Painting in Paradise:

14 Day Online Retreat

{A SELF PACED 2 WEEK JOURNEY}

A FUN SELF PACED 14 DAY PAINTING CHALLENGE TO GET YOU PAINTING AND RENEW YOUR CREATIVE ENERGY, WITH A LITTLE BIT OF PARADISE IN YOUR POCKET!

Workshop Details

WHERE: Online & Self Paced 2 weeks of class,
WHEN: Instant access and yours to keep forever
COST: $47

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Who is this class for?

THIS COURSE IS FOR ANYONE LOOKING TO GROW THEIR UNIQUE VOICE IN THEIR WORK, EXPAND THEIR TECHNIQUES & WAYS OF THINKING THROUGH PAINT AND COME AWAY WITH A STRONGER VISION OF WHERE THEY ARE GOING IN THEIR PAINTING PRACTICE.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be on retreat with us in Costa Rica? Now we’re inviting you along!

We wanted to bring you guys to paradise, join teachers & professional artists Mati McDonough and Faith Evans-Sills as they give you an infusion of jungle inspiration and take on retreat with us! This class is filmed and photographed entirely on location with us in Nosara, Costa Rica where we offer our annual painting retreat.

We bring some of that self care, delicious art making and colorful inspiration to you wherever you are, in this special online retreat. Its like having a bit of paradise in your pocket!

Together we'll dive deeply into the ways in which we practice creative play with paint. We’ll lay out the steps that we take to create our richly layered paintings. Renew your passion for painting in 14 Days with us!

Come along, flying in over the volcanoes of Nicaragua, your first stop will be the roadside fresh coconut stand before the beautiful drive towards the Pacific coast and the small town of Nosara, Costa Rica, our retreat home away from home! Nosara is a laid back town with lots of surfing, yoga and nature and loads of relaxed style all on a gorgeous beach. And the howler monkeys are always somewhere in town! We invite you to take a peek around with us. If you've ever been curious about what its like to be on retreat with us this is your chance, we've packed it all in. We want you to get a taste of what its like touring around town, learning from us in our in depth painting lessons right there in our jungle classroom! Kick your inspiration into high gear with this nourishing escape into the tropics that will reinvigorate your painting practice. We designed this to be a pause in your daily life, a re-set where you can stop everything and dive into these art projects with us.

Welcome to Paradise, we can't wait to show you around!

DURING OUR 14 DAYS TOGETHER YOU’LL GET TO:

Discover how to begin your paintings in a fun, stress free way. You'll beat that white canvas anxiety, learning how to playfully build up texture and pattern to create paintings full of depth and meaning.
Explore some of our favorite paintings inspired by nature: flowers, animals, ocean, water, elephants, birds, leaves….ease into your art, building your painted layers like a pro!
Create one painting a day: dive into our video painting demos where you'll paint right along with us!
You'll gain access to 14 Days of Video Paint along demos (7 from EACH of us!)!
Re-imagine your potential as a creative: these assignments will be packed with painting knowledge giving you two weeks of artistic exploration and fun that you'll be able to access FOREVER, whenever you are needing a creative boost!

We'll walk you through each topic with long start to finish painting videos, inspirational prompts, guided activities and downloads. This class is open to all skill levels and all creative spirits looking to deepen their painting practice, broaden their painting skills, work their bravery muscles in the studio and expand their personal voice in their paintings.

This course is filmed on location in Costa Rica in our jungle studio. This is a candid and realistic invitation into our retreat environment, you’ll feel like you are right there with us. The sounds of the jungle insects & animals are all around, there is some student discussion during the painting demos and other ambient noise in the videos. Consider this an opportunity to relax, recharge and allow what is.

Here's your invitation to dive deeply into your paintings, expand your painting skills & techniques in your work and come away with a reinvigorated painting practice!

Register now

Watch the Video for a preview of what it feels like to go on retreat with us!

Press the play button below to watch the video.

Amazing things happen when we change our routines, push our fears aside, and spend time immersed in our work.

