channel your inner child
adult summer camp
Unleash your inner creative monster....
Enjoy nature on our 17 acre camp/farm stay...
Forage, observe, smell, taste, create & play...
Enjoy small group social in-person interactions...
Disconnect to reconnect.....
'cause it's all about living a creative life....
​
disconnect to reconnect
Are you yearning to escape if only for a few days?
Are you questioning your life path and pace?
​
Are you craving some time to connect to the earth?
Are you yearning to disconnect from fast-paced society in order to reconnect yourself to the earth's bounty and lessons?
​
Are you savoring an opportunity to craft?
Want to learn new art techniques?
​
Are you hungry for foraging, discovering,
and engagement?
Who says kids get to have all the fun in the summer?
Creativity Summer Camp is a great opportunity to spend some time for yourself nurturing the human spirit; connecting to the earth, yourself and others; and enjoying a glamping, long summer weekend as a disconnection from hectic regular life to a magical memory-filled nature escape.
Kickstart the weekend with a good night's rest and then a guided Forest Walk to engage all senses. Engage in fun art and design camp type of activities, but also enjoy the camp-life flow of 'ish' time.
2023 dates:
JUNE 8 - 11 (last quarter moon)
JUNE 22 - 25 (waxing crescent moon) SOLD OUT
AUGUST 10 - 13 (Perseids Meteor Shower)
Check out the general itinerary and other information in the FAQ.
forest therapy guided walk
What is Forest Therapy?
This guided nature immersion walk is inspired by "Forest Bathing" or "shinrin-yoku" developed in Japan in the 80s when the government recognized an increase in health problems brought about by the intensity and demands of the massive shift into an urban work environment. They conducted much research and through focus groups found significant benefits when spending time in forests and natural surroundings. They discovered that trees emit Phytonocides which benefit humans by increasing NK cells. It makes sense to realize that humans are not intended to live in so much constructed environments with artificial lighting and that being in nature is extremely beneficial.
What does this mean? What does this look like? How does this work? Your host Val is a certified guide and the Forest is the therapist. Each experience is unique to the individual. This is a slow walk without internet or phone distractions where you will be given invitations that emphasizes sensory interaction with the surroundings.
In your regular life, when would you have time to gaze at plants or insects, make a slow wander with no destination in mind, and stop in adoration of colors or more?
The walk is gentle and takes approximately 2.5 - 3.5 hrs. This will be your introduction to the land and the camp experience. P.S. Located in the rural rolling foothills of Appalachia in a part of Tennessee called the Western Highland Rim, the camp is about 20 minute drive to the small town of Hohenwald - German for "High Forest".
why?
NATURE & ART
Create art and traditional craft using natural objects that you forage on the land.
NATURE & SENSES
Camp starts with a guided Forest Walk experience to engage all of your senses.
NATURE & FOOD
Discover more about edible flowers, foraged items, gardening, and eating healthy.
EAT HEALTHY
Learn about what you may already have around you that is edible. Learn about improving your health with organic, non-gmo, and non-processed food.
SELF-SUSTAINING
Fall in love with chickens and learn how you can shift from Mass-Ag production chain to local sourcing including your own backyard.
​
UPCYCLING & IMPACT
Learn about composting and the general waste impact on the land. Use upcycled materials in projects. Discover ways to reduce your personal environmental footprint.
itinerary highlights
CYANOTYPES
(all dates)
This workshop features a traditional photographic process of using the sun to expose chemically treated paper to make a print from natural objects that block out the sun causing white spaces when 'developed' by placing the paper in water to stop the exposure.
This workshop requires the sun, but for unexpected inclement weather, we can still create these inside with longer exposure time.
Experiment with composition and objects you find outside.
INSTRUCTOR: VAL
(she/hers)
WATERCOLOR
(June)
Artist-in-residence Brent Rowley is a painter primarily using watercolor as his medium which began as a convenient type of material to take along on travels. Brent will cover the basics of using the medium and also techniques for drawing or abstract. Using the natural surroundings, you'll be able to choose a subject from the flora and fauna. Materials included in the program fee.
INSTRUCTOR: BRENT
(he/him)
WORD PLAY
(August)
Fun with words in this interactive workshop where we will embrace randomness and creative thinking. Join writer-in-residence around the campfire for word play with improv techniques. Take the words and continue to write over the weekend either poetry or paragraphs. Check back in with C.T. for feedback. Transform your writing into one-of-a-kind art with typography and hand-lettering experiments coinciding with the book-binding component of the weekend.
(he/him)
BOOK-BINDING
(August)
Gather all of your weekend creations and combine them into a hand-made book using a simple Japanese five-stitch binding. This workshop will start at the beginning of the summer camp with a typography Haiku exercise that you can play with all weekend. Either write your own or use provided examples. Haiku are typically nature inspired and seasonal. Use this book object as a future journal or as a keepsake of your creative adventure.
INSTRUCTOR: VAL
(she/hers)
nature + lemon lodge
DONKEY THERAPY
A highlight of camp is spending time with the donkey crew - Pepper Patrol.
LEMON LODGE
Your camp memories will be forged in a home away from home environment.
MAGICAL MOMENTS
The refreshing water of the Buffalo, the sounds of birds and sights of fireflies are just a few of what you'll find.
Don't let the word CAMP fool you
as you'll find comfort in our uniquely designed dwellings either the Lemon Lodge or the Raspberry Residency House
Our 17 acres is split into two with 5 acres featuring the donkey land, bamboo grove, pond, garden, peafowl aviary, chicken zone, and art studios for the residency program. The 12 acres is a blend between untamed Tennessee wonderland and a careful effort to allow for natural wildflowers and habitat featuring about 400 feet of Buffalo river frontage. We'll start the camp experience with a gentle forest walk with your certified guide and host.
General Itinerary for JUNE (see August in F.A.Q. below)
Arrive on Thursday afternoon and settle in before our group dinner - Val's risotto with fresh ingredients, salad, and a protein (typically fish). We'll hang out to get to know each other and create fun collages.
Friday morning we will embark on the Forest Therapy Walk where you will have your camp kit Fuji instant camera to document your experience ending with a picnic lunch.
We'll take an afternoon break before the cyanotype workshop (weather permitting it may change in the agenda).
Friday night group dinner and casual hang out.
Saturday morning will be the watercolor workshop where you will have the rest of the day to explore, draw, paint, and even write a haiku if you would like.
Saturday evening after our group dinner will be a book-binding workshop using a traditional Japanese stitch where you will choose one of your art creations as the cover to make a handmade journal.
Depart Sunday
'ALL INCLUSIVE Thursday - Sunday WEEKEND Summer Camp Program Fee includes meals, workshops and materials, Forest Therapy guided walk, time with the donkeys, plus the lodging of your choice. Contact to make a double room private.
$849 plus lodging choice (includes local/state taxes):
+ PRIVATE ROOM / shared bath / Full Bed : $234
+ PRIVATE ROOM / shared bath / Twin Bed : $210
+ DOUBLE ROOM / private bath ensuite / King with Twin: $158 per person
+ DOUBLE ROOM / private bath ensuite / Full with Twin: $142 per person
+ TRIPLE Dormitory style room / Twin Beds : $99 per person (max 3)
