If you’re looking for a gentle singer/songwriter playlist for your escape into nature, then we’ve found the perfect playlist for you.
Evelyn Frances, who’s escaping to our New York Outpost this August, put together her favorite tunes to listen to while she’s relaxing. Featuring Bjork, Maggie Rogers, Mountain Man, and more, her playlist is great for your mornings at Getaway.
Photographer and food blogger Katherine D’Costa spent her recent Artist Fellowship cooking up a storm at Getaway Chattahoochee. Katherine and her husband, a chef and recipe developer, came up with a three-course summer meal, all featuring Georgia peaches.
Now they’re sharing their recipes for poached peaches and corn salsa, bourbon barbecue pork chops with grilled peaches, and grilled peaches and pineapples.
Poached Peaches and Corn Salsa
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Grilled Bone-In Pork Chop with Bourbon BBQ Sauce and Grilled Georgia Peaches
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Grilled Peaches and Pineapples
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Ready to create a recipe of your own? Book your escape now. Find more delicious recipes from Katherine here.
We know it can be hard to find the space to create art and get inspired, that’s why we created Our Artist Fellowship Program; to provide artists with the time, space, and permission to recharge by creating.
This month we’re featuring three illustrators who made time to Getaway to capture the inspiration that came with some extra time in nature. Here’s what each of them had to say about creativity, their connections to nature, and their Getaways.
I’m an artist and illustrator based in Hillsboro, Oregon. Creativity has always been an important part of my life, but I fell in love with artistic processes in High School and went on to get my B.A. in Art. I grew up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and have always been inspired by, and felt incredible peace, being in nature. Both of these themes of peace and nature come up frequently in my art as I strive to communicate the essence of a place through detailed pen and ink work.
I view both experiences in nature and the creative process as therapeutic in my life. They both provide a chance to step out of our normal responsibilities, take a deep breath, and focus on something beautiful. They are ways to create space in our lives for discovery. Because of this connection I am often inspired to use natural elements and landscapes as subjects for my artwork. I love being able to create something from an experience in nature and communicate the beauty and sense of peace that I get from nature to the people that view my art.
My Getaway was a wonderful reprieve from the business of normal life, especially in light of all that has gone on in our country and world this year. It was a treat to be in a space set out for the purpose of rest and disconnection. I was able to use the time to get away from the distractions of technology. The experience was a reminder to me to look for the simplicity and moments of beauty in my everyday life as well, and I am excited to see where this theme will take me in my next collection of artwork.
You can follow along on Jessica’s journey on her Instagram and website.
Growing up in a small, historic town outside of Baltimore, I spent a lot of time outdoors, barefooted and climbing trees. I chose to study illustration in Boston and after years of the busy, city life, I wanted a change of environment and pace. Austin incorporates the best of both worlds, offering a thriving urban lifestyle with the balancing presence of plenty of watering holes and green spaces to rest and reconnect with nature. Whittled Inklings came out of this transition, and this is the name I work under creatively, primarily in relief printmaking and commissioned illustrative and graphic design work.
Nature plays a prominent theme in my print work and I draw influence from the outdoors often. Inspiration for a future project can come from taking a walk around the neighborhood, venturing out to a local trail, or on a road trip collecting imagery from point A to point B. Living in Texas, I am finding myself forever enamoured by desert plant life, especially octopus agave and prickly pear cacti in bloom!
My stay at the Houston outpost exceeded all expectations. I can’t remember the last time I was surrounded by absolute darkness and could look up and see all the stars so clearly. It was a humbling reminder to unplug from the screens, disconnect from social media, and take a moment to feel small in comparison to the towering trees and visible galaxy above.
The Getaway Cabin experience is deeply thoughtful in architectural design, curated amenities, and a carefully chosen, safe, and peacefully remote location. It’s a stay I would recommend to family, friends, and creatives looking for a moment of pause.
You can keep up to date with Alisha’s work on her Instagram and website.
I’m an illustrator and graphic designer from Baltimore, MD living in Brooklyn, NY. I create work that’s bold, colorful, and demands attention featuring Black Women, Women of Color, and the LGBTQ+ community. My goal is to create work that comes from an authentic place and resonates with my community.
Being in nature allows me to slow down and escape the hustle and bustle of life in New York City. I have fond memories of going hiking in the woods as a kid and the way I would enjoy conquering the forest, finding waterfalls, feeling disconnected from the world. I’ve gotten away from nature as an adult and being back in it was a reminder of how much a change in environment can do for your mental health.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Getaway. I especially appreciated being able to be still and reflect, which is what I ultimately chose to illustrate. Being in the cabin, I didn’t even want to pick up my phone or laptop, I wanted to be in the moment and just soak up the time in nature. I was inspired to get away from the city more often to give myself free liberty to create.
