Come with me to the South of France…
To a private château, for ten blissful days in the beautiful Dordogne region! One of the most stunning places I've ever had the privilege of working in. Stone walls, long meals, golden light, and a sacred stillness that makes you want to paint all day!
But this time I'm doing something different.
Over the years of teaching retreats around the world, I kept noticing an artist in my community who wasn't being fully served by what existed out there. Not a beginner but an artist with a practice already underway, work they want to push further, and a need for protected time and space to do it.
Most creative retreats are built around instruction. Wonderful but if you already have a practice, that format might not be what you are seeking. Formal residencies offer independence, but often come with a weight of their own. Applications, credentials, the unspoken pressure to justify your place there.
Neither quite fits the artist who simply wants to show up, work, be supported and breathe.
The Studioworks Salon was created for that artist.
If this calls to you, I'd love to hear from you. Fill out your Intake Form and submit your deposit to save your place below.
DATES: May 20-29, 2027
Only 1 Spot Left!
Inspired by the great artistic salons of Paris and the spirit of artists gathering not to perform but to create and connect, this is a format that has been largely forgotten. The Studioworks Salon brings it back. A curated gathering of practicing artists. Ten days in a stunning French chateau. No structured instruction, no hectic touring schedule, only protected studio time for you! Just your work, one on one guidance and support from Ivy, a small group of fellow artists, your creative questions, and a beautifully held space to pursue them. Think of the Salon as the place where a creative retreat and a mastermind converge.
“In the company of good artists, one learns more in a day than in months of solitary study.”
About Ivy:
Ivy Newport is an artist, educator, and the founder of Studioworks, a global creative education community with over 52 international teachers, a creative membership with over 2000 members, an online journal, and sold-out retreats across France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Egypt, and Scotland.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ringling College of Art and Design, where she studied Illustration, and has been painting since childhood. Before building Studioworks, she ran her own skincare company and interior design firm, which means she understands the particular challenges of building a creative business from the ground up, not just the art of it but the logistics, the pricing, the visibility, the doubt.
Since 2014 she has been leading domestic and international art retreats and workshops, and since 2016 she has helped creative women launch and run their own online classes and businesses. That combination, deep creative practice alongside real business experience, is what makes the Salon different from anything else out there. The one-on-one time with Ivy isn't just about your painting. It's about your whole creative life and what you are seeking.
She comes to the Salon not as an instructor standing at the front of the room, but as a guide who has spent over a decade in the same world you're navigating, who’s entire goal has been to uplift, support and encourage women in their creative life.
About Perigord Retreats:
The founding Studioworks Salon will be hosted by Perigord Retreats, one of the most well-regarded, family-run retreat hosts in southern France. Harrison and Katel have been welcoming artists from around the world to the Dordogne for years. Every stay is managed from the moment you step off the train to the moment you leave.
The delicious food is the stuff of legend among past guests, locally sourced, cooked in-house, and genuinely some of the best food you'll eat in France.
Harrison's knowledge of the region is unmatched, with over 70 hand-picked locations across the Dordogne in his back pocket.
For the Salon, we will be based at a private French château, a new and very special setting for this founding gathering.
Ivy has worked with Perigord Retreats for years and she keeps coming back!
Your Time at the Salon:
The days here are yours to shape.
Each morning opens with a reflective prompt from Ivy, something to set an intention for the day rather than a schedule to follow. From there you move into your own work at your own pace. Every artist has an independent workstation in our shared studio spaces, room to spread out, make a mess, and think without interruption.
Ivy will be present throughout each day for optional one-on-one consultations. These might be about the work in front of you, a creative direction you're wrestling with, or the bigger questions of building a sustainable artistic life. Portfolio reviews and business guidance are available if that's useful to you. No matter where you are in your practice, Ivy will meet you there.
We'll take a few carefully chosen excursions into the Dordogne because the landscape and culture of this region deserve your attention. Just fewer than you'd find on one of Ivy’s teaching retreats, because your studio time is the priority.
Chateau Farmhouse (onsite)
In the evenings we gather around the table. Good food, good wine, and conversation about creativity and the creative life. These evening salons are where some of the most meaningful exchanges happen, artists talking honestly about their work, their doubts, their discoveries. Special guests might even attend!
Every participant has a private room and bathroom. Solitude matters here as much as community, and the Salon is designed to hold both.
Only 1 Spot Left!
DATES: May 20-29, 2027
Price:
€4,300 - Farmhouse Suite - PRIVATE BEDROOM/Private BATHROOM
€4,600 - Chateau Suite - PRIVATE BEDROOM/Private BATHROOM
€6,800 - Couples’s Suite - PRIVATE BEDROOM for 2/Private BATHROOM
** ONLY €500 to secure your spoT **
{ Perigord Retreats will handle all payments securely and assist with all booking details. }
At the salon YOU WILL:
Work on your own art every day, without interruption
Receive one-on-one time with Ivy for feedback, creative direction, or business guidance
Have your body of work reviewed in a supportive, honest setting, if applicable
Enjoy the luxury and privacy of our own Chateau
Join evening salon conversations about creativity, artistic identity, and the artist's life
Sleep in your own private room with your own bathroom, because rest matters here too
Spend time in one of the most beautiful regions of France, with a few carefully chosen excursions
Share long meals with a small group of artists who understand exactly where you are
Enjoy delicious organic, locally sourced foods and wines
Meet and connect with artists from around the world
Leave with real progress on your work and a clearer sense of where it's going
and so MUCH MORE….
Included in your retreat
One on one consultations with Ivy
Nine nights lodging in a private chateau
Private room and bathroom
Individual Studio work station
All meals except - 2 lunches & 1 dinner
All tour & excursion fees
All wine and beverages
Transport to and from Gordon train station
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED
Travel costs / Airfare
Passport fees, photos and processing where applicable
Additional nights lodging
“You need a room of your own, a place where you can think, where you can exist in your own imagination.”
Take A Tour of The Dordogne and Lot regions…
Only 1 Spot Left!
DATES: May 20-29, 2027
Price:
€4,300 - Farmhouse Suite - PRIVATE BEDROOM/Private BATHROOM
€4,600 - Chateau Suite - PRIVATE BEDROOM/Private BATHROOM
€6,800 - Couples’s Suite - PRIVATE BEDROOM for 2/Private BATHROOM
** ONLY €500 to secure your spoT **
{ Perigord Retreats will handle all payments securely and assist with all booking details. }