Join Erica Qualey and the Bar Harbor Historical Society for a truly special three-day, four-night watercolor retreat set in the heart of Mount Desert Island, Maine. Home of Acadia National Park, MDI also features the Land & Garden Preserve’s most treasured and inspiring Gardens. This unique workshop offers the rare opportunity to paint on location at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, Thuya Garden, and the Asticou Azalea Garden. Over the course of the retreat, participants will explore a variety of watercolor techniques for capturing gardens, flowers, foliage, and natural environments. Demonstrations will take place both on location and at the host cottage, offering guidance on composition, color, value, and expressive mark-making suited to painting outdoors and from observation. Each day will include time to work independently within the gardens, along with opportunities for one-on-one instruction and supportive daily feedback sessions. The pace is designed to feel spacious and encouraging while learning new approaches.  

Through the generosity of a fellow Mt. Desert artist, all participants will gather daily at a cottage by the ocean in Bar Harbor and then travel on their own to the gardens. This shared space offers a chance to be fully immersed in the creative process and surrounded by kindred spirits.