A Retreat in Puerto Rico for Creative Souls
Updated: 19 minutes ago
A fire welcomes guests to my house.
My own fire greatly burns in Puerto Rico,
where I am most myself.
Tanya
The Dream
My house has been a refuge for me ever since I got it in 2018. Soon after I had to leave my home in New York, after 20 years of living and working there, I had an idea.
I remembered that my father had left his house empty, and that he had no plans to return. So I proposed to him that I could buy his house and then it would be our house. He could come back anytime.
He immediately agreed, and in a short time, the house was in my name.
In it, I built a space to create, gather, talk, and dream.
I think of my house as a refuge, not just for myself, but for those who find their own dream in the idea of being together in a place that welcomes creativity and offers a space for connection. I thought that, in time, I could welcome them, feed them, teach them, and help them transform into that person they envisioned: the artist in their soul.
I don’t know exactly who will come, but I think it must be the creative souls who are now ready to live the life they dreamed of long ago, before life took over. Circumstances are often against us, and the years pass. But it’s never too late for a first step. I have taken that first step several times. I know how scary it is. But I also know what awaits. And it’s immensely worth it.
And I hope that my house will also be for those who are looking for Mary Magdalene. My house is where I have painted her, written about her, and been in solitude with her. In painting her together, her presence is always felt.
It could even be for those who left the island, when forces beyond themselves pushed them north. There are so many for whom it is difficult to return. They are older, no longer have a family in Puerto Rico, and their memories are distant. Everything has changed: the roads, the landmarks, the people. The island seems beyond reach. But how would it be to return with a friend?
Dreams are called dreams because they have not yet happened. We have to make them happen if we really long for the vision. And sometimes dreams test us, or we test ourselves. Dreams are often elusive. Until we refuse to give up.
In 2024, I attempted the first test trial of my idea for an art retreat in my house. I created a year of art through a series of monthly workshops that led to a trip to Puerto Rico. I invited those who participated, all Puerto Rican, plus my most enthusiastic supporter, Hilda, the most Puerto Rican Palestinian I have ever met.
We had a beautiful time, had so much fun, visited magical places, and connected over wonderful meals… but made very little art! It was amazing, but not quite what I had envisioned.
And Hilda often asked me: Will you do it again? And I always said yes without thinking. Until one day I set the date, and committed to the vision once again.
I invited four women for a second experiment: The Creative Soul Art Retreat, because Creative Soul is the title of my book, and because it would be a moment designed especially for the creative souls that have known me in the role of artist, teacher and creative guide.
Since I am actively creating my next life, I wanted to really explore how I would feel if I welcomed people to create in my house over a few days. I wanted to create an experience that ignited a creative fire in someone’s soul. I wanted to figure out how to do that, and find out how it feels.
The Plan: A Creative Soul Retreat
I used the ideas from the previous retreat, but added a poetic plan to the description. To me, poetry creates magic, and magic is what I intended.
This would be a practice, and it was possible to fail, but it would also be the best experience I could offer in the short time I had available: 3 days plus a couple of days for pick up and drop off at the airport.
Hilda, Julia, Corazón and Tania said yes without hesitation. Hilda and Julia had been to the first retreat in 2024, Corazón had missed it because of a new job. Tania and I met last year through Hilda, but also through my art and through the school where I work. They had all been in my workshops and classes, or in Tania’s case, she had invited me to collaborate with a workshop. They all came to create, which was the only requirement for acceptance into the experience.
The program described on the flyer was ambitious for just a weekend. But I still tried to carry the experience to its maximum expression.
On Thursday, they arrived.
My house is in the south west of the island, a two hour trip to the San Juan airport. I had previously enlisted my friend Waldemar to help me with food and logistics. We met Hilda and Tania at the airport. Julia was already in Puerto Rico and would join us later. Then we picked up Corazón in her brother’s house on our return trip and were back in San Germán by 5pm.
