Sign up for our FREE Artellagram!
~
golden nuggets of words, art & spirit
~
Your Email:
Your First Name (optional):

Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure.
We promise to use it only to send you ARTELLAGRAM.


You can search the Artella Web site or the Shoppes of Artella RIGHT HERE!

 

Artella’s WildChild Wisdom Weekend!

Weekend Schedule
October 6-9, 2005
Wisdom House
Litchfield, CT



Melissa Chapin, c2005
 Come...

     Be Creative...

          Be Comforted...

               Be Communal...


Be CATALYZED!!


The following is the current schedule of events for the WildChild Wisdom Weekend.
Click on any underlined link to read a description of the particular event or offer.
Schedule is subject to change; any changes will be posted immediately.

Click here to return to the Retreat's main page.


Thursday, October 6

1:00 pm - Check in Begins

5:30–6:30 - Welcoming Dinner

7:00–9:00 - Community Gathering and WildChild Opening Games



Friday, October 7


7:00-8:00am - Waking Your WildChild (presenter: Launa Deane Kliever)

8:00–9:00 - Breakfast

9:15–9:45 - Kid-Antics! (presenter: Marney Makridakis)

9:45–11:45 - Workshop 1:

I'd Like to Order from The Children's Menu
(presenter: Jill Badonsky)

12:00–1:00 pm - Lunch

1:00–2:30 - Recess!*

2:30–4:30 - Workshop 2 (your Choice)

Bliss-Ness Plans and PassionPlay!
(presenter: Marney Makridakis)
OR
Create Your Own Playhouse: "Coming Home" on Canvas!
(presenter: Zura Ledbetter)


4:30–5:30 - Recess!*

5:30–7:00 - Dinner

7:00–10:00 - Share 'n Tell!


Saturday, October 8

7:00-8:00am - WildChildren in Communion (presenter: Launa Deane Kliever)

8:00–9:00 - Breakfast

9:15–9:45 - Unfettered Movement with the Muses: Inspired, Liberated, and Alive
(presenter: Jill Badonsky)

10:00–11:45 - Workshop 3 (your choice)

Style Beyond Measure:
Reclaiming and Celebrating Your Personal Style
(presenter: Jaime Adcock)
OR
Recovering Lost Childhood, Uncovering Your Wild Child:
Visual Journaling with the Shadow Muse
(presenter: Deb "Bae" Silva)

12:00–1:00 - Lunch

1:00–2:30 - Recess!*

2:30–4:30 - Workshop 4 (your choice)

Scavenger Hunts, Spectacles, and Streams of Consciousness
A “Jilly Con Marney” Writing Extravaganza
(presenters: Jill Badonsky and Marney Makridakis)
Click here to listen to a "free preview" teleclass with Jill and Marney!
OR
Playful Painting and Creative Adventures for the Artist in All of Us!
(presenter: Melissa Chapin)

4:30–5:30 - Recess!*

5:30–6:30 - Dinner

7:00–9:00 - Keynote Presentation: SARK
Being Your Most SUCCULENT Creative Self

9:00–10:00 - Raffle Romper Room!


Sunday, October 9

7:00–8:00am - The Labyrinth and the Feminine Wild:
Walking the Path of Transformation, Healing, and Mystery
(guided by Marta Luzim)

8:00–9:00 - Breakfast

9:30–11:30 - Kid-Antics!

12:00–1:00 - Lunch

Then...go home with wildness in one pocket and wisdom in the other...you will never be the same!

* During Recess Times, you are free to do whatever you'd like. Here are just a few options:
  • play in the Open Art Space
  • explore the grounds
  • walk the Labyrinth
  • meditate in the Chapel
  • admire the gallery of participants' work
  • commune with new friends!!

Click here to reserve your space!

Click here to return to the Retreat's main page.

Click here to send an email with any questions you have!

