Early Spring Campin' and Red Lily Calm

Ok, we've traveled through the full spectrum of camping. We moved out of the tent camping, starting with pop-up campers when we first moved to Oregon, even took a leap into the RV world towing a vehicle (you remember my Mexico tales, right?) ... with all of those now memories ... we've gone full circle again. We ordered a big 10 x 14 size (plenty of room to bed and mornin' yoga) and tested it out on the lawn at home. Then, off to truly test it out on during our May tent camping trip at La Pine, Oregon, up near Bend.

These journal pages capture some of the sweetest moments from that trip. We had some sunny and some rainy weather and I started the tent image on site, adding the luxurious plump clouds from  memory. We were joined by a dear friend who brought along his lil' camper and puppy and toured us along the pristine Metolious River (that actually has it's beginnings from a crystal clear spring that just flows out of the earth!). On our tour we ventured over to a fish hatchery (where we watched a BIG crow lunch on a sizable fish right out of the hatchery's pool) but the vision that took my breath away was the clear, brilliant colors in the churning waters of the river before the bridge.

Yep, while the boys played at the hatchery, I began my painting. I knew I'd usurp all my time getting the bridge drawn right (all that architectural stuff) so once I got the drawing down, I ignored the bridge. And went to capturing the magnificent water. T'was a challenge with the continued movement but I took many photos and feel pretty happy with the color and feel of the moment! I finished the bridge from the photo, by the way, and got to savor the time "in the water".

Those of you who own dogs ... well, you know what the scene with our friend, Roger, here is about. Perhaps you can't see the treat in hand, but you know the beggin' stance our Cody has so mastered! Had to save this into my journal!

Once home to the Rogue Valley we'd promised to spend the upcoming Mother's Day with a friend who'd lost her mom the previous year. The fresh and elegant scene along the Applegate River provided by the Red Lily Winery soothed our spirits with music. We munched on our casual picnic spread while I catch shots of the peopled, red canopied tables. Lovely afternoon.

Oh and PS ... the tent worked great, no leaks, ample room ... but we won't talk about clean up and packing of the wet and dirty behemoth ... ok?

Retreat's Thursday flows into Saturday

My Thursday at the Women's Retreat just echoed another day in paradise, with no relief in sight! After arising early (yes, only the quiet fishermen we up on the lake at the same time), awareness-awakening yoga, and another amazing breakfast, I introduce paperclay, one of my favorite mediums. Here you see one of the participants determinedly creating paperclay pizza! Yes, I did say pizza!! Endless ideas have to cease to allow a quiet Buddhist Meditation before it's lunch time.

Chef Izzy outdoes herself again (with Roasted Asparagus, Poached Egg, and Brioche and Creamy Shallot Vinaigrette) and happy round tummies we waddled down to the "Miwok Holes" area. There Jean instructs us in the dual assignment of imaging and writing our own Haikus. I love these stacked granite shore rocks with fasciniating rings demonstrating different water levels with a few yellow leaves clinging on to Autumn. So this become my subject for the Haiku. And you can see my resulting page too.

Thursday evening tumbles into Friday. We are served home made jams by Izzy and not only were the yummy but all us artists were in love with the glowing colors as the sun shown thru the jars! Of course, I had to paint them! Friday at the Retreat included making our precious individual books (stay tuned to upcoming blog entries to see mine). The formal instruction/schedule ends after our Alumni Lunch and participants sprinkle around doing their own bidding.

Saturday finds us all finding our own fun direction. I'm seeking some solitude and head off to the East end of the lake for a solitude filled sketch. Some of the others had gone on out on a mission to pick up any stray fishing line and/or fish hooks cluttering the beaches. So when they all returned with some actual "beautiful" rusty ole' hooks, I selected one that had to go in my journal. Here I've installed the hook in Mod Podge and sliced the business card of the quite delicious Mexican "El Vachero" Restaurant we ventured off to Arnold to try.

I'm really pleased with the diversity of this page and how it all melds together. It so is reminiscent of the quickly flying-by-time there at the end of the retreat. We all wanted to cling onto the close friendships and the exuberant laughter that we so often shared. But we all knew . . . our time together was trickling away.

I found my journal actually got kinda of shaken up and out of order. You see we had a medical emergency that had to be dealt with and it did scatter the usual organization of my mind. But I learned I could handle it and come out grateful for my health, the "miracle" participants present at the retreat and the eventual positive outcome nurtured by everyone's caring.

Life is a miracle . . . sometimes I just need reminders!

Monday's Makings at the Women's Retreat

Having slumbered with visions of swaying pine trees, lapping lakes and creative genius dancing in our dreams, we all were up early. The first activity is to amble down and nest into a cozy spot on the granite peninsula at the west end of the shore. Flat 'n sandy with a calming view of the mornin' lake, it's a perfect spot for our daily yoga. I lead the Sun Salute and it always takes me a day or two to get relaxed with doing the breathing and speaking instructions/suggestions at the same time. I find it such a centering time, greeting the beauty of the Sierras in silence, inhaling deep of the pristine air and knowing the link between nature and myself.

We relocate to the Sequoia cabin after breakfast at the Ponderosa cabin. The Sequoia is our "creative" cabin and we cover a full gambit of generalities, questions and suggestions about journaling. We seem to have covered most of our planned material quickly and it allows a bit of free painting time before lunch. I choose to do a simple contour drawing and later fill in color where I want.

Lunch is yummy and Jean and I have received a request to do a tandem painting of the same subject matter. To demonstrate how differently we approach a scene, I start with saving my whites, applying my wax crayon and then start with under washes. I hand it over to Jean while my image dries and we ping-pong back and forth til done. A fun revelation for all of us!

Our major goal for the afternoon session was to relax, express ourselves and get acquainted. What better way than . . . making your very own paper doll from scratch . . . in the dream version of yourself?!?! Well, some of my fantasies include carefree hair, naturally beautiful Jamaican skin and narrow thighs (don't we all have these silly images in our head?)! So here's my doll, with properly bending joints and wacky yellow french knots embroidered for curly hair. As most of you know, I work slowly, so we never got her clothed beyond the under ware . . . but she surely made me smile!

The full two page journal spread falls together spontaneously. With the paper clay "cloud" insert on the left and the negative hole cut out to protect that "cloud" I have created challenging design elements to work with for the next few pages. I love how the pink and purple hiking boots reflect back those same colors in the shadows of the cloud's under-belly. And just looking at the page . . . all those frivolous or frowning moments flood back . . . don't you just love journaling?

Friday's Fun & Farewells at the Retreat

Another glittering, gorgeous day blossoms for us. In brisk mornin' air we weave our way to the "Yoga Rocks", as we've renamed them, to do our yoga. The sun warms us as we stretch and shortly we are back to the cabin, to feast on Izzy's (freshly made Apple-Pecan Turnovers with Steamy Coffee).

Tis' our last morn to dig into delightful creative time together. We indulge in traveling thru everyone's creations during the previous days ~ and are in wonder at the amount and variety and quality! It's almost sacred paging thru these images that flood us all with the memories of our hours in merriment.

The final process we have invented is explained as I hand out the hand-made accordion books I've crafted for each individual. On the front we will use the stamp we carved previously to denote it being "our" book. Then we pass the books around to everyone who's mission is to invent a page in the book for the specific individual to whom the book belongs.

It's mesmerizing . . . hours pass with laughter, wows and purrrrrrs of delight. We became so involved that even our Izzy (who'd pulled herself away from the kitchen to participant) had to remind us of lunch.

Lunch is special too ~ it's our first "Alumni Lunch"! A previous participant from last year's retreat was coming to visit and it was rich with news and getting-to-know conversations. We actually got a photo with ALL of us in the image (well, save for me with the camera)! We convinced our Alum to get a shot of all the riotous participants from this year before the retreat closes just after lunch. The silliness continued as you can see!

After lunch we all (save for one - who needs to return home that evening) return to finish up our accordion book page entries. Just before sunset Jean and I have to scurry the artists out of the "creative" cabin, so that we may put away all the art supplies, books and tables. With the retreat over, we want tomorrow completely free for all of us to do just as we want.

Our
evening is spent reveling in our treasured journals and savoring new ideas hoping to tuck them in our minds for later.

Our Izzy prepares us a yummy re-heated leftover dinner - and I manage to sneak outside for a quick and chilly shot of the surreal night sky and parking lot. There's an air of melancholy as we all realize our days dwindle that will be spent here in the company of our new-found friends and the rejuvenating mountain surroundings.

The Retreat Wednesday to Remember

Wednesday blossomed with glorious sunshine and dancin’ cumulus clouds. Finally, with the ground dry enough, we actually were able to do our yoga on the quiet lake shore. With a breakfast of Cheesy Spinach & Chicken Frittatas from Chef Izzy rounding our tummies, we are ready for the day.

Our morning processes were inward looking. We began with a calming, centering Buddhist Meditation on the warm deck. Ahhhhhhhhh, the sheer pleasure to one’s senses just relaxing into the fresh mountain air.

Next, Jean led us in the “Cut Up Memory Walk”. In silence, we all move to secluded areas we select outside then, return to finish up the experience in our journals. Jean, as usual, is having fun here! We also catch our Chef Izzy, who was in our adjacent cabin and had apparently completed lunch prep, allowing her some relaxing horizonal time on the deck.

The completed journal pieces varied in deliciousness. With mine, I’d saved all my recent birthday cards and incorporated them into this process. One of the “expressions” I’d used that felt particulary inventive was the golden colored thread weaving thru the air. What this represented in my experience outside was the scent of curry, as Chef Izzy simmered our evening curry sauce!!

This lil' fish sequence formulated at the last minute. I found this piece of bark that so much looked like a fish and that stirred my memory of smiling over Cookie's collection (which she'd offered up to all of us) of teeny lil' creatures - - I remembered the tiny fish. He had to be eaten my my "big fish". You'll also see a teeny moose up near the mountains, top left. Again, this page evolved as it only could have at the retreat with the very special mix of women there.

With a fabulous lunch of Grilled Chicken, Chickpea, Cauliflower and Spinach Salad, tossed with Smoked Salmon and Vegan Caesar Dressing fueling us, we launced into a rather complicated exercise, “Stitching into Journals”. I gave more extensive examples of sewing flat, embroidered or here, 3-dimensional objects into your journal. This was a piece I’d made ahead of time, so the stitiching could go quickly in the demo. Notice the numerous pages I need to cut “windows” thru so that my piece wouldn’t have pressure upon it when the journal pages closed.

Our evening relaxed into satisifaction as re-lived the day, chattered about processes and, of course, relished that “Tofu Curry” over your selection of Steamed Brown Rice or Udon Noodles. What a yummy day!