Retreats/Residencies/Workshops

Personal Growth and Enrichment

Retreat, Residency and Workshop programs
are now offered and managed through our non-profit foundation,
Willowtail Springs Nature Preserve and Education Center

Sneak Peak of Upcoming Events
(click to download individual event flyers)
Floorcloth Painting Workshop
Photography Workshop: Understanding Your Digital Camera
Conservation Walking Tour

•  Willowtail Springs offers retreats/residencies/workshops for groups and individuals in a variety of disciplines.
•  Longer stays are available all year.
•  Participants can also rent the Working studio for self directed retreats while staying.

"Thanks so much for another beautiful, idyllic respite. This is a glorious refuge where quiet seeps into my body and my mind becomes free from lists, demands and urban shrillness. It is a place for gathering, dreaming and essential peacefulness. A coot cuts a wake across the lake, it's cry echoing into the blue bowl of the sky. That I were so free, to paddle in such a home...."
–Linda Bowers, Director, Seattle Arts and Lectures, Seattle, WA
Former Head of Hedgebrook Women Writer’s Retreat, Whidbey Island, WA.
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA

Programs include two groups:

• Those which include teaching and collaborative work
• Those which are primarily self directed work

Tai Chi
Guests can arrange for a Tai Chi lesson or a series of sessions with Lee during a stay with us.The emphasis is on health and the development of building continual regeneration in the body.
Talk to Lee about creating a program fitted to your needs and your stay with us.

"Willowtail Springs has a gentle magic which is a powerful catalyst for transformation. I benefited from the top quality presenters in both experimental painting and Tai Chi push hands."
–Caitlin Howell, Master of Divinity, Wholistic teacher and consultant

Art:
Many workshops in several fields of Art have been offerred in the past.  We anticipate many more in the future, beginning with this spring/summer, 2013. Stay tuned!

Working Studio Building:
The Working  Studio, is 600 sq ft., lovely for work or meetings. It is open 9 a.m.– 5 p.m. It can hold up to 12 people and is $200 per day depending on the individual or group. The price varies if the participants are already staying at Willowtail Springs. 

The Working studio space is a separate building nestled in the gardens next to the Lakehouse that looks out to the lake. It is a perfect retreat for individual creative work, retreat studies or group meetings, combined with a stay. It is a light, airy room with a sink, refrigerator, walls for art work display or other display items. There are work tables which can be used for standing or sitting. The garden areas around the building are perfect for outdoor extension of work and contemplation. It will accommodate up to 12 people depending on the activity. This building can be rented in combination with a stay at Willowtail Springs.

Writing/Literature:
Guests often come here to finish novels, short stories, poetry and children’s stories. Some guests have begun a work of music. They do this in the cabin or on the decks. If they come with family, they can rent the “Working Studio” on site for privacy and concentration.

“Fast weather, sweet air, long dusk and coyotes with moonlight …
You’ll write here whether you want to or not.”
– Alan Furst, author of Red Gold
(Parts of which were written at Willowtail Springs along with other award winning novels.)

"To Lee and my friend 'The Lady of the Lake' Peggy, with much love." –Annie Perkins, Author Illustration by Michael Brooker from Little Two Feathers Flies Home Enchanted Forest Publishing

Music:
Many composers, songwriters and musicians have visited in the past to practice and create.

"I was able to launch the musical composition project, a bird song cycle which had been brewing for years."      
–Michael, San Francisco, CA

“Peggy and Lee, my spirit is refreshed after my stay.
I wrote a poem for you and began several new songs.”
–Annie Gallup, Musician, Artist, Poet

Conservation Awareness:
Landscape and Gardening
Permaculture
Creating spaces for food
Water for small and large plots of land in SW
Fruit in the SW
Forestry
Fountains
Birds in the SW
Butterflies in the SW
Growing and using Herbs

Performance Art:
Actors, playwrights and musical performers

Corporate Retreats, Personal Growth:
Groups of 6–12 can meet in the Working Studio or the Lakehouse, depending on their needs.  These are usually led by independent presenters.

Outside Presenters:
We welcome presenters with their own programs and their own students to utilize the the studio spaces at Willowtail Springs.

Lakehouse Retreat Center:
The Lakehouse features a full kitchen and two separate meeting rooms. It is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It can accommodate up to 15 people and is $300 per day. The garden areas around the building are perfect for outdoor extension of work and contemplation.

Additional Luxury Amenities available upon request, click for more info