Back to Top




Waking Your WildChild (Launa Deane Kliever)

Begin your day by tapping into the intersection between Body and Spirit – home to the Wisdom of your WildChild! Through meditative and energetic means, Launa will guide you to access a deep place within your body while simultaneously opening to Spirit in order to gently awaken your WildChild and rouse it for a splendiferous day of Play.

On this first morning, we will focus on opening the body's energy centers and moving into personal connection with Spirit to set our individual and collective intentions for the coming day.

Launa Deane Kliever's current incarnation finds her pursuing an MSW at Columbia School of Social Work in her home of New York City. In her future Work, she aims to marry her growing academic knowledge in the area of social justice advocacy to her more intuitive education and experience as an energy worker and spiritual healer. During her "past lives", Launa has worked as: an elementary school teacher, a natural/organic foods chef, a baker, a caterer, a waiter and various types of managers/supervisors/administrators. Common threads that weave their way through all these permutations and transformations are her quest for Truth and her commitment to peace and loving communion…oh, and the fact that she's Marney's sister.

Back to schedule


Kid-Antics!

The Kid-Antics sessions start the day with a combination of silliness and serendipity, presenting exercises that allow us to joyfully connect with one another and with ourselves! With get-to-know-you games, free prizes, and other little kid stuff, these lighthearted sessions will be our transition into daily WildChild-ness!

Back to schedule


I'd Like to Order from The Children's Menu (Jill Badonsky)

Journey into the spirit of your child-self and tap into forgotten reservoirs of magic, mirth, and creativity. Guided imageries, writing triggers, and expression prompts will return us to the uninhibited nature, play, optimism, and willing exploration of our kid-like potential and tumble us effortlessly into creative glee. We shall learn to recapture childhood, at will. Look for the prize "inside". Tricks for kids (of all ages).
"Genius is the capacity to recapture childhood at will." - Charles Baudelaire

Jill Badonsky, M.Ed., is the author of The Nine Modern Day Muses (And a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence (Gotham Books, 2003). She is an award-winning speaker who has presented creative and writing workshops since 1985. Jill is a creativity coach, columnist, performance poet, corporate drop-out, and founder of The Muse Is In, a firm offering workshops to enhance creativity for joy, prosperity, and the occasional miracle.

Back to schedule


Bliss-Ness Plans and Passion Play (Marney Makridakis)

Marney Makridakis is Artella’s CEO – a "Childlike Expert Oddity" whose approach to business exists somewhere between a finger-painted canvas and jumping off a purple swing. Whether you currently have a business or are just dreaming about one, this workshop invites you to turn your entrepreneurial spirit upside down. Let’s put everything you THINK you know about business into a kaleidoscope, shake it up, and pour out the funky little gems to uncover new visions, ideas, and goals for your bliss-ness to take away with you. This playdate is a quirky, crazy "Bring Your Wild Child to Work Day", and you and your bliss-ness will never be the same.

Marney Makridakis is the Founder and Editor of Artella, which embodies her personal mission of embracing the creative uniqueness of individuals and catalyzing in them an artistic spirit that supports and actualizes dreams-come-true. Participants of last year’s Artella retreat call her by her Muse name, "Catalysta"! She has inspired thousands of amazing women and men through her e-courses, eBooks, and both virtual and in-person workshops. For more information about Marney and Artella, visit www.ArtellaWordsAndArt.com/aboutartella.html. Click here to send an email to Marney.

Back to schedule


Create Your Own Playhouse: "Coming Home" on Canvas! (Zura Ledbetter)

There’s no place like home...especially when the home is truly from within YOU. Using basic materials and found objects, participants will be guided in creating a playhouse on canvas. By creating the rooms you want and filling them with your wishes and things you love, you will create a playhouse that is uniquely yours, allowing you to truly "come home"! $9 materials fee. All supplies are included, but feel free to bring images and found objects that are meaningful to you, or those that you are ready to pass along to be generously shared with others in the workshop.

