Do you want to know what it's like to go on an Art Retreat with Artist, Cat Coquillette CatCoq and Creative Business Coach, Logan Elliot, from Flammable Entrepreneur? You can read Part One HERE and Part Two HERE and PART 3 HERE
Day 2 of the retreat - The mornings were easy breezy, as impromptu sessions were organized. From group yoga, if anyone wanted to join, or someone saying, “hey, I’m going for a run, walk, swim in the morning if anyone wanted to join…” And we did. We all took those socially brave leaps to get to know one another. As soon as one invested their energy, it was re-payed, returned, and magnified by the rest of the group. It was positively charged in the most uplifting way. We sat at breakfast (prepared by the in-house chef from Chamonix) and chatted like old friends, even though we just met, and we floated in and out over a two hour time period that is free and flexible.
“Time for the morning Chicken!”, echoed through the Manoir.
I’m Aussie, so I can speak New Zealandish… This call for the "chicken" came from Logan, our business coach, and in his gifted, I-can-read-the-room-before-I’ve-even-walked-into-it way, he explains that due to his New Zealand accent, vowels can turn a simple G-rated number like Six and turn it into an X rated star of the numerical kind… So what he was actually saying was…
“Its time for the morning Check-In”.
And so we did, today, and every following day at 10am and we all came with good energy and a "Cluck Yeah!" attitude! This is where we got to download the upcoming day, we could mold our flexible outline for the following day, ask questions, and get ready for either an outing, a watercolor class, a business coaching session, and any deep dives headed our way. It was the only structured part of the schedule and the rest of the learning opportunities were flexible as our hosts were aware that it wan't just art and business. It was a retreat too and the plans always allowed for rest and relaxation.
As many of us had travelled long way the day before, today was an easy day of learning, and painting watercolors with Cat for the entire afternoon.
She even came bearing gifts - a Handmade Metallic watercolor set in a gorgeous mint tin. She knows our love language. Thanks Cat!
The beautiful thing about this easy day was that we are all side by side, focusing on our art, which we all get lost in, whilst having conversations across the table. Cat explained her process as we all worked on our own projects, and answered questions as most of us were working on our own projects, which were botanicals from the garden at the
Manoir.
We enjoyed a wander with Logan through a little enclave of homes and farms, and between fields, picking blackberries along the way. You might be wondering how a walk could be part of an activity for learning at a retreat. Unbeknownst to me, this is where the meat and potatoes of business and creative revelations were waiting to be consumed. Learning from my fellow creatives, during activities like painting together, eating breakfast together or going for a chilled out wander through the countryside, were all opportunities to connect, share, learn, and make ‘friendsies’ for life!
On our return to the house, I noticed someone’s phone sitting on a side table and I couldn’t resist taking a snap of it. Because this sums up the mindset, and the energy that every person is bringing to this retreat. This mindset isn’t easy all the time, and even the most introverted of us, dug deep, really deep, to open up and grow from this experience.
As the last rays of sun settled on the manor we also settled on dining rooms chairs, for our second feast together. Little did we know that we would all be pushed out of our comfort zones the following day.
Coming up in PART 5 (DAY 3 of the retreat) coming in a few days. What happened?
Photo shoots! Contracts - DEEP DIVE with Cat, and the all time BIG one!
The MASTERMIND!!! Woohoo.
My creative darlings, you’ll sleep well after that session!
Drop me a note below if you’ve done a mastermind before. I’d love to hear about it. or if you have any questions about what happens in a Mastermind. Many of us artists have ‘heard’ of masterminds, but never participated. In the next blog post, I’ll demystify the mastermind and what it means and how it has benefitted my business., but what happens in a Mastermind, stays in a Mastermind.
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As always you can drop me a note below, or send me a DM on the Gram. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Eve xo
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