Valley Ridge

Spring came to Valley Ridge just in time to welcome myself and 15 incredible women. Wisconsin cleared up my hayfever as long as I was there and I felt marvelous. Sunny, magnificent scenic beauty, red-winged blackbirds and two days of happiness. What a wonderful experience it was for all of us. This one goes up there with the best places I've visited.

Here are my hosts, Bill and Kathy Malkasian, preparing pot stickers for our evening repast. They treated me like a duchess.

Can you taste it? Sorry I didn't get a photo of the Gimlets that accompanied the pot stickers. Very nice. Almost too nice.

Kathy has great photographs of the students and work here at her Facebook site. (And more here.) There are also 2 videos; one of me demonstrating the amber shellac on wax technique and one of Michelle, a student, describing the work she accomplished. One of my cameras bit the dust halfway through the 2-day workshop and now my main computer is on its last leg so for the first time I'm posting this from my laptop and it's really clumsy.

Let me know if you get to Kathy's site and if you are able to view all the student work. It was phenomenal and everyone accomplished so much.

Valley Ridge is a jewel; Kathy gets such good teachers to come there and then treats the students so wonderfully, providing lovely food, small classes and a beautiful studio in which to work. I just sigh whenever my thoughts turn to my days there.

The beauty of my job are the people I meet - the hard part is saying good-bye to new friends with whom you so easily connect. As I sit here picturing your dear faces I send out a blessing and love to you and I thank you for making me feel so welcomed and fulfilled. It was heaven and you did excellent work. I just know there's going to be some more serious encaustic artists in the world now. xo.