Inspiration in Oaxaca
7 days of art, inspiration, and creative breakthrough.
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This isn't your typical workshop.
It's an all-inclusive creative retreat where you'll sketch in ancient ruins, collect inspiration from vibrant markets, and workshop your art practice with master guidance — all while staying in a boutique hotel in one of Mexico's most inspiring cities.
Led by creative coach Antrese Wood and local artist Gabriela Domville, you'll spend a week gathering visual inspiration, hands-on art-making, and vision work designed to reconnect you with your creative voice.
Seven days. All meals included. Guided tours. Creative workshops. Everything handled so you can focus on what matters: rediscovering your artistic joy.
The Experience
Oaxaca has a way of slowing you down so you can see again. You’ll wander cobblestone streets lined with brightly painted doors, taste mole made from recipes passed down for generations, and sketch in courtyards where bougainvillea spills over ancient stone walls.
Each day blends cultural immersion with creative exploration.
Some mornings we’ll head out together — climbing the pyramids of Monte Albán, browsing the markets, or visiting a workshop where alebrijes (those fantastical painted animals) come to life.
Other days, we’ll stay closer to the city — sketching in the cloisters of Santo Domingo, gathering textures and colors in the Botanical Garden, or sharing a long lunch in a shaded courtyard.
Meals are definitely part of the adventure too!
We’ll share everything from elegant dinners at world-class restaurants to outdoor lunches in a farm to table experience. Every detail has been carefully chosen so you can savor Oaxaca with all your senses.
By the end of the week, you’ll feel like you’ve lived inside the art — your sketchbook alive with impressions, and your creative spirit reset and brimming with energy.
Where You'll Stay:
Hotel Azul
Our home base for the week is Hotel Azul, a boutique hotel in the heart of Oaxaca where art and comfort meet.
Every room is its own little gallery — furnished with contemporary design, tiled bathrooms created by renowned Oaxacan artist Francisco Toledo, and original artwork by Maestro Zárate.
It’s the kind of place where every detail has been thought through: soft robes and slippers waiting after a long day, a courtyard filled with light, and a rooftop bar for an evening cocktail.
From Hotel Azul, everything you want is basically around the corner. We’ll be walking to most of our destinations — which means you’ll log plenty of steps without even noticing, because the streets here are half the fun.
Just remember to bring shoes you can actually live in, not the cute ones that shred your feet after two blocks.
A Glimpse of our Week
Tuesday, March 3: Arrive in Oaxaca.
You’ll check into Hotel Azul and shake off the airport dust. Unpack, shower, maybe flop on the bed for a bit.
Later, we’ll all meet up — Antrese, Gabriela, and your soon-to-be partners in crime — for a welcome dinner.
No sketchbooks, no pressure. Just food, laughter, and a chance to start feeling like, oh yeah, these are my people!
Wednesday, March 4: Santo Domingo & the Botanical Garden
We’ll start with breakfast at the hotel, then a quick intention-setting with Antrese. From there, it’s off to Santo Domingo — sketching in the cloisters while light spills across stone and shadow. After that, we’ll wander the Botanical Garden, surrounded by native plants and towering cacti, collecting rich textures, bold shapes, and maybe a few leaves to press between your pages.
Thursday, March 5: Mitla & the Tule Tree
After breakfast and setting the day’s intention, we’ll head to Mitla to study the Zapotec mosaics — centuries-old patterns you’ll want to trace into your pages. Then we’ll stand before the legendary Tule tree, the widest in the world. Two thousand years of texture in its bark, just waiting for a pencil rubbing or a color study.
Friday, March 6: Market, Cooking, and Murals
First stop: the market — bursting with chiles, herbs, and fruit begging to be sketched and tasted. Then it’s into the kitchen for an Oaxacan cooking class, rolling tortillas, stirring moles, and laughing our way to the best lunch you’ve ever cooked (and eaten). Afterward, we’ll stroll Xalatlaco’s mural-lined streets on our way back to the hotel. You'll have time for a siesta before gathering for an afternoon creative class with Gabriela to pull the day’s colors and textures onto your pages.
Saturday, March 7: San Agustín & FARM LUNCH
We'll head out to San Agustín Etla, a former textile mill turned art center, where the walls still hum with history and creativity. Afterward, we'll slow down with a private farm lunch — long tables under an open pavilion, food harvested that morning, journals open, plenty of time to soak it all in.