Zura Ledbetter is a wild child artist and writer, whose true joy is bringing out the wild, playfulness in others. Her web site, www.spirit-imagination.com, offers imaginative ways to awaken women’s spirits through e-courses and other creative resources. She says her three greatest blessings are her family, her free spirit, and working with Marney and all the Artella energy as Artella’s Administrative Manager. She is thrilled to be honoring the concept of "coming home" at the WildChild Wisdom Weekend!

Back to schedule


Share 'n Tell (Marney Makridakis)

With the Share 'n Tell extravanganza, we'll divide our rooms into different "centers" (remember Kindergarten?), where all participants will have the opportunity to share their own gifts with one another. What is YOUR gift? Do you make beaded bracelets? Play guitar? Are you a wonderful listener? Do you love to tell inspiring stories? Would you love to present 1-to-1 or group coaching or consulting on a particular topic, or present your own mini-workshop? Well, Share 'n Tell is an opportunity for a completely awesome exchange of energy, generosity, and grace. Sharing your gift in this forum is totally optional, and ALL are invited to enjoy the gifts from others in the circle! More details about Share 'n Tell will be given upon registration, and shared in the WildChild Wisdom Yahoo group.

Marney Makridakis is the Founder and Editor of Artella, which embodies her personal mission of embracing the creative uniqueness of individuals and catalyzing in them an artistic spirit that supports and actualizes dreams-come-true. Participants of last year’s Artella retreat call her by her Muse name, "Catalysta"! She has inspired thousands of amazing women and men through her e-courses, eBooks, and both virtual and in-person workshops. For more information about Marney and Artella, visit www.ArtellaWordsAndArt.com/aboutartella.html. Click here to send an email to Marney.

Back to schedule


WildChildren in Communion (Launa Deane Kliever)

Begin your day by tapping into the intersection between Body and Spirit – home to the Wisdom of your WildChild! Through meditative and energetic means, Launa will guide you to access a deep place within your body while simultaneously opening to Spirit in order to gently awaken your WildChild and rouse it for a splendiferous day of Play.

During this session we will explore the delightful and powerful aspects of communing with others. Working in pairs, we will employ partner healing techniques that will open and clear our bodies' energetic and spiritual channels to prepare us to receive the abundance that awaits us though the rest of the WildChild WisdomWeekend.

Launa Deane Kliever's current incarnation finds her pursuing an MSW at Columbia School of Social Work in her home of New York City. In her future Work, she aims to marry her growing academic knowledge in the area of social justice advocacy to her more intuitive education and experience as an energy worker and spiritual healer. During her "past lives", Launa has worked as: an elementary school teacher, a natural/organic foods chef, a baker, a caterer, a waiter and various types of managers/supervisors/administrators. Common threads that weave their way through all these permutations and transformations are her quest for Truth and her commitment to peace and loving communion…oh, and the fact that she's Marney's sister.

Back to schedule


Unfettered Movement with the Muses: Inspired, Liberated, and Alive (Jill Badonsky)

Joyful movement, music, and yoga from the modern day muses will unleash creative inspiration from the grace of our bodies in ecstatic, jiggling, stretching, imaginative motion. Bust out of the imaginary box you are carrying around into a sky of inlimited possibilities and soaring ideas. Followed immediately by a short writing spree. You will get permission to be unfettered, silly, and alive! Warning: After this workshop, you may not be the same (you may be unique). Must be present to spin.

Jill Badonsky, M.Ed., is the author of The Nine Modern Day Muses (And a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence (Gotham Books, 2003). She is an award-winning speaker who has presented creative and writing workshops since 1985. Jill is a creativity coach, columnist, performance poet, corporate drop-out, and founder of The Muse Is In, a firm offering workshops to enhance creativity for joy, prosperity, and the occasional miracle.

Back to schedule


Style Beyond Measure:
Reclaiming and Celebrating Your Personal Style (Jaime Adcock)

Think of the things you loved as a child: the colors, textures, designs, passions, bits and pieces of life and nature. Are they in your life, today? We’ll have some fun remembering childhood loves to unearth the long-forgotten, organic and soul-driven clues about your personal style. From dressing paper dolls in the clothes of your dreams, to engaging in exercises that recognize body image doubts, you’ll come away from this workshop with a re-ignited love of your personal style, and practical tools to bring more of what you love into what you wear and what you see every day.

A long-time fan of everything Artella, Jaime Adcock's passion is not only for fashion, but in encouraging women to embrace their own personal style. She has over 25 years experience in fashion marketing for Saks Fifth Avenue, Rich's, Bloomingdales, Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza in Atlanta. Thanks to Marney and resources found at Artella, she is the author of the e-book 14 Easy Pieces: The Building Blocks to Great Style; and is currently launching her Web site, www.StyleBeyondMeasure.com. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Bill, and her two "best accomplishments", Cameron and Georgia, her son and daughter.

Back to schedule


Recovering Lost Childhood, Uncovering Your Wild Child:
Visual Journaling with the Shadow Muse (Bae)

It’s been said that the best art and writing are done by "crazy" or depressed artists; the premise being that the subconscious is more accessible to creativity. Well, now you can join Bae (aka Deb Silva) in this fun, enlightening workshop where you will start a Visual Journal, and learn an easy, non-threatening exercise for getting in touch with your own deeper knowing to create a collage and writing piece that will reunite you with some of your childhood wisdom, freedom, and joy. $5 materials fee. All supplies are included, but feel free to bring images and found objects that are meaningful to you, or those that you are ready to pass along to be generously shared with others in the workshop.

Deb Silva credits her friend Lynn with the words that gave her the confidence to pursue her dreams: "Deb, you LIVE your creativity". Deb says "with those words, I knew I was meant for this!" She works as Artella’s Creative Projects Manager, and is a Certified Muse Group Leader, a Design Team Member for Altered Pages, and is training as a Creativity Coach with Jill Badonsky. Deb lists among her passions altered art, art quilts, shrine building, jewelry making, and artist trading cards. Her credits include prizes at the Houston International Quilt Show, Tokyo Great International Quilt Festival, and publication in Altered Pages and the ISABA newsletters, and Artella and Artitude Magazines. She can be contacted at Artella’s virtual office-playground at Deb@ArtellaLand.com.

Back to schedule


Scavenger Hunts, Spectacles, and Streams of Consciousness:
A "Jilly Con Marney" Writing Extravaganza

"Jilly con Marney" (aka Jill Badonsky and Marney Makridakis) team up to lead you to well-spiced writing through playful portals. Based on the work that this dazzling duo is currently doing to prepare for a Sub-Kid-Tion Series of teleclasses and a co-written book about creating through child-like lenses, this workshop will allow you to fully experience yourself as a deep, dynamic writer, no matter what your level of writing experience. You will get to be filled with a new world where words tumble into ideas, characters and stories, which can inspire or accompany your own visual art creations, or stand on their own as works of brilliance. We will break the rules, silence the censor, and whirl in wordpools of wonder, discovering the profound, poignant, and positively irresistible. Optional: bring one visual work of art (from ceramics to painting, or anything in between) which you would like to gift with your words. This is not required, but you will also have an opportunity to make a piece of art before this workshop at the retreat.
Click here to listen to a "free preview" WildChild Writing Warmup teleclass with Jill and Marney!

Jill Badonsky, M.Ed., is the author of The Nine Modern Day Muses (And a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence (Gotham Books, 2003). She is an award-winning speaker who has presented creative and writing workshops since 1985. Jill is a creativity coach, columnist, performance poet, corporate drop-out, and founder of The Muse Is In, a firm offering workshops to enhance creativity for joy, prosperity, and the occasional miracle.

Marney Makridakis is the Founder and Editor of Artella, which embodies her personal mission of embracing the creative uniqueness of individuals and catalyzing in them an artistic spirit that supports and actualizes dreams-come-true. Participants of last year’s Artella retreat call her by her Muse name, "Catalysta"! She has inspired thousands of amazing women and men through her e-courses, eBooks, and both virtual and in-person workshops. For more information about Marney and Artella, visit www.ArtellaWordsAndArt.com/aboutartella.html. Click here to send an email to Marney.

