Art & Wellness Getaway
GO BIG
AND COME HOME
Oceanside Retreat on the Upper Sunshine Coast
September 27 - 28, 2025
2-DAY CREATIVE DEEP DIVE
Experience a transformative somatic immersion and journey into big, authentic gestural movement.
Dare to GO BIG and take up ALL the space.
See what going BIG means while diving into large scale, gestural drawing, following the flow of line that naturally emerges from the intelligence of your body.
Meet your hosts, Julie & Sarah
Working with the medium of art therapy and gestural movement, Julie Herman-L. and Sarah West are delighted to invite you to their neck of the woods on the beautiful Upper Sunshine Coast to go BIG!
Julie and Sarah are both art therapists and professional members of the Canadian Art Therapy Association.
What is art therapy you may ask?
Art therapy works with a creative process to tune into the inner wisdom that flows from our bodies and into our creations. It can soothe our nervous system, rewire neural pathways, and be a shining light on the inner recesses of our unconscious, enabling us to quickly, efficiently and effectively tap into the wisdom of our bodies. This retreat is by no means your average “art class” and large scale gestural drawing is most certainly not for the faint of heart.
Becoming an art therapist entails 2 years of academic training and 300+ client hours to obtain accreditation in this powerful field of psychotherapy. Both Julie and Sarah have significant training from leaders in the field and experience guiding clients through gigantic, transformative, gestural drawing practices - that honestly - will rock your world.
Leave your mark on large canvas (and we mean 6x5 feet LARGE) and come home to the profound nature of what’s housed within.
our time together
During our time together, we want you to TAKE UP ALL THE SPACE YOU NEED. On the floor. On the walls. In the gardens. By the sea.
On our first day, we’ll start small and teach you the fundamentals of this practice. We’ll sink into meditative, gestural movement and large mark making indoors with oil pastels. We’ll sit back, breathe, eat and see what emerges from our bodies’ lines. With paint, we’ll amplify what we’ve seen.
On our second day, you can stay indoors or take your creation outside. We’ll move with our paintings, and welcome the intelligences found within our bodies and the natural world to further inform what may emerge.
At the end of it all, you roll it all up and either toss it, or bring it home with you to sit in your closet or hang on your living room wall. Because your creation certainly won’t fit on your fridge.
We want you to feel TAKEN CARE OF. And that, honestly, it feels luxurious.
We’ll be together from 9am - 4pm both Saturday and Sunday.
We’ve got high quality art materials waiting for you.
We will feed you local, wildly harvested meats and local, organic foods for lunch and refreshments. Likely salmon and venison.
If you want a beautiful reminder of your experience and creation, we’ll be pleased to offer a professional photo for you to hold close to your heart.
And if you’re doing this immersion for professional purposes as a wellness practitioner, we’ll give you a certificate of completion.
the location
We’ll be working in a small group setting, in the gorgeous Tidal Arts Centre in Lund, British Columbia.
Imagine: Bright windows, large white walls, wood flooring, bursting gardens and an ocean view.
You’ll need to book your own local accommodation, and we’re happy to share some sweet spots.
You can get to the end of the road a couple ways. We’re located 1 ferry ride away from Vancouver Island or two ferries north of Vancouver, and you’re guaranteed a scenic drive in. Flights to Powell River from most major cities in BC are also available.
We’ll be happy to talk you through a plan to get here.
Call us at 604-223-7966 or email sarah@earthenvision.com.
I’m so in! Sign me up.
nitty gritties
Cost is $1200 plus GST.
Help us spread the word. Bring a friend. Bring your sister. Bring your daughter. Don’t bring your dog (or at least, leave him at the AirBnB). You’ll receive 10% off for every referral.
Folks who sign up prior to Labour Day weekend receive a 10% off early bird deal.
E-transfers are preferred if within Canada, and Visa is also available. Payment required in full upon registration.
Full refunds are available up to two weeks prior to the retreat, minus a $125 admin fee. In order to plan accordingly, we are unable to return your fee if cancellation happens within 2 weeks of the retreat.
We’ll ask you to fill out a brief registration form to confirm you’re keen (and know what you’re getting into!).
We’ll ask you to fill out a standard consent form on our first day, and request that confidentiality is respected for everyone attending.