Sunday, March 8: Monte Albán & Criollo Brunch
We’ll climb the sacred ruins of Monte Albán, sketching glyphs, stones, and sweeping views that feel like time travel. Then it’s off to Criollo for a brunch you’ll be talking about forever — a Michelin-star chef serving up flavors so good they’ll probably end up in your journal too. YUM.
Monday, March 9: Alebrijes & Black Pottery
We’ll spend the day with artisans who keep Oaxaca’s traditions alive.
First stop: San Martín Tilcajete, where fantastical alebrijes are carved and painted by hand — every detail a burst of color for your sketchbook.
Then on to San Bartolo Coyotepec, home of the famous black pottery, so glossy and deep it practically reflects your face back at you.
Our last night together calls for a farewell dinner at one of Oaxaca’s best restaurants. Expect good food, lots of laughter, and sketchbooks passed around the table one more time.
Tuesday, March 10: Farewell
Our last morning is wide open — one more coffee, a final sketch, or just sitting still and soaking it all in. Then it's hugs (maybe a few tears), and a sketchbook so full it might need its own boarding pass.
Full Days, Full Sketchbooks
Daily guidance from Antrese and Gabriela — so you’re never left staring at a blank page.
No two days look the same, but here’s what you can count on:
Each morning, Antrese will lead you through intentions and powerful visualizations to help you tune into your artistic voice. Each afternoon, Gabriela will share a sketchbook or collage technique, and you’ll get plenty of one-on-one support as you explore it.
Between us, you’ll have constant personal attention — steady guidance, fresh tools, and encouragement to follow what catches your eye. By the end of the week, your journal will be bursting with color, texture, ideas, and a deeper trust in your own voice.
Who This Retreat Is For
This week in Oaxaca is for you if…
- You’re craving the freedom to sketch, explore, and play — without pressure, deadlines, or expectations.
- You want inspiration that goes deeper than scrolling on your phone — the kind that comes from color, texture, history, and stories lived in real time.
- You’re an artist who’s tired of pushing and pressuring yourself, and ready for a gentler way of reconnecting to your creative voice.
- You love the idea of traveling with kindred spirits — people who get what it’s like to see the world through an artist’s eyes.
This retreat isn’t about cranking out finished pieces. It’s about gathering ingredients for your art — textures, sketches, memories, colors — the kind of inspiration you’ll carry back into your studio.
Whether you’ve been painting for years or you’re picking up your sketchbook again after a long pause, you’ll feel completely welcome here. What matters most is giving yourself the gift of time, beauty, and permission.
What's Included
We’ve designed this retreat to be all-inclusive, so once you arrive in Oaxaca you can relax and immerse yourself.
Everything is taken care of:
7 nights at Hotel Azul — boutique comfort in the heart of the city.
7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, and 7 dinners — from welcome dinner on March 3 through breakfast on March 10.
Six curated tours — from the pre-Columbian archaeological site of Monte Albán to a cooking class in the market to exploring artisan studios. All transportation for tours is included.
Creative sessions with Antrese & Gabriela — playful prompts, sketchbook exercises, and coaching woven into the rhythm of the week.
All tips and service charges for group activities, meals, and tours.
A packing + materials list to make it simple to bring what you need (nothing heavy or complicated).
Oh, and did I mention we're both fluent Spanish speakers? Nothing lost in translation!
What's not Included
Flights to and from Oaxaca
Travel insurance (strongly recommended)
Alcoholic beverages
Personal shopping or souvenirs
Also DEFINITELY NOT included:
Therapy for your crush on Oaxacan doorways
A GPS for the tamale lady you’ll spend the rest of your life chasing
Extra baggage fees for your sketchbook that weighs more than you.
Tissues for the ugly tears of regret if you skip this trip (you've been warned).
Pricing & Payment
Payment Schedule
- Deposit: $1,500 at booking.
- Dec 8, 2025: remaining balance due.
Ready to Join Us?
Spots are limited
We’re keeping this retreat intimate so everyone has space to create and connect.
Once the rooms at Hotel Azul are filled, that’s it.
We are down to ONE spot: 1 private room.
They're going fast, are you coming?
Give yourself this gift of time, beauty, and inspiration.
Oaxaca is waiting.
Meet Your Hosts
Antrese Wood helps artists cut through the noise and make the work they’re here to make — bold, honest, and unmistakably their own.
