What would it feel like to paint without pressure, float without effort, and simply be in one of the most beautiful places on earth?
Flow and Form invites you to find out.
October 11th – 17th, 2026
Flow and Form is an art retreat on the beautiful island of Mo’orea in French Polynesia. Combining intuitive painting and aquatic inspiration.
During your time in Mo’orea, you will:
Paint, float, and breathe your way into creative flow.
Let the island’s natural beauty infuse your art, your body, and your soul.
Release judgment and rediscover the freedom of pure expression.
What is Flow and Form?
Flow and Form is an immersive intuitive painting retreat on the island of Moorea, where art-making is guided not by rules or results, but by sensation, movement, and deep listening.
We will paint from lived experience—snorkeling in luminous lagoons, floating in warm water, moving gently through water-based yoga and bodywork, and absorbing the rhythms of Polynesian culture. The ocean becomes our teacher. The body becomes our compass. The studio becomes a place of integration.
Who is this retreat for?
- Artists seeking renewal or transition
- Creatives craving nature-based inspiration
- Anyone curious about intuitive art as healing
- Painters looking for underwater inspiration
- Seekers drawn to the healing power of warm water bodywork
- Dream travelers finally ready to say yes to the South Pacific!
Our Promise:
During this retreat, you’ll explore fluid, water-based materials while learning how to translate lived experience into abstraction. You’ll leave with the island’s rich colors still dancing in your eyes, a body relaxed by the healing embrace of warm water, and the creative tools to create paintings you’ll cherish. Through aquatic bodywork, you’ll discover a new dimension of healing presence that lives in the body long after you return home.
Painting, Presence, and the Healing Intelligence of Water
What Makes This Retreat Special?
This isn’t just an art workshop—it’s a lived creative experience.
Intuitive Painting Practice
- Painting from memory, sensation, and emotion
- Working with flow, release, and rhythm
- Letting go of “good painting” in favor of honest marks
- Emphasis on process over product
Ocean & Water Immersion
- Lagoon snorkeling (color, light, and movement as inspiration)
- Optional whale watching
- Floating meditations and gentle water yoga
- Water-based bodywork options for nervous system reset
Embodiment and Integration
Each day includes time for:
• Gentle movement and breath work
• Water-based somatic practices
• Time for rest, journaling, and reflection
• Space for solitude and silence
Artwork by Inika Spence
What is Aquatic Bodywork?
Imagine being gently held as you float effortlessly in warm water, your body fully supported and free to let go. In an aquatic bodywork session, soothing, wave-like movements guide you into deep relaxation, helping release tension, reduce stress, and restore a sense of balance in both body and mind.
As your practitioner moves you through the water, you may experience a unique blend of nurturing support and expansive freedom—like drifting, stretching, and flowing without effort. The water allows your body to open in ways not possible on land, creating a deeply therapeutic and rejuvenating experience.
For those seeking something even more immersive, the Above & Below session invites you beneath the surface. With the support of your practitioner, you’ll gently explore breath-held submersions, experiencing a profound sense of calm, weightlessness, and timeless stillness. The transition between above and below the water becomes seamless, enhancing relaxation and deepening your connection to the present moment.
Perfect for relieving physical tension, calming the nervous system, and reconnecting with yourself, aquatic bodywork offers a one-of-a-kind journey into ease, flow, and freedom.
Experience the healing power of water.
Video: Inika demonstrates Watsu® Aquatic Bodywork.
Daily Rhythm & Schedule
Typical Schedule (We are loose and flow-based)
Day 1 (Saturday) – Arrival in Papeete
Most flights arrive late Saturday night
Arrive in Tahiti and settle into your hotel
Day 2 (Sunday) – Market & ferry to Mo’orea
Breakfast
Optional: Visit the vibrant Papeete market
(flowers, tropical fruit, woven goods, color inspiration everywhere)
Mid-day ferry to Moorea
Arrival at your retreat house, settle into rooms
Gather for introductions at lagoon-side retreat house for catered Polynesian-inspired dinner
Sunset swim
Day 3 – 7
Morning
Breakfast
Choice of nature excursion to nearby sites, hike, or paint independently
Optional body in warm water, gentle water yoga or lagoon snorkeling
Midday
Swim or snorkel in the lagoon
Lunch and/or cultural or creative talk
Rest
Afternoon
Intuitive painting session in studio or open air (approx 3-4 hours)
Optional bodywork / solo time
Evening
Shared meal
Storytelling, reflection, or rest
Watch sunset
Final Day
Breakfast and prepare for departure and ferry ride back to Papeete
Undercurrant, mixed media by Abbie Rabinowitz
Healthy Meals Made with Polynesian Flavor
Sunday evening through Friday evening: Your body will be lovingly fed two delicious fresh catered meals each day. Enjoy an introduction to Polynesian cuisine.
