Creative retreats, painting
vacations & art getaways

Debora Stewart

June 13 - 18, 2027

Nature into Abstraction: Expressive Florals, Gardens, and Landscapes in Soft Pastel and Acrylic Mixed Media

Medium: Soft Pastel and/or Acrylic Mixed Media

Level: Advanced Beginner

Location: Studio

Status:

Rates & Enrollment

Deposit is $450

Day Student Tuition: $1,596

Inn-Stay Package*: $2,664 - $3,220

*Your Inn-Stay Retreat Package includes:

Workshop Tuition, lodging, dinner 2 nights (welcome and farewell), breakfast and lunch each day, daily snack breaks, unlimited coffee, tea & seltzer.

For your independent dinners, there are many restaurants with a wide variety of cuisines and price points, within comfortable walking distance of the Inn, plus Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s.

You can choose a room to yourself (single occupancy) or double your fun, bring a friend and split a room (double occupancy).

To learn more about your options or to register, click the Register Now button.

About This Workshop

Nature will be our starting point, but not our destination. In this immersive retreat, participants will gather ideas directly from flowers, gardens, and the surrounding landscape through observational drawing, expressive mark making, color studies, and photographic references. These studies will become the raw material for a series of loose, personal, and increasingly abstract works in soft pastel or acrylic mixed media.

Rather than copying what we see, we will look for the underlying structure, rhythm, color relationships, and emotional character of a subject. Guided exercises and demonstrations will help participants simplify complex natural forms, take creative risks, and move beyond predictable solutions. We will explore how colored grounds and expressive underpainting can establish mood; how Notan and value patterns can strengthen impact; and how cropping, repetition, and variation can generate compelling new compositions.

The retreat will balance instruction with generous independent studio time. Participants may work in one medium or translate ideas between pastel and acrylic. Individual guidance and supportive group conversations will help each artist recognize what is working, identify possibilities for development, and bring selected pieces toward resolution. The emphasis is on exploration, discovery, and building a process that can continue long after the retreat.

What We Will Explore

Loosening-up exercises using gesture, contour, intuitive drawing, and expressive marks
Direct observation of florals, gardens, and landscape forms as sources for abstraction
Color studies, limited palettes, and intuitive color choices in pastel and acrylic
Colored surfaces and underpainting as active parts of the finished work
Two- and three-value Notans for contrast, clarity, and compositional strength
Cropping, enlarging, rotating, and recombining studies to discover new compositions
Balancing active passages with quieter areas so the work has focus and breathing room
Developing related works through repetition, variation, and a small-series approach
Evaluating work in progress and making purposeful choices as a painting nears completion

You Will Leave With

A collection of drawings, color and composition studies, and several developed works; a clearer understanding of how to move from observation into abstraction; and practical strategies for beginning, revising, evaluating, and extending your work into a cohesive series.

The goal is not to arrive with a fixed answer, but to leave with a more adventurous and dependable way of finding your own

About Debora Stewart

Debora Stewart

PSA Master Pastelist | IAPS Masters Circle

Debora Stewart is an internationally recognized abstract artist, master pastelist, author, and experienced workshop instructor. She holds Master Pastelist status with the Pastel Society of America and is a member of the International Association of Pastel Societies Masters Circle. Her work has been exhibited in juried and invitational exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally, including exhibitions in France and China.

Debora is the author of Abstract Art Painting: Expressions in Mixed Media, published by North Light Books. Her teaching grows from a studio practice rooted in observational drawing, expressive underpainting, intuitive color, and the abstraction of flowers, gardens, landscapes, and other natural forms. She is known for creating an encouraging environment in which artists can experiment, strengthen their visual language, and develop work that feels both structurally sound and personally authentic.

An experienced workshop facilitator, Debora has taught artists across the United States in soft pastel, acrylic mixed media, expressive drawing, abstraction, and the creative use of composition. Her demonstrations are practical and process-centered, while her individual guidance respects each participant's experience, medium, and artistic direction.

Debora lives in Clinton, Iowa, with her husband, Doug, and their miniature schnauzer, Toby. She maintains an active studio practice and continues to explore the expressive possibilities of nature through pastel, acrylic, oil sticks, and mixed media.

RETREAT APPROACH

Supportive, exploratory, and process-focused - with demonstrations, structured exercises, independent work time, individual guidance, and group reflection.