Laura (left) and Kathleen (right)
Kathleen Maltese and Laura Swartzbaugh are hosting their first workshop with Il Chiostro in 2026. Trust Your Creative Soul: A Watercolor & Life-Changing Retreat in Tuscany will take place May 23 -30, 2026 in San Giovanni d’Asso. We sat down with to talk with Kathleen and Laura about their background and teaching styles, and what they are looking forward to most during their time in Italy.
How did you start coaching/teaching?
Laura: After a 27 year career as a professor and high school teacher, I was ready for a change. That change came in an unexpected way: One day in the summer of 2017, I sent a friend a text telling her that I was having a rough day and she replied “listen to this” with the link to a podcast episode. In it, a life coach explained how much our thinking impacts what we end up doing in our lives. I started listening to the podcast and learning more about neuroscience – particularly how we can work with our mind strategically to make changing behavior much easier. I did a year long certification program in 2018 and have been coaching full time ever since!
Kathleen: During my senior year at the University of Colorado while earning a BFA in Painting, I encountered dance and fell in love with it. After graduation, I dove into dancing, studying with several teachers for a couple of years while earning my living as a zookeeper. Then a colleague asked if I would be interested in taking over a couple of the dance classes she was teaching and I said yes. For the next 30 years, I trained, performed and taught in schools, universities, galleries, nursing homes, and studios. After my husband and I adopted a baby in 2001, I returned to school to become certified to teach Visual Art in high school and there I renewed my connection to painting. This led to founding and developing the visual arts program at a brand new high school (where I met Laura!) and teaching there for 13 years. Since I retired in 2018, I’ve devoted myself to my painting practice and teach painting to small groups of adults.
What is your teaching/coaching philosophy?
Laura: I love meeting my clients exactly where they are and showing them the easiest possible way to create the change they want to achieve. While I work with a lot of coaches and creative entrepreneurs, I also help tons of women with a wide variety of challenges such as career change, empty nesting, retirement, getting a promotion, and getting back into a creative practice they’ve been missing. I believe that anyone can make the changes they are dreaming of making. And, with the help of our unconscious mind, that change will be easier than we think it will be. That’s been my experience and the experience of my clients. Because I believe so strongly in my clients the minute I start working with them, my belief is contagious; my clients start seeing change quickly which motivates them to keep going toward what they want. Nothing is more inspiring to me than seeing someone create what they want in their life. Having lost my mom when she was only 63, I know that our time is limited and the time to go for what we want is now, not later.
Kathleen: My philosophy grows out of my commitment to teaching students above teaching subject matter, because I believe that learning occurs most fully and joyfully when the learning environment is one of support, fun, and encouragement. I emphasize “noticing” and discernment over judgement, cultivating curiosity rather than ambition, and the exhilaration that comes from shedding one’s fear of making a hot mess. These are the experiences that profoundly changed my relationship to my creative life, so I do my best to set up that kind of environment for my students
What do you love about teaching?
Laura: I love helping someone see a totally different perspective on an issue/story they’ve believed for a long time during our very first session. The joy and relief a client feels when she realizes that she actually isn’t stuck, moving backwards, failing, or whatever other story she’s been telling herself — well, that is as delightful an experience as any I’ve ever had. I also love that coaching feels like breathing to me — it’s something that comes totally intuitively for me without any effort. I instantly know what the “problem” is when I speak to a client and how to help them. What’s better than getting to do what I love and what I’m good at as my career?
Kathleen: I’m a huge believer in the restorative enlivening power of making art. Yet I think many of us have had some difficult experiences with art-making in childhood which make us feel embarassed, or self critical and fearful of making mistakes when we approach painting as adults. I really love being the voice of delight and encouragement in my teaching, gently leading folks to see their work with kinder eyes and more open minds. Because I never got that kind of help when I was a student, I’m very happy to be able to provide this lighter touch in my teaching.
Why are you excited about working with Il Chiostro?
Kathleen and I are both tremendously excited about the fact that it’s your 30th year! To have a couple of people conceive of such a great business idea and then cultivate it so it thrives for 3 decades is pretty inspiring, especially considering how much the travel industry has changed over those years. We also love that they have built such deep long-term relationships with people in Italy that they work with year after year. Il Chiostro’s emphasis on authentic relationships, celebrating Italy’s culture, and creative experiences is a perfect trifecta for our approach to our retreat. For us, a satisfying visit to Italy is not about checking off the boxes or rushing to see all the major tourist sites. Instead, travel is savoring deeply moving, relaxing, joyful experiences that reflect Italy’s authentic way of life
What do you hope students get out of the workshop?
Laura: Total life change. (I’m joking — sort of). I hope they come away from the trip seeing themselves differently: believing they are creative people who are capable of doing whatever it is they want to do with their lives. I want them to feel profoundly recharged and capable of using the new tools they’ve learned to calm their mind when life starts life-ing (as it surely will). And I hope they fall deeply in love with Tuscany: the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Italy that I have loved since my first time there as an 8th grade girl with braces and a spiral perm.
Kathleen: I share Laura’s hopes for our students, but would add that I would like them to have become more adventuresome in using watercolors, whether they are brand new to painting or are quite experienced. There’s always more to discover, and I want them to leave the retreat feeling more comfortable taking risks in their creative practices and in the way they live their lives.
What are you looking forward to most during the trip to Italy?
Laura: Getting to know everyone on the trip, sleeping in an Italian villa, eating artisanal wood fired pizza, swimming in the pool, walking the formal gardens, and exploring the small towns I’ve never been to before. I’ve never been to any of the specific locations we will be, and I adore new experiences. Just thinking about it as I write this gets my heart beating faster. I really cannot wait to be there and get started!
Kathleen: I’m very very excited to spend a week in a gorgeous inspiring environment and have the opportunity to make art with other people – it’s practically my favorite thing to do in the whole world. That we’ll also be eating amazing food, have a swimming pool to relax in and around, roam the Tuscan hills and hear Italian spoken everywhere we go is a dream! I’m the daughter of an Italian immigrant, I’ve studied Italian, have visited several times, including on my luna di miele, and Italy is my heart place, a place where I have felt that I’m coming home.
Anything else you’d like me to highlight?
Kathleen and I are very chill, and fun retreat leaders. At the same time, we are skilled teachers and coaches who’ve been doing this work for decades. We’re looking forward to an absolutely relaxing-yet-enlivening trip that meets each student where they are at — wherever that might be. If you’re an open and curious person who wants to explore your creative side and experience world class coaching & teaching, you’ll love this retreat. If you’re in search of a packed itinerary and fully programmed days, this is not the trip for you!
To learn more or register, visit: Trust Your Creative Soul: A Watercolor & Life-Changing Retreat in Tuscany, May 23 -30, 2026 in San Giovanni d’Asso.
Find out more about Laura at: https://www.laurascout.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-swartzbaugh-ph-d-2335a037/
Find Kathleen on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmalteseartworks?igsh=MXB1Mm1reHh2ZjN4eQ==