Creative retreats, painting
vacations & art getaways

Dionne Woods

of The Turquoise Iris

October 25 - 30, 2026

Empowering Creativity: A Leadership & Art Retreat

Medium: Mixed Media

Level: All Levels

Location: Studio

Status: Open for Registration

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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

Empowering Creativity: A Leadership & Art Retreat

Art, identity, and leading with intention

with Dionne Woods

Set on several peaceful acres at the historic Connecticut River Valley Inn in the charming town of Glastonbury, this intimate five-day retreat invites you into a slower, more intentional creative experience—one that reconnects you with play, creative wellness, and the leadership that emerges when you feel truly aligned.

For six years, Empowering Creativity has brought women together to reconnect with their creative voice while building meaningful lives and businesses. This retreat marks a thoughtful evolution of that experience.

Hosted exclusively by Dionne Woods, this refined gathering is designed for women who already create, already lead in some way, and feel a quiet inner shift calling them toward deeper alignment—artistically, personally, and professionally.

This is not a retreat about pushing harder or producing more. It is about leading with intention—by reconnecting to joy, curiosity, and the inner creative child who knows how to play.

What This Retreat Is

Empowering Creativity: A Leadership & Art Retreat blends intentional art-making, creative leadership, and reflective business conversations into a grounded, nourishing creative wellness experience—one that values presence over performance.

Across four full days, you’ll be guided through experiences that include:

Art as a Practice of Identity
Painting sessions centered on expression, intuition, texture, and story—supporting clarity in your creative direction without pressure to produce finished work.
Leadership Through Creative Wellness
Conversations that explore creative authority, self-trust, visibility, and decision-making—rooted in alignment rather than exhaustion or hustle.
The Power of Play
Guided practices that reconnect you with your inner creative child—where curiosity leads, rules soften, and joy becomes a source of strength and empowerment.
An Outdoor Creative Adventure
One full day devoted to creating beyond the studio—inspired by nature, movement, observation, and exploration. This experience invites fresh perspective, sensory awareness, and freedom from expectation.
Business as an Extension of Values
Reflective sessions focused on how your creative work supports the life you want now—what feels nourishing, what feels heavy, and what is ready to evolve.
Space to Listen and Integrate
Morning light, shared meals, reflective walks beneath the willow tree, moments of stillness near the neighboring white church, and unhurried time to reconnect with your inner compass.

This retreat is intentionally limited to 12–14 women, allowing space for depth, connection, and meaningful individual experience.

Who This Retreat Is For

This experience is created for women who:

identify as creatives or artists
lead in their work, communities, or businesses
feel called toward a healthier, more joyful relationship with creativity
value reflection, connection, and intentional growth
are ready to merge leadership with play, intuition, and creative wellness

You do not need to be a full-time artist or entrepreneur—but you do need a genuine relationship with creativity and a desire to lead your life and work with intention.

Who This Retreat Is Not For

This is not a fast-paced painting retreat.

This is not a tactical business training.

This is not a rigid or prescriptive art experience.

If you are seeking constant productivity, strict outcomes, or surface-level motivation, this retreat may not be the right fit—and that clarity is intentional.

What You’ll Carry Home

By the end of the four days, you’ll leave with:

renewed clarity around your creative identity
a deeper sense of creative wellness and self-trust
art created from curiosity, play, and intention
a reawakened connection to your inner creative child
greater confidence in how you lead—creatively and personally
meaningful connections rooted in shared experience

Most importantly, you’ll return home feeling aligned, energized, and empowered—with creativity that feels sustainable, joyful, and true.

A Note from Dionne

This retreat is an invitation to remember who you were before expectations took over—and to lead from that place again.

Art is our language here, but play, intention, and wellness are the foundation.

About Dionne Woods

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Dionne Woods is an artist, author, speaker, and mentor whose creative journey began with painting furniture in her Oklahoma garage and has since grown into a global brand, The Turquoise Iris. Known for her fearless use of color and intuitive layering, Dionne creates expressive abstracts and bold watercolor florals that carry stories of courage, movement, and transformation. A collector of stories and of people, she weaves connection through every brushstroke, conversation, and community she builds.

Beyond the canvas, she has built a thriving creative community through her memberships, retreats, workshops, her print publication, The Turquoise Iris Journal, and her podcast, The Motivatarian Exchange with Dionne Woods. Her work as a mentor and coach has inspired thousands of women to embrace creativity as both a personal sanctuary and a path to growth in business and life. Dionne is also the creator of the Motivatarian Method™, a framework designed to spark courageous expression, curious exploration, and connected growth in creatives and leaders alike.

Her work has been featured in national publications including Where Women Create, and she is a sought-after voice on creativity, leadership, and community. Whether through painting, teaching, podcasting, or speaking, Dionne is passionate about helping others trust their intuition, embrace bold self-expression, and recognize the beauty of their unique story.