The fun free play day ~ ~ a delight to anticipate and now we get to
do it!! Up early with a more relaxed yoga down at the lake glistening edge. Beautiful reflections and quiet fishermen surround us.
After breakfast, we muddle around, just deciding where and what each one of us wants to do. Before anyone
takes off we have to unroll our Izzy's attempt at using my steam curlers - - she was SO thrilled to have elegant curls in her usual straight hair. It was sheer a "girl's pleasure" moment!
Out into the perfect day, we each attend to what most perfectly pleases "me"! I gravitate towards th
e northwest end of the lake where there are numerous Miwok Indian holes (round holes ground into the granite where the natives ground their grains etc.) I cruise around the gigantic rocks, in search of the visual scene that speaks to me. I settle in next to the water, just across from the tiny island off shore. Here's my delectable vision! On my way back to the afternoon cabin, I caught this joyous site of the Lodge Restaurant red, green and yellow umbrellas glowing in the sun. Smiles!!!
Now Jean meandered more west on the lakes edge, where the ducks seem to collect. She so catches the simple elegance of the rugged trees, rocks and dance of the water in the sun.We collect at the cabin for the late afternoon. With Izzy gone and the remainder of us starting to gather our individual things to start packing, the reality of our
divergent destinations is becoming all to real. Just before sunset we all take a final sunset stroll down at the pier. As the golden sun is blanketed by the pale blues of evening, we witness the temperatures change. Lovely monochromatic scenes begin to appear and Jean later does a spin-off in her journal from influenced by that scenario.
Dinner is a buffet of "what-kind-of-delicious-leftover-do-you-want" selection and we linger around the table.
Chatter around the various new ideas we've discovered and paging thru visuals, hopefully to nest them firmly in our brain for later use, fills our evening hours. The ending of our final evening at the Lake Alpine Resort us upon us and full of melancholy memories we fall asleep . . . contentedly.
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..jpg)
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!.jpg)
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!.jpg)
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?