Inspiration
I had planned the welcome Asopao al Fuego, a rice soup made outside on the fire, for the arrival night. And also a tertulia, a tradition in which we get together to talk, share arts and creations, and just be in the presence of other creative souls.
So we lit a fire, and a dozen candles, and shared a glass of wine while Waldemar cooked the soup. In our tertulia, we spoke about our intentions and our hopes for this creative time. And we ate together to seal the dream.
The First Day: Filling Our Alabaster Jar
When people arrive in my house they explore it. Because it was my father’s creation, it feels like a crafted object. It’s imperfect beauty creates comfort. Nothing is too precious, it’s a place for creativity.
We started the day by exploring ideas and materials. I invited the women, and Waldemar too, to create a mini painting with acrylic markers. It was a short moment of creation to ignite their creativity before leaving on a trip to the river and the sea.
On our way to the river, the first stop was a country store. It was one of those places with cuchifritos and a little bar where local men go to drink beer and talk, and where travelers stop to eat something quick. Empanadillas, surullitos, baked chicken… (unexpected!) I love these stores. They remind me of old times. They are a place to find the real soul of Puerto Rico, which to me, shines in these rural areas that feel remote and authentic, and that you can only reach if you really try.
Our destination was the river, which for most people would be a stream. But Puerto Rico is a small island and things that we expect to be large can be surprisingly small. To me, rivers are little paradises where nature is benign. Unless there’s a storm… of course.
I wanted to take the women to a beautiful waterfall, but in the end we went to a simpler and more accessible place. Waterfalls require a hike, and time, and great physical effort. We just needed some inspiration.
Hidden by the side of the road, we found the entrance to a river that is only known to locals of the area in the town of Maricao. And it was perfect.
Inspiration does not require grandiose gestures. It requires presence, recognition of beauty and observation. For the women, and for me, all of us New Yorkers, a simple experience in nature is enough to open our heart and our mind. We are so starved of nature’s beauty!
The river has always been a source of inspiration. In poems and in watercolors, I have remembered its colors and the beauty that, for me, is the idea of paradise. It has a different temperament than the sea. It’s rustic, green, and mysterious. It is raw nature.
The Sea
After spending time in the river, we went to the sea. By the time we arrived, it was almost evening.
We parked by the mangroves. The mangroves are a forest in the water. Their roots seem to grow upward, looking for air and light. This is a different kind of forest. It’s unexpected and transitional, from river to sea.
After visiting the mangrove forest, we caught the sunset in Boquerón, a little beach town full of life where we ate dinner. Hilda and I danced a little on the street as we left.
Our inspiration session was complete. Our alabaster jar was full. We were ready to begin painting.
Transmuting Experiences
When thinking about this retreat, I wondered what to share. These women had been to my workshops and classes. They had explored many of the techniques I teach. What would be new to them, pleasurable and unexpected?
I thought of what I love most, what I never share, and what my house welcomes easily: oil painting.
These days, we have all kinds of materials that are soluble with water and easy to clean and use. But there is nothing like the feeling of oils. They are timeless and real. And while that was the first paint I used and learned to paint with, it’s difficult to use it freely in enclosed spaces. In the winter, with closed windows, oils will leave you breathless.
But in my house, the windows are open. And the air flows freely, together with the natural light.
The women felt like I feel when I paint with oils. They were able to experience the freedom of having time to explore color, the soft buttery texture, and the ease to create without the tension of fast drying acrylic paints. And each of them created a different painting, a true expression of their soul.
And beyond the act of painting, is the act of connection. As we paint together in the studio, we talk, share and dream together, and we go outside of time.
Food
When I’m working on my art and feeling truly free, I take time to cook. To me, a great day is a day of painting and cooking a delicious meal. As part of our retreat, we not only painted but also shared beautiful meals. Waldemar made us seafood soup/asopao the first day, and viandas majadas con bacalao (mashed roots with codfish) the last day.
I made fish with vegetables, salad and tostones de pana the second day. I prepared the fish that I had purchased from a friend of Waldemar, who catches fresh fish in the sea as his favorite activity in life. I support that.