Before launching her coaching practice, she spent years working for the Mouse — leading creative teams as an art director at Disney — then walked away from all of it for a painting expedition across Argentina, from the deserts to the jungles to the glaciers at the edge of Patagonia. It began as a painting trip. It became a path back to herself.
Since then, she’s helped thousands of artists reconnect with their voice and create from a place of clarity, confidence, and deep personal truth. Through her membership, Growth Studio, and the long-running Savvy Painter podcast, she’s built a global community of working artists who are ready to stop second-guessing and start trusting what’s already in them.
Her coaching is direct, intuitive, and deeply grounded. She’s known for her loving no-BS approach — cutting through the fluff while holding space with real care. Her process blends mindset work, guided visualizations, and self-hypnosis to help artists move past old patterns and step fully into their creative power.
Gabriela Domville is an artist and teacher with deep roots in Oaxaca — and a gift for turning fragments into something soulful, playful, and alive.
Her work with collage, fabric, and found materials explores the space between beauty and impermanence. She’s drawn to that moment where things fall apart and come together — and it shows in everything she makes. Gabriela’s art has been exhibited at the San Diego Museum of Textile Art, the Athenaeum, and Escondido Arts Museum, and she was awarded the Denis Diderot Grant for a 2024 residency at Château d’Orquevaux in France. Several of her students have achieved top distinctions in the International Competition at the Beit Hatfutsot Museum.
She’s been leading creative workshops for over a decade. Her sessions are tactile, grounding, and quietly transformative — the kind that stay with you. With training in fashion design (Mexico City), ceramics (Florence), and fine art (San Diego), she brings both technical fluency and intuitive ease to her teaching.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Oaxaca was like her second home, Gabriela knows the city by heart. As co-leader of this retreat, she’ll help you experience it not as a tourist, but as a welcomed guest — discovering its textures, rituals, and everyday magic.
Got Questions?
Not at all. Whether you’re a seasoned painter or just starting to sketch again, you’ll feel completely at home. This retreat is about gathering inspiration and reconnecting with your creative spirit — not producing finished work.
Absolutely. Writers, photographers, musicians — anyone craving a creative re-boot is welcome here. You don’t need to draw to keep a journal; you just need curiosity and a willingness to play.
Some people will sketch. Others will collage, jot phrases, tape in ticket stubs, or track color palettes with a camera. By the end of the week, your journal will be stuffed with whatever sparks you — textures, words, sounds, colors — in your own language.
Your journal doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. It’s yours.
If that sounds good, pull up a chair. We’d love to have you.
All of them. From our welcome dinner on March 3 through breakfast on March 10, every meal is covered — seven breakfasts, six lunches, and seven dinners. From elegant restaurants to market meals and even a private farm to table picnic, you’ll experience the best of Oaxaca’s food culture without ever worrying about where to eat.
Oaxaca is best explored on foot. We’ll walk through cobblestone streets, gardens, and historic sites. Comfortable shoes are essential. If you have mobility concerns, this retreat may not be the best fit.
The deposit is non-refundable but it is transferable to another participant. If we need to cancel the retreat due to low enrollment (minimum 8 participants), you’ll receive a full refund. Travel insurance is strongly recommended to cover unexpected changes.
If you or anyone in your party wishes to cancel their booking, the cancellation will be effective from the US working day (normally Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays) on which we receive your written notification by email.
The following cancellation charges will apply:
60 days or more: deposit only
59-42 days prior to departure: 35% of the total price
41-15 days prior to departure: 50% of total price
14 days prior to departure: 100% of the total price
The retreat begins the evening of March 3, 2026. We recommend arriving in Oaxaca earlier that day (or the night before if you prefer) so you can settle in before our welcome dinner.
What a great question! Yes, this retreat is designed to help you collect inspiration that fits YOUR style and interests. So if your interest and go to language is abstract, then you will find tons of textures and colors and bits and pieces of scrap paper (if collage work lights you up).
Gabriela works primarily in abstracts and collage, while Antrese leans more towards representational. If you're an abstract artist and you want to stay that way - we've got you! If you're an abstract artist and want some pointers for sketching representationally -- we've got you!
OR you are a representational artist who wants to incorporate abstract work - we've got you too!
You have two brilliant minds at your disposal and we span both genres.
Got a question that's not answered here? Happy to help!