You can keep up to date with Sophia’s work on her Instagram and website.
Ready to plan your own creative escape? Book your Getaway today.
We know that with the hustle and bustle of city life, it can be hard for artists to carve out time to create. That’s why we started our Artist Fellowship Program, to give creatives uninterrupted time in nature to work on their projects. We love seeing what our artists make during their time with us, so we’re excited to share with you some of our fellows from this season.
Photographer Albert Groshenko knows how difficult it can be to find balance in his life. As an economics student at Columbia, Albert says he is lucky enough to draw inspiration from every street corner of New York City. He believes the sidewalk has become our culture’s “runway,” and loves seeing how artfully people choose to present themselves to the world.
Despite his love for the city, Albert still enjoys escaping to the woods. During his Getaway in Epsom, N.H., Albert took photos, cooked on an open fire, and slept amid the trees. While he loves working with his camera, Albert says he would love to one day create his own line of menswear, in addition to the finance career he aspires to.
Sophie Calhoun has been drawing for most of her life, but she had to take a hiatus from her art when life got too crazy. Once she graduated college though, Sophie rededicated time to her work and says she’s happy creating visual art again.
Sophie says she loves escaping into nature and gaining a fresh perspective, so she was able to spend some time creating illustrations while at Getaway Boston. Sophie says she usually gets her inspiration from a desire to visually represent complex concepts, like emotions. She loves storytelling and world-building and dreams of one day using her skills to create a graphic novel or video game.
Interested in becoming an Artist Fellow? Apply here.
We created our Artist Fellowship Program to give artists time and space to create. Uninterrupted and in the middle of nature, we love that our cabins can provide the inspirational setting for artists to be their best. We’re very excited to show off a selection of our Artist Fellows’ work over the last few months.
Vincent Ribeiro is a versatile artist in mediums ranging from construction and architecture to graphic design and photography. Most recently, he visited our Boston Outpost for a creative kick.
Brittany Fan finds inspiration in nature to create ceramics, painting, photography, illustration, hand lettering, and graphic design in and around her native Charlottesville.
Johnson Kow is a photographer and specializes in landscapes, cityscape, and portraits. Photography is his creative outlet aside from his engineering work, and it’s taken him to fascinating places and introduced him to interesting people.
Deanna Jacome is a multi-media artists working primarily in mixed-media painting. Deanne escaped to our Boston Outpost to create painted collages incorporating pieces of her past paintings and handmade paper made from dried leaves.
Chelsea Ma is a Creative Director based in NYC. She draws on the creative energy of her surroundings, from New York architecture to tiny wooded cabins in the Catskills.
Want to be an Artist Fellow? Get creating.
We created our Artist Fellowship Program to help creative people find the space and inspiration they need to bring their ideas to life. Earlier this year, we hosted illustrator, Hannah Gumbo, at Getaway Chattahoochee outside of Atlanta. Here’s what she had to say about her creative process, her relationship to nature, and her Getaway:
I grew up doodling all sorts of weird things like cats dressed as fashion models and bedazzling everything I owned to look “fancy” but it wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that I had my first official art class. Having access to new materials and learning to bring discipline into my art flow had an enormous impact on me. I’ve been HOOKED ON ART ever since, baby! Beyond it being fun, it also helped me communicate so much more than I was able to with words and connected me to a community of other quirky creatives.
These days I am a freelance illustrator/artist, working from my tiny home studio in the Cajun prairies of Louisiana. My work consists of drawing on my Wacom tablet (looks like a giant iPad with stylus pen), creating colorful murals (which allows me to paint much larger than my workspace), and a whole lot of playing around (I had the time of my life last year drawing iconic hairstyles for 100 days straight, lol).
It is truly a dream to not only continue making artwork after all these years, but to make a living doing it. When I graduated from college, I was pretty certain I’d stop drawing forever (dramatic much?!?). I had just seen so many people before me get burnt out and let their practice fade away over time. I figured it could easily happen to me too, and so I began to guard my creativity like an over-protective mother. Even now, I try not to demand too much of it but at the same time, keep it in check, and make sure it doesn’t grow into a lazy brat. If one day, my creative work can’t pay the bills, I can handle that. But my biggest fear is that I would over-work myself to the point that I lose the love of what got me started in the first place.
I live out in the middle of nowhere. But this amazing little small town surrounded by farmland has given so much to me and my creativity. With less to do, distractions also decrease. Living in Eunice has produced a deeper focus in me and lit a fire in me to pursue all the crazy ideas that pop into my head. Plus, I’m surrounded by so much natural beauty including miles of crawfish ponds that attract amazing wildlife such as roseate spoonbills. If you aren’t familiar think: “flamingo, but in the sky”… and they have a curved beak like a spoon which is super cute.
