.
Join artists Sarah Griffin Thibodeaux and Christine Lafuente and a small group of painters in a waterfront home in Maine where each artist has her own bedroom but shared living space. We spend our days painting on the porch or outside en plein air.
From the house, you can see the fog over the water as the lobster boats go out. Lawn becomes rocky coast.
The mornings are quiet and--this is the best part--cool. I nearly wept when I realized I could leave the windows open and wake up to temperatures below 70 degrees.
The porch wraps around and you can paint on the porch or journal or enjoy your morning coffee.
In the evenings we cook and take our meals together and recap our day's work painting.
The retreat is uninstructed but a few instructional opportunities will be available.
Christine Lafuente
A native of Poughkeepsie NY, Christine received an A.B. in English from Bryn Mawr College in 1991. She then moved to downtown Philadelphia to earn a Certificate in Painting and Printmaking from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. There she was awarded a Louis S. Ware Memorial Scholarship for European Travel. While Artist-in-Residence at the Fleisher Art Memorial from 1997 to 2002, she began teaching and studied at the Barnes Foundation. In 2003 she moved to Brooklyn NY, where she earned a Master's Degree in Fine Arts at Brooklyn College. In November 2023, Christine did an Artist Residency at Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, Italy. With the exception of 2020 when she sheltered-in-place in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Christine lives and works in Brooklyn throughout the year and spends summers painting in Maine.
Sarah Griffin Thibodeaux
Sarah Griffin Thibodeaux is a contemporary realist artist living in New Orleans. She studied at the New Orleans Academy of Art, the Art Students League, and Florence Academy of Art. She has taught portrait painting, still life painting, and plein air painting since 2009, both at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, the Capital Hill Arts Workshop (in Washington, D.C.) and in her atelier, Studio Thibodeaux, where she offers digital classes, travel workshops, local workshops, and portrait commissions.
She loves to share the process of alla prima painting--the deliberate application of brush strokes to give the painting the feeling of life, of spontaneity, of the buzzing of life all around us. Sarah is looking forward to sharing this experience of painting with you.
A few original works by Sarah Griffin Thibodeaux:
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FAQ
What is an artist retreat?
This artist retreat is a gathering of artists together for the purpose of doing her own work in the company of other artists.
Are non painting spouses or families welcome?
The intention is to keep the space quiet and a place for contemplation and concentration. but if your partner or family member resonates with that kind of environment, then we will consider them on a case by case basis.
What are the accommodations?
The house has five bedrooms and a living room, dining room, kitchen and porches in the front and side, overlooking the water. Each registrant has her own bedroom with full size bed. Bathroom is shared.
What is in walking distance from the house?
From the deck , you can enjoy a private view of lobster boats pulling their gear and sailing ships as they pass and occasionally moor directly in front of the house.
An easy access pebble beach provides a perfect place to launch a sea kayak, canoe or small row boat or even take a swim, if you have the courage.
Also, across the road there is access to the harbor where the water is a little warmer and you are protected from the prevailing wind.
There is a lobster restaurant within walking distance where we will go for a lobster roll.
What else is there to do in the area?
Acadia National Park - hike or rent bicycles to ride on the carriage trails
Whale watching
Farmer's Markets
How close is the house to Bar Harbor, Maine?
The house is a 30 minute drive from Bar Harbor.
How far away is Acadia National Park?
Can you see whales from the house?
Yes!