2026 SACRED MAKERS Theme is Healing the Creative Spirit
I am honored to have been invited to teach at this retreat hosted by Kiala and Damon Givehand.
Choose from 15 different teachers and many different classes.
All the information you need can be found here.
I’ll be teaching two classes at Sacred Makers
Class 1
The Labyrinth as a Circle of Healing
“Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn't you — all of the expectations, all of the beliefs — and becoming who you are.”
Rachel Naomi Remen
What are you carrying that no longer serves your creative soul? Perhaps it's fear, perfectionism, the voice of an inner critic, unresolved grief, or lingering hurt. In this experiential workshop, the labyrinth becomes our container — a sacred space for release, reflection, and renewal.
We will begin by learning to draw the classical labyrinth using the ancient seed pattern. From this foundation, we’ll engage in intuitive creative play — painting, marking, and adorning finger labyrinths with symbols, colors, and materials that speak to the soul. These personal labyrinths can become part of your daily ritual, be gifted to others, or held in your art journal as visual touchstones of presence and process.
Once we’ve explored the labyrinth through art, we will step outside to co-create a walkable labyrinth in the natural environment. Here, through ritual and gentle movement, we’ll ceremonially release what no longer serves us — returning to the present moment, step by step. Walking the labyrinth allows the mind to settle and the body to remember: healing often comes not through fixing, but through flowing.
Our shared labyrinth will remain as a gift to the wider community — a living symbol of collective intention and sacred creativity.
Experience Level: All levels are welcome.
Class 2
Contemplative Photography: SEEING THROUGH A LENS OF BEAUTY and WONDER
“Photography ... is as much about seeing inside ourselves as it is about looking out at the world. All creative activity joins spirit to matter and so can transform.”
Jan Phillips
In this soul-nourishing workshop, Catherine will gently guide you in awakening both your physical sight and your inner “mind’s eye” — opening you to the beauty, wisdom, and quiet meaning woven into the world around and within you. In these turbulent and fast-moving times, beauty is not a luxury — it is soul food. It reminds us to slow down, to listen, and to re-enter the imaginal realm where insight and wonder reside.
Contemplative photography offers us a silent language of the soul — a way of seeing that invites reflection rather than reaction. Making images in this way becomes a spiritual practice: a way to attune to what calls us, understand ourselves more deeply, and uncover the quiet threads of meaning shaping our lives.
You’ll also be invited to explore an intimate creative practice that combines photography with hand-stitching. Catherine will demonstrate simple techniques for enhancing your photographs with thread and needle, turning each image into a tactile prayer of presence and attention. Please bring along a few printed photographs of your own to work with.
We encourage you to use your smartphone camera for this workshop — our focus is not on technical skill, but on the art of truly seeing. With fresh eyes and open hearts, we’ll receive the world anew — noticing how the natural world is always speaking, always offering beauty and wonder to those who pause and look.
Experience Level: All levels are welcome.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TEACHERS, THE CLASSES, THE ACCOMMODATIONS, THE COSTS HERE!
Virtual Q&A and Info Session will be held on the following dates:
August 4th - 3pm to 4pm Central
August 12th - 3pm to 4pm Central
August 24th - 11am to 12pm Central
The link to join these calls is https://bit.ly/retreatinfo2026 -- no registration or email signup, just show up. We are answering questions and helping you decide on your classes if you need our support.