Snowman When Daffodils Are Out?

Seems like a silly celebration - but I'm celebrating getting un-chained from the computer and back to the creative dance of painting in my journal. Yippee!!!!!

After nearly a month of working on my Women's Mexico Retreat Handbook, the over-fifty-page handout is printed, page numbered, collated and ready to pop into binders. I'd wanted to prepare a detailed explanation of all the instruction that my co-instructor and I will be presenting. So that after the Retreat, the participants will be able to look back for reference on how to do things. I've been typing out explanations, importing photos to help with details and finally numbering the pages in sequence. Damaris, my co-instructor, who is doing mandala presentations, mailed me her over-twenty five-page insert. And I finally got the pages scanned, enumerated and in order. Being sure to save out pages that involve exercises we want to distribute only after the process, I finally have THIS - the completed handbook!

And yesterday, I luxuriated in an afternoon painting a sweet Christmas illustration in my journal. I know it's w-a-a-a-a-a-y-y-y-y past December, but that's where I need to go to update my journal. I had the image sketched in and only had the fun part of layering and adding dashes of pink and alizarian paint over the top to make it pop. This is an adorable lil' holiday ornament I acquired last year (I'd purchased a set of six, sending the lil' fellow's brothers and sisters out to friends for gifts). So, he's the sole survivor of his family to reside here with us. Even thought the holiday season reeked with weird situations and disappointments (I know, "no expectations, no disappointments!"), this lil' smilin' snowman was one of the joys of that season. So, I'm wishing you - a happy holiday moment, even thought my daffodils are blooming!

Hey, you can ALWAYS find something to celebrate!!!

Reporting Back!

Where have I been? Well, actually Manzanillo, Mexico! And I guess in the hubbub of preparing for the trip, my blog took less priority. But I'm back a-workin' now and will attempt to catch you up from even before we left.

I had set personal goals of getting my smaller Dahlia pieces done before I left. But, well, I did finish one and feel very pleased with 'her'. She is 5 x 7 inches and along with two other of her sisters, she will be within the same frame as the larger, more graphic Dahlia you have seen started previously in this blog. I wanted to create an unusual graphic presentation with strong pieces. Here she is and her name, for now, is #2.

In preparation for the trip, I labeled particular images on reserved journal pages, then I'd printed out the images and took them with me. I had hopes of 'catching up' with my journal during the vacation. But you notice I said 'had hopes' - well, I didn't. So along with adding to my plein air painted images of the trip in my journal, I'm also currently adding 'backed up' pages from before we left. One is in honor of the daffodils that are speckling the landscape up here with happy, spring-promising color. Now we also have hyacinths but they may or may not make it into the journal.

Tomorrow I'll launch you on a tour of Manzanillo, Mexico. Til then "Happy Trails!"