Tag Archives: call of the wild soul art retreat

i’m teaching in oxford! (Cancelled due to Breast Cancer)

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St. Margaret's church photo by Katariina Fagering

I’m thrilled to share that I will be teaching a workshop in Oxford, England next August for Call of the Wild Soul art retreats.

Serendipity or Intention?

It was just last October that I wandered over and around Port Meadow in Oxford pondering the significance of great writers such as Lewis Carroll, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, all creating brilliant epic novels on this small patch of land.

journal square photo by Katariina Fagering

As I wandered the meadow and meandered up the river Isis towards Godstow Nunnery (ruins filled with mystery and intrigue), I imagined what it would be like to have a gathering of creative women sitting on the very land that inspired so many fantastical worlds.

* What magic would come of it? *

* What worlds would we create? *

* How might we be transformed? *

tree tents by Katariina Fagering

Some say this land is a portal to higher creative energies. I’m not sure about this but I do know there is an exorbitant amount of prolific writers to come out of one tiny city and I am curious to discovery if it has anything to do with the land.

I believe that when women gather, listen and share their stories it creates medicine for the soul.  What would happen if a group of creative women gathered in a place where the energy appears to be in the favor of literary creativity? What sort of stories would be conceived out of this concoction of earth and women? What creative collaborations could be forged?

godstow love photo by Erin Faith Allen

Although I had flirted with the idea of teaching a workshop in Oxford, I had no serious plans. Then Erin called to announce she was putting together a retreat in Oxford and asked if I would like to teach one of the workshops. I was nearly knocked over but knew this is how the Universe works.

Sacred Stories is what I’m calling my workshop.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ~ Maya Angelou

This workshop is designed as part creative writing, and part creative photography; but those mediums are merely tools to discover the real juiciness that is waiting dormant within.

Laura altar4 photo by Katariina Fagering

I will share more of the juicy details as they unfold, but I hope in the meantime you will pop on over to the retreat site and read what it’s about. From there you can check out the other luscious women teaching different sorts of creative workshops at the retreat. If I wasn’t teaching I would have a hard time choosing which workshop – they are all pretty amazing!

Come join us for the magic, I guarantee your life will never be the same!

St Margaret's treacle well photo by Katariina Fagering

Lewis Carroll’s Treacle Well

wild feminine souls

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Erin's class Katariina Fagering

I created this in Erin’s class, Big Wild She

I don’t paint to someday be a world-renowned painter. I am aware that my true gift is in my photography but still I paint because it soothes and heals my soul. The process of scribbling, slopping around paint, pasting on collage pieces and intuitively listening to what is next is all for the health and sanity of my being or my soul. I work out and unravel my stuck points in the swirling of paint, pencils and pastels.

crystal at Earthrise by Katariina Fagering

I can easily soothe and heal my own soul while painting in solitaire but when I create in the presence of other women my soul opens wide and releases exponential tensions and concerns. There is just something truly magical about being in the presence of so many creative women. This is why I go to art retreats.

alena hennessy's class by Katariina FAgering

Last month I travelled down to Petaluma California for The Call of the Wild Soul Art Retreat hosted by my dear friend, Erin Faith Allen. I had the honor of being one of the opening night speakers (I’ll share my talk in a following post) which was thrilling and a powerful experience but like I said earlier, for me the true magic unfolded and unraveled while creating art with the 60 or so gorgeous wild feminine souls who showed up.

Alena's class by Katariina Fagering

The energy is tangible and almost crackles around women artists committed to cultivating their wildness. When women gather and create with their hands, their hearts soften and open and they are able to listen to their own soul’s with more clarity. This is such a gift.

Earthrise by Katariina Fagering

The Call of the Wild Soul Retreats are especially sacred because Erin has a unique gift of putting together retreats that are more than just a gathering of women to be instructed on art. There is real soul cultivated and woven into her retreats. The land is just as much a part of the retreat as each instructor and participant. It allows for further opening and connecting. This retreat was held at EarthRise Center with rolling hills, ancient oaks, wild turkeys, deer, mists and mystery.

Earthrise by Katariina Fagering

The weekend was a dance in and out of creative explorations and expansions, all the while connecting with my heart and the deeper soul-stirring side of my being. This is where I want to create from and anything less has no juice or energy for me.

pears by Katariina Fagering

Join me next year at the upcoming Call of the Wild Soul Art Retreats. I really want to create with you, and you and you!

Sara Eliason by Katariina Fagering

Sara with her painting from Big Wild She