Touchstone Retreats
GEOGRAPHY OF THE WILD HEART: Mapping our Inner Constellations
A weekly creative (writing & art-making) retreat series to renew and restore
Dates & Times:
This is an eight week series with facilitators Margaret Hartsook and Lisa Kagan. This series will be offered on Mondays 6:30pm-9pm on October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 and November 6, 13, 27 (Skipping November
20).
We invite you to join us in creative community as we enter into the autumn season. This weekly “mini retreat” series offers you the chance to step away from the demands of daily life and to connect more deeply with your own inner points of light as we move towards the winter solstice and the darker time of the year. Each weekly session is an invitation, through writing and art, to cultivate a personal cartography of hope and resilience through engaging in the creative process. Like the stars in the night sky, we will illuminate our internal landscapes through a variety of mixed media techniques and materials including painting, drawing, collage, mask making, image transfer, and sculpture. This weekly retreat series offers you a chance to kindle your creative spark and cultivate new ways of enriching your imagination while nourishing yourself in the supportive, uplifting company of other women.
This program offers space for creative expression for women of all ages and backgrounds. No writing or art experience is necessary. All art materials, as well as snacks and tea, will be provided.
Location: Margaret’s home art studio, in SE Portland, the Creston neighborhood.
Program Fee: $390
Art Materials Fee: $35
Total fee: $425
For more information or you would like to register for this program, please contact Lisa at:
Lisa @FamilyHeirloomArts.com or at 503.347.1391.
Due to the limited number of participants, we can accommodate early registration is recommended.
“Sometimes everything has to be inscribed across the heavens, so you can find the one line already written inside you. Sometimes it takes a great sky to find that first, bright and indescribable wedge of freedom in your own heart.”
– David Whyte (excerpt from “The Journey”)
Geography of the Wild Heart is offered through Touchstone Retreats. More Touchstone offerings are listed below. You can learn more at:
https://familyheirloomarts.com/touchstone-retreats/
THE ELEMENTAL SELF: Finding Center through Writing & Altar Making
A full day retreat with Lisa Kagan and Dawn Thomspson
Date and Time: Sunday, October 15, 2023, 10am-5:30pm
Location: Alton L. Collins Conference & Retreat Center
Visit the Touchstone event page for more information or if you have questions about the retreat, please contact Dawn at: dawnrenethompson@gmail.com or 503.568.6145.
Date and Time: November 2023-June 2024, 10am-12:15pm
Location: Kitty's Home, NE Portland
Visit the Touchstone event page for more information or if you have questions about the retreat, please contact Dawn at: dawnrenethompson@gmail.com or 503.568.6145.
About the Facilitators:
Margaret Hartsook sees art making and writing as spiritual practices that can open the gates of creativity and self-expression. She believes we each have a unique creative language that can promote well-being, healing, meaning making and growth in our lives. Through de-mystifying the tools of visual art making, she guides individuals to explore and find their own unique expression. Trained in drawing and painting at California College of Art, Margaret completed her BFA at the University of Oregon and received a Master’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling & Psychology with an emphasis in Art Therapy from Naropa University. Margaret is currently working at Legacy Good Samaritan in the Cancer Institute as an Art Therapist. In addition to facilitating many art-based workshops she co-created the Art Therapy program for Pathways Hospice in Northern Colorado and established the Memories in the Making art program for the Alzheimer’s Association in Oregon.
Contact:
Margaret Hartsook
margarethartsook@yahoo.com
303-682-1073
mhartsook.com
Lisa Kagan is a writer, artist, educator, and personal historian. Her business, Family Heirloom Arts, is dedicated to helping individuals and families celebrate their life stories and significant life milestones through the creation of illustrated heirloom books and custom art. She offers art and writing retreats throughout the Pacific Northwest. Lisa believes in the transformative nature of the creative process to heal, empower, challenge, inform, and awaken the human spirit. Lisa received her BA from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with a focus on writing and fine art. She has completed intensive studies in the arts at Skidmore College, the University of New Mexico, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and the Maine Photographic Workshops. Lisa has published two books of original art and poetry, Coming Home to Myself (2021) and Emergence (2009). Lisa is a co-founder of Touchstone Retreats.
Contact:
Lisa Kagan
503.347.1391
Lisa@FamilyHeirloomArts.com
https://familyheirloomarts.com/
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Dawn Thompson believes writing our stories, whether they originate from our life experience or our imagination, is a sacred act that liberates, heals and transforms us. Dawn is passionate about how writing in community offers us the gift of becoming more intimate with ourself and more connected to one another. She currently offers writing workshops for women and individuals healing from cancer through Words for Healing. Dawn oversaw and facilitated through Portland Women Writers from 2008-2023. She has also worked as a staff member for Write Around Portland. Dawn holds an M.A. in Creation Spirituality from Naropa University and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Oregon. Dawn is a co-founder of Touchstone Retreats.
Contact:
Dawn Thompson
503.568.6145
DawnReneThompson@gmail.com
www.pdxwomenwriters.com
Touchstone Health & Safety Policy
• As of now wearing face coverings while indoors will be optional during this retreat series. If this requirement changes, participants will be notified ahead of time.
• We ask that all retreat participants do a self-evaluation before coming each week and that they remain at home if they have any symptoms of illness.
We will continue to monitor guidance from the national Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) regarding best practices for indoor gatherings and we will update our policies accordingly.
Touchstone Retreats Cancellation Policy
Payment is fully refundable with one month’s cancellation notice. Participants will be charged for 25% of the total program fee with less than a month’s notice up to 14 days prior to the start of the program. No refund is possible with less than a 14-day cancellation notice. Family emergency situations will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. If you have a COVID related situation arise, and you need to cancel please contact Lisa Kagan at Lisa@FamilyHeirloomArts.com or 503.347.1391.