Lincoln Next to Our Delinquent

Just the title makes me grin ... these journal entries sound opposing but, actually both of these personalities are very strong and positive. Well, guess I'd better explain, right?

Thru the months of January and February we continued to find winter's warm entertainments. We had to go see Lincoln (pretty amazing ~ the reality of that war and the complexities of Lincoln and his strengths as well as his weaknesses). So, of course I had to honor him in portrait. Well, a fairly good portrait. The name tags come from a gathering of like minded friends ~ you can see I had the chicken and pudding while Roland had the Eggplant (and yes, the pudding too!). And once we'd discovered that on Mondays in Medford you can get tickets for matinees for just $5, we hit Les Miserables too! Wow, another dy-no-mite heart-breaker with powerful actors! If I had to choose, I'd favor Les Miserables. I'm a sop for tenderness.

Early in February I had a sweet reminder of a warm weather friendship. An elegant hand-crafted card arrived in the mail from one of our repeat participants in our annual Women's Journaling Alpine Retreat. Now Cookie is a lil' spark at our retreats, creative, ornery and a wizard at identifying nature for us (she's a park ranger, no wonder?). But she has also come to be know as our lil' "Delinquent" mainly for the reason that during our morning yoga on the lake shore, she's off taking photos or

identifying birds. And I've portrayed her in watercolor doing one of her "sit-on-the-big-rock delinquent poses". But we love her anyway and she's become an integral part of our kitchen prep, a possible "Sous Chef" I believe? Eh Izzy?

All that aside, the card was made by her and I delighted so much in the design not only of the cover but also her simple card logo. See the "simple sentiments" logo below the card. And inside ... what only an artist can appreciate, "May there always be time to paint". Yep, life is good with these kind of friends!

A Retreat Wednesday's Wanderings

This glowing Wednesday morn was greeted with smiles and anticipation. Today we are quickening thru our yoga, munching thru breakfast (although you can see Darlene, who's made a personal commitment to quickly sketch each breakfast, working away!) and plumply packing  our fabulous "brown-bag" bundle for our hike over to Duck Lake.

It's a mild four mile round trip up over the ridge behind Lake Alpine, dropping into a wide yawning meadow. Along the path we doddle for photos or nature detailing (did I mention one of the participants was a Botanist?), finally reaching Duck Lake and her languid granite surroundings.

Before our sandwiches, we launch into one of the two processes planned for our afternoon. Here is my resulting "Word Whittle" page, which I later illustrate according to the word I had selected. Can you guess what my word was? We break for our mid-day meal sprinkled amongst the trees and rock chairs. Sighs follow our round bellies and it's a good time to just watch Jean's demo for our next exercise. Once we attempt to understand "seeing" the way she's described, we patter off individually, seeking perfect subject matter for our version of "shadow-seeing". My "shadow" page not only reflected trees I was seeing, but I also had a flood of my own shadow side crop up. So I wanted to reflect that with the pensive portrait I found of myself ... keeping it also in solemn shadow monochromatic rendering.

Once back to the Lake Alpine cabins, we slithered into relaxation. The most robust activity we could indulge in ~ was the reading of our previous word exercise and sip wine! Our evening meal, "Lemongrass infused Jasmine Rice, Summer Beans and Ginger Marinated Prawns" was savory. Leaving the remaining hours filled with invested conversation and even some journal work (which I recall became so hilarious that I had tears of joy pouring down my cheeks!).

Gosh . . . and we just have to get up and have all this fun again tomorrow!!

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?

Return Home from Women's Journaling Retreat

How can I describe how it feels when your dream out pours right in front of your eyes? What words can I select to paint how watching the spirit of the Universe work, as it exceeds my wildest visions? That's what I'm going to try to do here for you.

I've gotten nestled back into my sweet home and reunited with my precious "boys" (you know, the furry and the un-furry one). Most of the bags are unpacked and most of the laundry done. But I can't help it . . . I keep traveling back to this scene mostly . . . the huge quiet only broken by chipmunks chattering, the heart swelling beauty of nature, and the gentle women spirits surrounding me, here on the rocks for our morning yoga.

Don't get me wrong, I dance around these visuals too. This scene, where we'd already created our group "Talking Stick" (see it in the window there) and were chattering over our catered "Welcome Dinner", makes me smile. Or the warm sun, autumn breeze and friendly mallard ducks at this beach site where Jean demo-ed, takes me right to my heart. Then too, there is gazing from our cabin porch to see the full moon hanging over the lake, that fills me with wonder.

So, there. It's just a nibbling of what happened, what we did and what we saw during this time . . . now feeling so sacred to me.

Am I a dreamer, or isn't it true that we ALL are dreamers, capable of stretching our envelopes and watching our boldest imaginings become reality? What are your dreams . . . believe me . . . they CAN become a reality!!!

Just ask me.