Stay Colorfully Creative with Salli, a September 2023 art retreat at The Smiley Manse in Southern Vermont

Stay Colorfully Creative with Salli

DATES: September 28 - October 1, 2023

Salli Swindell led a playful, colorful long weekend at The Smiley Manse just as late summer turned to fall. Artists dove into hand lettering, cut paper collage and approachable prompts that made it easy to experiment, then filled the barn studio with bright art cards of the red barn, black-eyed Susans, a rabbit and the brick manse.

Between sessions there were candlelit dinners on the porch, apple cider donuts with morning coffee, campfire stories and a neighbor’s sweet dog who invited herself to dinner. With open studio time before and after class, a hike to the river falls and plenty of laughter, it was a weekend at The Smiley full of color, connection and permission to play.

Golden black-eyed Susans blooming in the late summer garden, play the Stay Colorfully Creative retreat video on Instagram
Two smiling artists posing beside the round Smiley Manse sign near the barn
Artists gathered around a busy collage table, cutting and gluing paper in the barn studio

Stay Colorfully Creative Retreat Schedule

THURS, SEP 28: Arrival & Welcome

FRI, SEP 29: Color, Play & Nature Portraits

SAT, SEP 30: Hand Lettering & Cut Paper Collage

SUN, OCT 1: Art Cards, Sharing Work & Farewell

Red barn with cupola and dog weathervane at evening beside a maple turning orange
Large group of retreat artists posed on the barn porch steps in autumn sunshine
Jar of pickled green and yellow beans with a red pepper on a wooden butcher block counter
Oval wooden mirror on red leaf patterned wallpaper reflecting a smiling artist
Two smiling artists taking a selfie under yellow autumn maple trees
Retreat artists seated along a long candlelit porch table set for dinner in early autumn
Sketchbook painting of yellow black-eyed Susans and blue-green leaves beneath trees
The round black and white The Smiley Manse sign on the lawn in front of the red barn with its porch hung with paper lanterns and pumpkins on the railing
Wall of colorful art cards featuring Smiley Manse lettering, a fiddler and the brick manse

“I was on a journey of rediscovering how art fits into my life and this retreat solidified how important it is for me to make time to experiment, play, create, and make art. Salli is such a lovely human! I enjoyed her positivity and playfulness and her prompts were really approachable but interesting.”

— Amy
Smiley Retreat Artist