Retreating to The Art Nest

I had a truly fabulous experience at The Art Nest in Park City, Utah back in June. Candice and Julie are the most generous and hospitable hosts, and two of the kindest people you'll ever meet. Every detail was taken care of, from arranging transportation from the airport, to putting handmade nametags on our doors at the B&B, to gifting us with this darling packet of items to use in our workshops. Plus, they managed to round up three of the best instructors around: Stephanie Lee, Carla Sonheim and Alma Stoller. It doesn't get any better than that!


The first night, we were treated to a dinner in town at Bistro 412. They had wonderful food, and it was a great way to meet our fellow attendees.


We stayed at this comfy B&B, right off the main drag and just a short walk from where our workshops were held. We were spoiled by their buffet breakfast every morning and the freshly baked cookies and snacks each afternoon when we returned from class.


There was a lovely patio in front, and a relaxing sitting area off on the other side. Who wouldn't want to sit here and spend some time in the morning journaling?

Each instructor taught one day, and each of them was my favorite at that moment! I've taken a lot of classes, and been to a number of different art retreats, but this threesome was truly a match made in heaven. We got a taste of metalsmithing from Stephanie, drawing and watercolor painting from Carla, and fabric play with Alma. This is a picture of the little packets Alma made up for us to use in class--she's so generous and fun, and her fabric art comes straight from her soul.


All the instructors said that one of the perks of this retreat was that, in addition to teaching, they also got to take each other's classes. Stephanie and Carla had great fun in Alma's class, producing fabric bracelets among other things!


Stephanie's class was chock-full of information and demos, torches and soldering--we could have spent days and days playing with all the techniques she showed us.

And under Carla's expert instruction, students produced amazing whimsical drawings, many of which were truly exceptional pieces of art (not mine--that's a whole other story!)

It truly was an amazing few days, and I know that the other 20+ attendees felt the same way. I'm just so grateful that I had the opportunity to participate and to get to know some of the other women that attended. Candice and Julie are quite a team, so if you ever get the chance to go to one of their retreats, DO IT!!