This is your

INVITATION

to join us for the Abstracting the California Landscape painting retreat in San Luis Obispo, California with artist, Andrew Faulkner, April 16-23, 2027.

It will be an unforgettable week with Andrew where you’ll dive deep into bold color, expressive brushwork, and dynamic composition – all inspired by the rolling hills and Central Coast.

This intimate workshop is designed for intermediate painters who have some experience with drawing and oil or acrylic painting and are ready to push their landscape work into more expressive, abstract territory – all while soaking in the sights, flavors, and creative energy of Willow Pond of course.

There are only 11 spots available and this is Andrew's only week long retreat of 2027, so don't miss out. 

a farmhouse with a view

A WILLOW TREE, A POND & ENDLESS CREATIVITY

Picture yourself sipping morning coffee and preparing your paints along the central coast of California with artist, Andrew Faulkner...

Join us for this extraordinary painting retreat and let the Willow Pond retreat be your creative muse as you spend your days in painting workshops, your evenings sipping local Edna Valley wines and fueling yourself in between with creative conversations and delicious farm-to-table cuisine. 

You’ll enjoy five full days of immersive painting with Andrew; three mornings of gentle and relaxing yoga; a wine tasting, exceptional farm-to-table meals; and a free day, midweek, to explore the stunning surrounding scenery – all with a warm, friendly group of fellow artists.

If Andrew's past retreats are any indication, you'll never want to leave this peaceful place or this slower, sun-warmed way of life. And don't forget, there are only 11 spots available. 

painting

& SKETCHING

With 5 full days of hands on instruction from Andrew, you’ll discover how to find inspiration and compose dynamic scenes drawn from the surrounding Central Coast landscape. You’ll work on sketching and developing color studies (including a digital sketching demo to expand your tools and techniques).

Andrew will guide you through underpainting strategies that add depth and energy to your pieces, as well as expressive brushwork and palette knife methods to bring boldness and movement into your art.

You’ll refine your color mixing with fresh, intentional approaches, and learn how to organize value, composition, and color effectively to create more compelling paintings.

By the end of the week, you’ll have developed an intuitive sense of knowing when your painting is truly finished - which is sometimes the hardest part!

Why this 

WORKSHOP IS SO UNIQUE

This workshop offers a way to learn that goes far beyond a typical studio class. Here, you'll be soaking up inspiration directly from the rolling vineyards, weathered barns, and coastal light of California's Central Coast.

Andrew's signature style and ability to quickly shift from photo to sketch allows you to dive in right away and keep your process loose and free.

His unique and streamlined approach opens up space to explore composition, value, and color harmony in inventive, intuitive ways, all while soaking up the rich textures, and captivating colors of Willow Pond.

The small class size keeps things intimate and personal. With five full days of instruction, you'll receive plenty of feedback from Andrew in a supportive, inspiring setting that encourages growth, experimentation, and a deeper connection to both your art and this beautiful corner of the world.

And to make this week even more extraordinary, Andrew is teaming up with painter, Weatherly Stroh, co-founder of Art of Life Creativity Retreats to make this an even more supportive and inspiring experience.

And really – where better to loosen up your brushwork and ignite your creativity than at an artist studio and creative sanctuary along the Central Coast of California?

Willow Pond

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA

Willow Pond sits on 14 quiet acres in Edna Valley, minutes from San Luis Obispo and the Central Coast, surrounded by vineyards and oak-covered hills. It's called SLO for a reason — it's easy to slow down here and just paint.

There's a red barn house with a sprawling, light-filled studio attached, and a pond out back, with a small island, a willow tree, and a rotating cast of ducks and herons who'll keep you company all week. Exactly the kind of place you'll want to paint.

Pick your 

perfect spot for lodging...

We've got two lodging options for this retreat, so there's a good fit whether you want to be right in the thick of it or have a little more room to spread out. Our delicious meals except for two dinners and one lunch are on site at Willow Pond. 

