Visual Storytelling with Wild Pigments

Join renowned artist and illustrator Tijana Lukovic and natural dye artist Mariah Palmer for a magical art retreat focused on visual storytelling and wild pigment making, using folklore and personal symbolism as our guide. Inspired by folk tale Vasilisa the Beautiful, we’ll explore enchanted forests, magical beings, symbolic objects, and inner journeys. We will further connect to nature and the beautiful Italian landscape by learning all about wildcrafting for color and how to make our own natural pigments, specifically - oil pastels, watercolours, and ink. By paying extra attention to the plants, rocks, and minerals of the area, we will forge a deeper relationship with our surrounding landscape by engaging with living color and will carry a piece of our experience home in the form of wild pigments. We’ll use standard materials such as gouache, watercolour, pastels, and coloured pencils - as well as our own handmade pigments - focusing on expression, mood, and intuition over perfection. This is a space to tap into your imagination, your emotions, your relationship to the natural world, and your own mythic voice.