Back to schedule


Playful Painting and Creative Adventures for the Artist in All of Us! (Melissa Chapin)

Remember putting crayon to paper without worrying about whether it was good enough or would turn out "right"? This workshop is a journey back to the pure joy of color and playful experimentation with painting and creating. Join us for some creative exploring and adventures just because! In fact, we'll be painting with everything BUT brushes and trying a host of unusual, innovative materials begging for your creativity! We'll finish by creating bodacious books that can be storybooks, art or writing journals or albums and Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). There's an artist in each of us so bring your bold beginner self or your seasoned skills and have fun! Materials fee: $25 includes all materials including a book making kit. You may want to bring a smock or painting shirt and your favorite supplies.

Melissa Chapin is a mixed media artist who exhibits her ardor for color and the natural world in her assemblage paintings, sculpture, alternative photography, and artist books. She gracefully incorporates fine arts as well as found objects and ephemera in a reverential, often contemplative response to life and the dynamic landscapes of her native Vermont and adopted New York City home. Melissa is an Artist-in-Residence for the Creative Center for People with Cancer in Manhattan and a frequent Artella contributor.

Back to schedule


Keynote Presentation: SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy)
Being Your Most SUCCULENT Creative Self

We are all artists of life, and are called to bring our succulent selves into the light to play and create. Through exploring what stops us, we will discover what serves us. This "3 part harmony" consists of:
* Invitation; What truly delights you?
* Transformation; What really stops you?
* Integration; How can you best integrate your Wild Child Wisdom into your adult life?

Through storytelling, storysharing, and experiential processes, we will explore, create, and reclaim our most succulent creative selves!

SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) is the best-selling author and artist of 13 books, and creator of hundreds of products. She is the founder of Planet SARK, her company that creates products and services to inspire people to think and live more creatively. She is an acclaimed speaker and teacher, and was featured in the PBS series; "Women of Wisdom and Power." Visit SARK at www.planetsark.com.

Back to schedule


Raffle Romper Room

The raffles are back! Echoing one of the highlights of last year's Creative ManiFestival, all participants will receive an abundance of raffle tickets, which can be selectively (and strategically!) submitted into drawings for MANY different prizes (last year we had over 80 prizes, donated by wonderful people in the Artella community!) The Raffle Romper Room is the ultimate experience of kid-like celebration, as we will collectively draw winners for all the prizes, and share in a communal I'm-so-happy-I'm-gonna-burst experience of abundance!

Back to schedule


The Labyrinth and the Feminine Wild:
Walking the Path of Transformation, Healing and Mystery
(Guided by Marta Luzim)

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient ritual that evokes the deepest part of ourselves into awareness and healing. To walk this path is a porthole into the mysteries of the self. Marta will help prepare each person to ground the sacred energy, stir primal yearnings and intentions, and stimulate the journey into the unknown. This life-transforming walk will deepen your communion between your heart, soul and sacred guidance.

Marta Luzim, M.S., is a Psychospiritual/Creative Arts Therapist. She holds a B.S. in Education and a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a certified Hypnotherapist, Florida State Family Mediator, a Metaphysician and Rebirther, trained as a Creative coach and Emotional-body Intimacy trainer. Her work with addiction recovery, women in transition, healing, and creative consciousness is a result of her thirty years of professional experience as an educator and therapist. She has lectured and taught creative learning and writing processes, metaphysical and creative consciousness, spiritual renewal, and integrative mind/body processes throughout South Florida. She is a published writer of short stories and articles highlighting creativity, two books, a three-act play, and a recently-completed novel, Bones of My Father's House. Marta has maintained a private practice for twenty-five years working with individuals, couples and families. Visit her Web site, www.primalhealingandart.com, for more information about her work.

Back to schedule