Willow Pond House — a handful of quaint, character-filled rooms right on the property, each one different, each with its own individual charm (named after artists). Wake up and walk straight to the studio, coffee in hand, no drive required. Bathrooms are shared down the hall — cozy rather than fussy, and part of the charm for guests who don't mind a little communal living in exchange for the convenience of being on site. We have 5 rooms on site at Willow Pond.

The Arroyo Grande Canyon Villa — a 6-bedroom estate just minutes away, with more space to spread out your things, and a few extra comforts to unwind in after a full day of painting. We have two rooms with a shared bathroom and four luxury rooms with ensuite bathrooms available at the Canyon villa. The drive back to Willow Pond each day is short and easy.

Either way, you're well rested, close to the studio, the pond, and the rest of the group. We'll send full details and availability on both options once you're ready to book. 

Edna Valley

VINEYARD VISIT

While it's tempting to never leave Willow Pond, we'll venture out into Edna Valley one evening to Kynsi winery for a local wine tasting with live music and casual (yet very hip!) food truck dining. 

Tucked between San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande, Edna Valley is the Central Coast's quietest kind of beautiful.

It's ripe with vineyard hills, coastal fog, weathered barns and family-run wineries that have been growing cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay here for generations.

It's a place where art, land, and slow living intertwine, and it'll inspire you to slow down and take it easy. 

Andrew

FAULKNER

Born into a long line of artists, designers, and architects, Andrew Faulkner combines the structural sensibilities of his architect father with the bold, vibrant and riotous color sense of his interior designer mother. He studied under colorist George Chapman, a student of Joseph Albers, and learned the art of creating atmosphere through color.

After a successful 30-year career in graphic design, Andrew made the leap to painting full-time – joking that he was finally getting a “real job.” In his Sausalito, California studio, he now balances abstract forms with emotional depth, blending design expertise with a painter’s sensitivity to light, space, and mood.

His pieces have been shown in galleries nationwide and are held in notable private collections and public spaces, including commissioned works at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco.

Andrew’s paintings are currently exhibited at The Pamela Walsh Gallery (Palo Alto, CA), The Portland Art Gallery (Portland, ME), and Hagan Fine Art (Charleston, SC). His illustrations have also appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Teaching along California's Central Coast hits close to home for Andrew — literally. As a longtime Bay Area painter, the coastal light, the fog rolling over the hills, the golden late-afternoon color: it all strikes a deep chord with his colorist sensibilities. Willow Pond's quiet, art-filled corner of Edna Valley feels like a natural extension of his own California studio practice, and he can't wait to bring painters into that light with him.

Weatherly

STROH

Weatherly found her artistic spark early, creating her first oil painting at age 11 using a plein-air paint box passed down from her great-great-uncle, Gari Melchers, a celebrated American Impressionist.

Since 2011, she's been a full-time oil painter, known for her expressive animal portraits and vibrant landscapes infused with Her work blends modern painterly techniques with deep connection to her subjects.

Her paintings have been featured as cover art for Wellington’s Winter Equestrian Festival and are held in private collections nationwide. Based in Wellington, Florida, she co-founded Art of Life Creativity Retreats, leading inspiring art retreats to Tuscany, Sardinia, Morocco, and Croatia.

In 2024, she attended Andrew’s Abstracting the Tuscan Landscape retreat, where their shared love of bold color and Italian light sparked their friendship and this creative partnership.

When she's not painting in her Florida studio, you'll find Weatherly on horseback — she's been riding competitively for years and it shows up in the movement and confidence of her animal portraits.

Her studio has one other collaborator: Baxter, her self-appointed creative director and full-time muse (pictured here, supervising).

San Luis Obispo

AND EDNA VALLEY

They call it SLO for a reason — this whole corner of California runs on slow rhythms, and it's contagious. It's the kind of place that makes you want to linger longer. Downtown San Luis Obispo is lined with local shops, farm-to-table restaurants, and a lively farmer's market. Arroyo Grande's historic village has its own small-town charm, and Pismo Beach is a short drive for sand, surf, and seafood. Edna Valley is where some of the best wines are made.

This corner of the Central Coast is charming, unpretentious, and deeply Californian — the kind of slow living people move here chasing. Willow Pond is a short drive from downtown San Luis Obispo, Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande.