Dance, Sing, Floss & Travel

I am inspired by the above quote, which is on my water bottle. It came from a store, Lululemon, which recently opened here.
Cool stuff, mainly for Yoga and other athletic endeavors. I wanted to get some nice Yoga pants, hoping they would propel me back into a regular practice (I suppose that's a lot to ask of pants, huh?). But alas, they were upwards of $120 and that was a little rich for my wallet.
I adore the wisdom professed on the water bottle though, all sorts of sayings ranging over multiple topics and covering every inch of the bottle.

"Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself"

"The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought."

and finally.....

"Do one thing a day that scares you."
Hmmm, that one is really food for thought, eh?

Squam

Such a conundrum as to how and where to start when talking about Squam.

First of all, I didn't take enough pictures of my classes. I got all wrapped up in the experience, which is good, but forgot to pick up my camera nearly as much as I would have liked. This 1st pic shows some work from Day 1.

Some of these other photos were sent to me from BJ Lantz, an extraordinary talent who happened to be in my class on day 1(the last picture is her work). She is a sweetie although she did snicker when I ate dessert instead of a meal on Friday night. I would urge you to click on over to her blog to see more photos because she documented the overall experience quite well.

The 2nd picture is Morgan (facing) and Angel (hard at work) making book covers in the Painting without Paint class. Ok, so I guess its a silly class name, huh? But I was trying to prove that you can achieve painterly effects without even using paint. As evidenced by Angel's work. She has such a lovely hand, I truly believe she should do illustration as I could see a children's book in her future, wink, wink.

Finding words about Squam is tough though. Here I am, a week later, still feeling its effects.
I am Joyful. Blissed out. Invigorated. Inspired. And all this after teaching 3 days straight and driving 1500 miles!?! It is that good. Evidence by the incredible sunrise picture that I took. Yep, I leaped out of bed on the final day and ran down to to dock in my flannel jammies to witness this beauty. I think there must be something in the air that makes you gaga while you are there, ha!



Much more than an art retreat, the spirit of Squam runs deep yet simultaneously
uplifts if that makes any sense at all.

Today I honestly feel like I am a new person, a better version of my previous self. Maybe sounds woo-woo, but truly, that's how I feel.

I am just so grateful - to all my wonderful students, my roommates at the Eldorado, my bunkie Peg and especially to Elizabeth - what magic she creates!

Working hard

The mirrors have been a hit at my recent shows. Thus I spent today working on a batch I previously texturized (I don't think that is a real word, but I bet you all know what I mean). They are not quite finished and the mirror part is still taped up but I think you get the idea.

In other news, the iPhone continues to amaze me. John and I are like kids with new toys. We have loaded a bunch of apps, most free, but some had a small price. He loaded a weather app that shows a TV style update of the current weather. That's not really my thing of course (I am more a 'weather out the window gal') but instead I've loaded camera stuff, Facebook, a doodle app, and Bejeweled. Plus a level which is useful.

I am trying to use my thumbs on the keyboard as I heard that is the 'cool way'. Apparently use of your index fingers immediately tags you as older, translation, not hip. A dork of sorts. I've lived the majority of my life as a dork, so its really no biggie for me, but I have found that thumbs are oddly efficient.

Out and About

A site from The Lou - the Pageant and new Moonrise Hotel (note to self, dress funky/cool and visit again to enjoy a martini). This is my first picture with the new iPhone - had to wait till I got home to edit. Anyone have suggestions about a good editing app?

I am quickly becoming addicted to the phone and definitely get all the hype. Still haven't quite figured out which apps to use for mail, contacts, etc. I fear my data is not nearly as complete or organized as I want. Currently, I use Google for contacts, mail, calendar. The Google app for iPhone falls short in transmission of data in that its not complete. I also tried to sync the Google calendar to iCal, then put on my iPhone, but then I had dupes (like tons of them) plus I was missing pertinent dates too. What's a girl to do??? Suggestions are welcomed...I am clearly a newbie.

Favorite things

I have added a new section to the right with links to some of my favorite things. Check it out for blogs that I read and maybe find someone new. Right now I have just a few things posted but I will keep adding to the list in the coming days.

Today I feature a LOVE LINK to Rocio Romero pre-fabricated homes. I have a big ole hankering to buy a piece of land right here in Missouri.......rolling hills run amok with wild flowers, a babbling brook, sunrise and sunset views, a vast private space......and on it I will place one of these fantabulous modern homes. They are absolutely TOO COOL, at least in my estimation.

My piece of heaven will be a sleek get away for me & John (and perhaps a kitty or two). It will be restful and quiet and will house a light filled secondary studio space for moi. I will walk the perimeters of my land with camera in hand, journal my thoughts, indulge myself in arty adventures and then build a fire at night to cuddle with my honey.

A girl has gotta dream and dream big.

This American Life of mine

Wowza, wowza, what a journey I have been on.

During these last 2 weeks (when I've been mainly absent from this blog) I have traveled from my Wildwood, MO home to Wisconsin, then through IL, IN, OH, PA, NY, and VT to New Hampshire. Then from NH through MA and NY to south New Jersey/Philadelphia and then all the way across PA (that is one big friggin' state!) to WV, OH (hi Mom & Dad), IN, IL and whew, finally back home as of last night.

It was beautiful. Amazing. Transformational. I have never done anything like this before. It was interesting to have so much time alone. Time to reflect and t-h-i-n-k. Geez, seems like I don't get to do that so much anymore. I found comfort in my own company. I loved watching the landscape roll by while listening to podcasts of This American Life. Our country is so gorgeous and so very rural - for some reason I forget that - hills and valleys and cows and horses and goats, oh my, oh my.

Anyhoo, I am home now so indulge me while I step back to re-visit Valley Ridge.
Here are a couple of my photos; needless to say, I found inspiration at every turn.
I guess you were probably expecting photos of the student's work, weren't you? Ah, well..... lucky for me, sweet and generous Marge made 2 amazing slide shows of the Valley Ridge experience. Click here for the first one, which features the beauty of the site. And Click here for the second one which shows my class and the incredible art made by my students.

Lucky me, I get to go back next year, how cool is that!??!
And stay tuned, Pics from Squam will be posted soon.

Eva Cassidy - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I am back, but still working on re-entry or re-energy or something like that. Will post all the details of Valley Ridge & Squam soon - the quick version is that both were magnificent - perfect weather, brilliant students and amazing companions. I promise I will post pics soon. In the meantime, enjoy this song......it is a great accompaniment to my pensive mood, wallowing in the joyful memories of these 2 amazing places.

Bliss

First Valley Ridge, now Squam. It just doesn't get any better than this. More photos to follow when I get back home. I am just so lucky to live this life.

NASA Image of the Day

Very interesting. Could be inspiring for abstract work. And I think it is important to know what is going on with our earth. Even if it is depressing at times, like the fires in LA County, ugh. All in all, very intriguing images though.
Click here to check it out.

Be Spontaneous

I am nearly ready for my road trip to Valley Ridge. I am sooooo looking forward to it. There are still openings by the way........think of it, two days of wonderful glorious claybord!! Click the Valley Ridge link above to join us - be crazy, be spontaneous, you know you wanna do it. Trust me, you won't regret it. I will bring plenty of extra claybords so can get them from me if you can't find them in time.

PHD Open House

PHD Gallery will host a Fall Open House this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) from 12-5. Selected works from more than a dozen artists (including moi) will be on display. The top left is one of mine.
Hope to see you there!