How this Self-Paced Workshop works:

The class will begin with a Welcome & Introduction Unit, then you’ll dive into daily painting lessons. With each lesson you'll receive access to painting demo videos featuring start to finish painting lessons taught by Mati and Faith in our jungle classroom. These instructional demo videos are all filmed on location at our retreat home the Jungle Beach House in Costa Rica. They are a candid window into what its like to be right there on retreat with us. Each video will be around 20 minutes long, and will walk you through our painting processes based on the unit topic. These videos will usually show you the start to finish creation of one of our paintings! We encourage you to turn up the music and paint along with us, and crank the volume to hear all the amazing dialogue with our retreat participants there are some amazing conversations about painting that we've captured in these lessons! Each unit will also contain an inspiration video lesson taking you deeper into our jungle environment, where we'll post videos, ideas and other bits of beauty to keep you inspired. In total there are 29 videos for you in this class, chock full of inspiration! All of this rich content is supplemented with gorgeous photography, taken on location by our retreat photographer....giving you a beautiful window into paradise!

Each day in Class will feature videos demos on a different topic in this order:

DAY 1 :: Welcome to Painting in Paradise: Let's Show You Around
- Welcome to Paradise! Let’s show you around
- Supplies for your Retreat
- Opening Circle: Setting Intentions
DAY 2 :: Exploring Abstraction
- Lesson 1 :: Exploring Abstraction {Mati}
- Let's Explore the Jungle Beach House
DAY 3 :: Layered Botanicals
- Lesson 2 :: Inspired Botanicals {Faith}
- A Day in Paradise!
DAY 4 :: Gold Leaf
- Lesson 3 :: Adding Gold Leaf {Mati}
- Golf Carting Around Town
DAY 5 :: Watercolor Tapestries

-Lesson 4 :: Watercolor Explorations {Faith}
-Bonus Lesson :: Watercolor Explorations {Faith}
DAY 6 :: Watercolor Waves
- Lesson 5 :: Watercolor Waves {Mati}
- Daily Beach Sunsets
DAY 7 :: Nature Mandalas
- Lesson 6 :: Creating Nature Mandalas {Faith}
- Bonus Video :: Mandala Magic
- Gathering Inspiration :: Tropical Infusion
DAY 8 :: Collage
- Lesson 7 :: Collage {Mati}
- Bonus Lesson :: Collage First Layers {Mati}
DAY 9 :: Painted Mandalas
- Lesson 8 :: Layered Mandalas {Faith}
- Bonus Lesson :: Mandalas {Faith}
- Dream a little dream
DAY 10 : Fun Techniques
- Lesson 9 :: Fun Techniques {Mati}
- Self Care & Flower Essences with Lara Cornell (Downloadable E-Book)
DAY 11 :: Soul Animals
- Lesson 10 :: Soul Animals {Mati}
- La Luna :: Out of a Dream
DAY 12 :: Incorporating Geometrics
- Lesson 11 :: Incorporating Geometrics {Faith}
- Inspiration :: Exploring the Jungle
DAY 13 :: Magic Muses
- Lesson 12 :: Magic Muses {Mati}
- Bonus Lesson :: Magic Muses {Mati}
DAY 14 :: Closing & Celebration
- Art Show & Discussion
- Blessing & Closing Circle

What is it like to take an Online Class with Mati & Faith?

HERE'S OUR ALUMNI HAVE TO SAY...

Faith and Mati are angelic geniuses at demystifying the abstract painting process. Their class was my all-time favorite online class that I’ve ever taken! Before their class, I was always enamored with abstract paintings, but I had no idea where to start. But with their class, my creativity exploded. I created over 50 paintings and had so much fun! I highly recommend their classes to anyone looking for more happiness, creativity, or confidence!

– Jenny
This class really got my painting practice moving. I love where the inspiration has met me and I feel like I'm actually finding my own voice. The rhythm of this class has been so beneficial, having a lesson every day so I'm consistently showing up to my own imagination. I am excited to see what I create next and how my own style will merge and develop.

