The Art of Joy with Helen Dardik
DATES: June 14-18, 2027
FEE: $2,500.00
Please confirm by March 14 to help ensure this retreat moves forward.
Also, if you're in need of financial assistance, please contact us.
It doesn’t matter if you are at the very beginning of your art journey or a seasoned artist - we are going to make beautiful things together!
We will be using watercolours, gouache and acryla gouache and focusing on variety of techniques. We’ll paint from nature and from within and learn how to see what’s there and what could be there. If you love colour, nature and a bit of whim - you are going to have a wonderful time.
THE ART OF JOY RETREAT SCHEDULE
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Here we are in a beautiful place about to make beautiful things… Let’s get to know each other and our Materials.
Let’s break the ice and see what we are working with. We’ll get comfortable with using watercolours and gouache and learn about mixing, consistency and colour matching. We’ll talk about contrast and depth and a presentation will follow. We’ll start with one flower. After some practice we’ll move onto composition and how to weave it all together.
9:30 am | Light in-studio breakfast
10:00 am | Morning art session
– break for lunch –
2:00 pm | Afternoon art session
6:00 pm | Simple in-studio dinner
– post-dinner studio time is available –
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On this day we continue to mold a composition and explore your unique style. Building up confidence with a sketch and choosing the right colour combinations. We also play with looseness and precision and explore how brushes can create both. Possibly introducing whim in form of a character or two that might find its way into our floral.
9:30 am | Light in-studio breakfast10:00 am | Morning art session
– break for lunch –
2:00 pm | Afternoon art session
6:00 pm | Simple in-studio dinner
– post-dinner studio time is available –
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Now that you’ve had your fill of colourful toomuchery it ’s time to get a break and do a monochrome. Choose your blues, your reds, your greens, browns or even blacks and let’s go!
Sketching your thoughts and helping you envision a whimsical scene. This is a great day to paint your dreams and make up your own folklore.
8:30 am | Early studio access9:30 am | Light in-studio breakfast
10:00 am | Morning art session
– break for lunch –
2:00 pm | Afternoon art session
6:00 pm | Dinner at local restaurant*
– post-dinner studio time is available –
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On this day we enter an enchanted forest full of Magical Fungi, berries and creatures. The forest floor day. We are back working with colour and this time it's Mushrooms and Supernature. We will borrow some shapes from nature and we will add our imagination to them. Flowers, berries and unearthly creatures will also make an appearance.
8:30 am | Early studio access9:30 am | Light in-studio breakfast
10:00 am | Morning art session
– break for lunch –
2:00 pm | Afternoon art session
6:00 pm | Dinner at The Smiley
– post-dinner studio time is available –
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Today we will have great fun creating mobiles. We’ll choose shapes and gesso them and then we’ll make them our own! This is a whimsical treat of an exercise. We’ll be working with animals shapes, mythical shapes and floral shapes (of course!).
On this day we are also finishing up our favourite pieces and doing a little show and tell.
8:30 am | Early studio access9:30 am | Light in-studio breakfast
10:00 am | Discussion and sharing
1:00 pm | Light lunch & goodbyes
– optional studio time until 5pm –
*Not included in retreat fee. Date of dinner out also subject to restaurant availability.
About Helen Dardik
Helen Dardik is a professional illustrator and a surface pattern designer based in Canada. Vibrant, folksy, playful toomuchery is a perfect way to describe her style.
Born by the Black Sea, Helen lived in Siberia for a time and then moved to Israel, where she studied art and design. In the early nineties she relocated to Canada, where she got a graphic design degree and found work as a designer and illustrator.
Helen mainly works in vector using the magic of imagination combined with the magic of Adobe illustrator... but, often, watercolor, oil, gouache, embroidery and vinyl find their way into her repertoire. Finding inspiration in her childhood, her 3 girls, nature, vintage books and midcentury design, Helen is determined to make her life into the most creative experience.
“I felt relaxed and welcomed. Beautiful spaces, excellent food, and thoughtful details everywhere.”
— Ann
2024 Smiley retreat participant
Where You’ll Be Creating
Springfield, Vermont
The Smiley Manse Barn
Nestled up behind the main property is the barn. This turn of the last century post-and-beam construction with a slate roof that rises to a massive walled cupola, the barn is noted as one of the finest carriage barns in the region. Learn more about the history of The Smiley here.
Inside, you’ll find large flat work tables, each a place to explore and express your individual creativity, yet the atmosphere encourages connection and dialogue. Whether it’s the sound of a paintbrush sweeping across the page or folks discussing technique over coffee, the barn serves as a meeting ground for artists of all levels to create and build lasting relationships, exchange ideas, and learn from one another.
We strive to create a space where the act of making art is as much about building community as it is about self-expression.
Join us for a chance to unwind and create in an idyllic setting.
Your Retreat Includes:
Custom designed art curriculum by Helen
4 days of creative instruction
Extra studio access before/after each full day
All meals (except 1 dinner out)
Tea, coffee, and snacks always available in the barn
Usage of our art supply stash during the retreat
What’s Not Included:
Accommodations – there are several great options nearby!
Transportation to/from The Smiley
1 dinner out at a local restaurant