Dueling Paintbrushes at Journaling Retreat ~ Day One

Today breaks clear, brilliant blue and sunny warm at our first full day of the Women's Journaling Alpine Retreat. After we've welcomed the day with yoga on the sparkling lake's edge, we breakfast and then, settle out between the two closest cabins with a view peering into the shadowed, cool forest.

We've designed this "Dueling Brushes" demonstration to show how differently both Jean and I approach a journal page and how differently we paint. Jean takes her thirty-five minute time frame first. With this result! And then I take mine. As I've mentioned I'm struggling with this new journal size (it's smaller) and the quality of paper (some of the pages are just writing paper). So my attempt to solve the paper challenge is to glue a small piece of watercolor paper into the page where I want to

watercolor. I like the results . . . and I'm pleased with the traveling off the watercolor paper in small overlappings onto the writing paper.

I'm actually pretty pleased with the full spread visual. I like how the colors happen to balance themselves out between the pigments I chose for the landscape and the delicate hues of the pods in this
handmade black paper. Still I feel astonished that those holes I've had to cut for the paper clay insert add harmony to this unpredicted page so much further back from when the holes originated.

It's that magical serendipity of the journal that continues to surprise and please and enamor me. I'm still in love with this process. Ever new . . .

Fulfilling That Vision, Black Serendipity ~ September 14, 2013

Arriving two days preceding the start of our "Women's Journaling Retreat" allows this sweet cushion of time, in which we can do exactly what we want. Which is exactly what I proceed to do.

You know from the previous blog post that I'm in the midst of this new journal format and now am upon a black page. So when I flip the page to see the back side of the black seed pod paper, I'm no longer perturbed at not wanting to sketch upon it. Instead I'm charmed by the journal serendipity that pops up in ways that can ONLY happen in a journal. These blonde seed pods, flattened and preserved in the black handmade paper echo the shape and color of the hole I'd cut to accommodate my earlier paper clay insert! Love these magical happenings.

On the adjacent page ~ I'm going to do want I was aching to do when we were up at Mosquito Lake ~ I'm going to watercolor the water lilies in the water surface. But this page is mere writing paper ... so I'm trying this possibility of glueing in a small piece of watercolor paper and painting what I'd wanted. I'm pleased with my watercolor painting and find it kind of fun to try and trickle off the watercolor paper onto the journal's regular paper. It does ripple some ... but integrates the square watercolor paper into the whole page. AND - I got to paint what I really envisioned.

As I look a the full spread open, I'm again wiggling in joy at the balance that occurred unplanned. Look how the strong dark values in the lily painting even's out that strong black seed pod page. I just thrill in how journals seem to design themselves ... way better than I could have even imagined!! Now ... on to the start of the retreat!

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!