– Belinda
Abstract Bliss was truly a new beginning for me. My “blissful” weeks in this workshop have helped me decide to follow my art path painting intuitively. For as Faith said with Mati nodding agreement, “It doesn’t have to be hard.” I highly recommend this course to all levels of painters interested in pursuing abstract painting. Wishing you both continued bliss!

– Joy Dibble
Mati and Faith are beautiful, vibrant, fierce goddesses. They have inspired my painting practice and my life tremendously. I developed the courage to share my art in this space privately and that helped me to feel confident to share it on a public platform! I really felt seen, valued, and encouraged here. Thank you Mati and Faith for your presence and love. <3

– Laura
Abstract Bliss has been an absolute joy in my life! Especially during Lockdown. I have learned so much and feel so inspired. Faith and Mati you have both been so awesome and so encouraging, the support has been amazing.

– Leslie
Mati and Faith know how to make you want to paint!!! Abstract Bliss just might be the best online class available on the internet.

– Cassandra
I feel like this class has been a sanctuary, a painting sisterhood, a place for growth and inspiration! My favorite painting class ever. Faith and Mati's passion and gentle guidance and instruction have been a breath of fresh air into my artistic endeavors. I can't wait to continue the journey!

– Kathy
I just want to say thank you from the depth of my heart and soul for this amazing class. You both have a beautiful purpose in this world and I am so honored to be a witness and student of your gifts and teachings. I have learned so much about abstract, myself and my art. I have painted more than I did in art school!

– Jennifer
I really love love love this course very much! Not only teaching me painting techniques, but both of you also shared spirit, courage, fear. That helped me gradually to accept my imperfection, and become less fearful too! I enjoyed every moment of painting and also love the group here. I learned so much!

– Joy
This class was so helpful. It really helped me move forward and out of my comfort zone. I actually feel like I can now see a path forward with abstract work that I wasn't able to see before (!!) And I really enjoyed seeing other people's work too, it was so inspiring.

– Lisa
Hugest unending thanks and gratitude to you Mati and Faith - the structure and love and compassion which you send out and share in these classes is so gentle, nurturing and supportive. You helped me to welcome adore and accept the creative side within me which has yearned to be expressed for a lifetime - thank you for helping me connect further with myself and all of you wonderful souls.

– Quigley
This class came to me right when I really needed it. I was feeling stuck and stale in my painting practice. I felt really supported by not only Faith and Mati but the other students as well.  I learned a lot about remembering to play, experiment and to keep going with ideas even when I feel some resistance. The exercises were so rich and full of ideas and inspiration. I feel like my way of seeing has been reopened!

– Alana
My inspiration comes from Faith and Mati- and I love listening to their videos in the background while I create... they really boost my confidence and I experiment more! They've also inspired me to do more wood panel work (much cheaper and challenging for finding my style). I love all of the creations from this class.

– Alisson

See more testimonials.

FAQs

Uplift With Paint: 14 Day Painting Challenge is entirely SELF PACED. Upon registration you’ll receive an email giving you access to all the content to help you spark your creativity baby!
Plan on spending 30 minutes a day each day of this challenge, to watch the video demo, dive into painting right along with us while you watch! Then share it all over on Instagram so that we can celebrate YOU!
You're in the right place if:
- You’re looking for a fun, creative escape!
- You suddenly have a lot of free time at home/with kids :)
- You're been feeling stale in your creative practice.
- You know you feel most alive when you make art and you want to make it more of a priority in your life.
- You want an accessible way to jump into making art.
- You are a bit lost and looking for inspiration.
You'll have forever access to the Uplift With Paint: 14 Day Painting Challenge Videos through the links in the email series to our private online classroom.
Sharing builds community, yay!
We encourage you to post your work and tag us on Instagram using our hashtags #AbstractBliss #PaintingTheSacredWithin and tag our account @abstractblissretreats In the meantime, make sure you're following us both @faithevanssills and @matirose so we can cheer you on.