I’ve been applying to artist fellowships for a while now, and Getaway was the first one to say YES! Not only was it a great experience to take my art for a road trip, but I felt so valued as an artist through the whole process. I love that Getaway encourages creativity alongside rest. My husband Jordan and I spent our first night just enjoying our spot, eating s’mores, and settling in by the campfire. It was a cloudy night but I woke up around two in the morning to an entire blanket of stars above our window. It was so magical I had to wake Jordan up too! The next morning we enjoyed listening to the radio over coffee and I explored some ideas in my sketchbook to pursue once I got home.
Creating original ideas, keeping a freelance career going, and still finding time to seek out “inspiration” can really take its toll. I am so excited that places like Getaway exist to recharge our batteries and make space for resting in nature. After stepping away from my routine and carving out time for this Getaway, I was able to return to my work in a healthier and more intentional way.
To learn more about Hannah, you can follow her work on her Instagram and check out her website. She also has a monthly email newsletter with studio updates, freebies, and colorful creativity to follow along, even if you’re off social media.
In need of your own creative escape? Book your Getaway today.
We hosted photographer, Carla Peña at Getaway Mount Adams last summer so she could spend some free time reconnecting to her love of her craft, and to enjoy some time in nature with her partner and their new puppy. Here’s what she had to say about her creative practice, her Getaway, and her connection to nature.
I was born in Havana, Cuba and migrated to the US at age two with my mom. After high school, still unsure of what to study, I attended FSU where I quickly picked up photography as a second major to Sociology. I loved the way my passion for people and thirst for a creative outlet merged into what I do now. I’m a lifestyle photographer and mostly work with brands in content creation. I am deeply inspired by beautiful everyday moments but especially those that include connecting with people and the outdoors.
Growing up in Miami, my only real connection to nature was through the ocean, my mom would sometimes pick me up from school early just to escape to the beach which was never more than half an hour away. Even as a young girl, I loved the way being near the ocean made me feel, I felt I knew myself when I was in the water. My broader connection to nature as I know it now though, came after moving to Tallahassee for college. My boyfriend kind of introduced me to the idea of hiking and camping and we did our first ever camping trip for our 3 year anniversary. After that (honestly terrifying) first night, we began to do hikes more often and searching for trails near us quickly became a favorite past time. Two years after that we took our love for the outdoors to the next level and hit the road in our prius for a life changing two month road trip across the US where we camped nearly every night. I’d say nature has increasingly become a huge inspiration for me in my photography work. I am deeply grateful for the way it fuels ideas and an overall sense of peace.
Our Getaway experience was really lovely! I had never experienced nature in quite this way where we had all the comforts of home and the vastness of the outdoors all at once, it further fueled our dreams of one day building a small home on lots of land. The practical yet intentional simplicity of the interiors really highlighted what matters most, which was that big window for me where I felt safe and open to seeing everything outside.
You can keep up with her work on her Instagram and her website.
In need of your own creative escape? Book your Getaway today.
With the hustle and bustle of city life, we know it can be hard for artists to find uninterrupted time to create. That’s why we created our Artist Fellowship Program, to give creatives a space in nature to work on their projects. We love seeing what our artists come up with and we’re excited to share some of our recent fellows.
Painter Amanda Nolan Booker has been painting and drawing ever since she was young. However, it wasn’t until 2016 when she decided to go back to school and pursue painting full time.
“My work deals with memory, perception, and experience,” Amanda said. “I’m inspired by the everyday, in the mundane, but I’m equally inspired by mythology and storytelling. I want to account for the things that make up a life which are not easily defined or depicted.”
Amanda prefers to escape anywhere that’s quiet, so our Atlanta Outpost was the perfect spot for her to take some time to create.
“I work best when I’m alone and can listen to music and/or have conversations with myself out loud,” Amanda says. “Even if I’m not actively painting and just need to brainstorm, it’s important that I find a place for uninterrupted reflection.”
Six years ago, Richard Bonasoro turned his backyard into a small farm in the hope of growing his own food and living a healthier lifestyle. During this project, he started thinking about what he was putting on his skin as well.
“I started looking into soap making and finally made my first batch of soap right in the backyard in my garden,” Richard said. “I wanted a bar of soap with ingredients you could recognize without Google: organic olive oil, organic coconut oil, essential oils, and herbs and sometimes even vegetables from my garden.”
As part of his fellowship, Richard picked up his work station and moved it to Getaway Blake Brook. The soap he made there, inspired by his stay, combined pine, fir, needle, cedarwood, and cypress together with a lemony scent.
Richard, who owns and operates the Backyard Soap Company, says his dream creative project is to build a backyard garden utopia that’s inspired by The Secret Garden.
Interested in tapping into your own creativity in nature? Escape today.