Renewed Vision
Before the arrival of the four Creative Soul Women, I had met two artistic young women that Waldemar wanted me to connect with. They both studied at the Fashion Institute of New York, and after graduation, they went back to Puerto Rico and moved to San Germán. They both opened businesses and Walde wanted me to invite them to the presentation of my book the following week.
One of them, Andrea, opened a little used clothes store, a beautifully bohemian shop in the center of the old town. I noticed a little Palestinian flag on Andrea’s desk, and that was my signal to bring the women there so Hilda could see it.
After a few tears (of joy, because of the significance of seeing your flag so unexpectedly in such a far away place,) and some ice cream, we went back to the studio for more painting.
This was our last day and we wanted to make the best of it.
Tania was scheduled to be picked up in my house and leave for a few hours to go with her mother, Elizabeth Romero, and some friends to a protest. Protected areas of a beach in the town of Cabo Rojo are scheduled to become a resort.
This is how we received a special visit. Tania’s mom came by with Esperanza Martell and Luis Cordero Santoni, both friends from different eras of my life in New York. They had a meal with us before leaving. We all sat around my table to eat a meal, to talk and to listen. My ongoing vision for a table of food and friends had come true.
After the visit, we went back to painting, and Tania came back. The sun went down. We went to dinner in town. And we only had one last ritual to complete.
We finished our retreat with a brindis, a toast, sitting on the stairs of the town’s cathedral. It’s something Waldemar and I have done for many years. It’s a tradition we only share with the very best of the best of friends!
I don’t have a photo of us at the cathedral. We suspect some might call our ritual blasphemy. Although I don’t think God minds. A little wine, contemplating life, taking in the full moon, and listening to the very quiet town together is a way to acknowledge that life is best in the sacred company of those whose path in life connects with yours in a shared experience of creativity and joie de vivre.
Art, friends, good food, a little wine, a magical place: that’s the Creative Soul experience.
Gratitude
After our beautiful creative time, we returned Tania to her mom in Camuy, Hilda to the airport, and Corazón to Old San Juan, where she would continue her retreat and meet friend and relatives before coming back to New York. Julia went back to her family in Aguadilla until her return to Westchester.
When I asked the women about their experience, they told me they enjoyed it and discovered new things. They were in love with oil painting. Julia was rightfully satisfied with the tiny paintings she created in what turned out to be a great canvas size for her to continue creating. Corazón started a series that she would continue to explore. Hilda seemed to be floating in the air with gratitude and joy. Tania was surprised and happy for breaking the barriers of perception.
They told me they would have been perfect just staying in the house and getting inspiration from the surroundings. They told me that the meals were important. And that we should make sure to start early and that more days of creating art would be even better.
I thanked them for being my best test subjects guinea pigs!
This is what Tania wrote:
“Tanya is an artist healer who brings deep love, intentionality, and commitment to creative self-expression into every space she holds. Whether you are in her company, a workshop, or a retreat, she has a beautiful way of helping people access the artist within themselves in ways that feel safe, encouraging, inspiring, and accessible.
At the art retreat she facilitated in Borikén, Tanya guided us in exploring color, feeling, memory, and experience as pathways into creating art. She also took us on nature outings to gather inspiration for our paintings, which made the experience feel even more grounding and alive. I painted with oil paints for the first time in my life. At first, I felt intimidated, but I soon realized that tapping into the painter in me was also a reawakening of my creative life force.
I’m deeply grateful to Tanya for curating such a healing and empowering space; one where we could simply be, create, and reconnect with our own self-expression.”
And I am deeply grateful to Walde, for all his support, and to Tania, and Hilda, Julia and Corazón, for their trust, and for giving me the opportunity to create a dream, and dream it in action together with them.
P.S. Thanks to Hilda, Tania and Waldemar for providing the photos for this post!
P.S.S. I appreciate any thoughts that this post inspires. Would this be something that you would like to do? Would you send your mom on this experience? Would you come with your friends? What would you like to learn and do?
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