Feast on the many amazing fresh fruits and veggies that grow in Tahiti, including fresh fish from the bountiful sea and locally raised chicken.
Dietary needs? We got you covered!
Mealtime is often the time when our artists will relax together and engage in lively discussions of the day’s events, and our chef’s culinary gifts just add to the great experience.
We can further provide scrumptious alternatives to those with restricted diets, so please let us know if you have unique requirements in your diet and we will make sure we are well prepared.
Accommodations
We have a large shared house available that can accommodate six people in shared rooms. There are also various Airbnb and local vacation rentals. These are located near the Mo’orea’s lagoon where we host our retreat.
Our team will gladly assist you in finding comfortable lodging for you in our local vicinity, as well as a shared vehicle.
Your Hosts
Abbie Rabinowitz and Inika Spence Whaley are Hawaii Island artists, passionate teachers, and believers in the healing power of creativity and nature.
Together they bring a rare combination of gifts to this retreat — intuitive painting, aquatic bodywork, and a shared love of the natural world — all in service of nourishing creativity and healing through art and nature. They can’t wait to share it all with you in Moorea.
Abbie Rabinowitz. Art Retreat Facilitator
I have been an artist my whole life. With a BFA and MFA in fine art, my commitment to painting spans more than four decades — from traditional pleinair landscape painting to the expressive abstraction that defines my practice today.
My work is rooted in a deep, sensory response to nature — the vibrancy of color, the patterns of shifting light, the pulse of the natural world. This intuitive, felt response is at the heart of how I teach, and sharing that spark — that moment when someone connects with their own creative instinct — is what drives me.
An award-winning artist, my work has been shown in museums and galleries across Hawaii. I taught painting online and in person, led art retreats on the Big Island, and taught at Esalen Institute and Hui No’eau Art Center in Maui. I also hold a 500-hour massage therapy certification from Harbin Hot Springs, and completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in India — backgrounds that influence both my art and my teaching.
In Mo’orea, our painting practice will unfold as an extension of experience — in the water, on the land, and in the studio. Working with fluid water media and mixed materials, I’ll offer demonstrations alongside generous space for exploration, play, and discovery — focused not on a finished product, but on deepening your relationship to painting itself.
Whether you’re new to intuitive painting or looking to deepen your practice, I’ll be with you with gentle guidance, encouragement, and full presence.
Inika Spence Whaley ~ Aquatic Bodywork Facilitator
I discovered aquatic bodywork in 1996, after a career in biological sciences, and it completely changed the course of my life. I went on to live, practice, and teach for 20 years at Harbin Hot Springs, where Watsu© and Healing Dance© first developed, and where I grew into a leadership role within the field.
Over the years, I’ve completed more than 3,000 hours of advanced training and have spent over 4,500 hours teaching students around the world. My work is deeply intuitive, grounded in experience, and continually evolving with each person I meet and each body I hold in the water.
Now based in Hawaiʻi, I continue to teach and offer clients a transformative experience through aquatic bodywork sessions and trainings.
Creativity has been a parallel thread in my life, and deep down I felt a strong connection between art and healing. During the pandemic, I gave myself permission to fully explore painting, and what began as a simple curiosity in intuitive expression soon grew into a profound passion.
I’ve since studied with inspiring artists like Abbie Rabinowitz, Louise Fletcher, and Nicolas Wilton, each of whom has shaped my voice in meaningful ways. Today, I see myself as both a therapist and an artist—bringing creativity, presence, and depth into everything I offer.
Retreat Pricing
PRICE: Pricing will be announced soon. Please contact us if you are interested in joining the retreat, and we’ll send you updated information as soon as it is confirmed.
RETREAT DATE: October 11th – 17th, 2026
REGISTRATION:
Payment is due when you register online.
Space is limited. Early registration is encouraged!
Registration instructions coming soon!
INCLUDES:
• 2 daily meals ~ fresh, local & organic
• Three hours of daily art guidance
• Guided excursions
• Introduction to aquatic bodywork.
ART SUPPLIES:
Students have the option of purchasing a painting supply kit that includes watercolor and/or acrylic paints, brushes, paper, canvas, and any other art materials they will need during the painting retreat in Moorea. Please contact me if you would like me to reserve a kit for you.
CANCELATION POLICY:
Full-refund (minus credit charge fee) if canceled by July 31st
Half-refund (minus credit charge fee) if canceled by August 31st
No refund if canceled after August 31st
INSURANCE: Travel insurance is required
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED:
Price does not include accommodation, airfare, or car service. We have a lovely house that can accommodate up to six people in shared rooms. There are also nearby, reasonably priced and unique vacation rentals available. We are happy to help coordinate and suggest local vacation and car rentals. Participants can share a vehicle.