Vermont and New Hampshire

Before Squam Art Workshops I flew into Vermont to visit with Squam friends I made the previous year. I had never been to Vermont before and Lake Champlain was a name I could only wonder about. That was to change.

Many of you know EB from her blog which is how I first became aware of her. She has a distinct and personal journaling style that I've always admired and she has been an art teacher for many years.

Under her tutelage the girlfriends and I made keepsake books of our visit.

   

We make nature prints in a way that was new to me.

We played EB's crystal singing bowls, did energy dancing, listened to inspiring music, ate wonderfully  and spent many hours creating and dock sitting and wine drinking. It was like a dream of everything good in life. It always comes down to friends. Laughing, talking, listening to each others' stories.

Ho ho. You didn't think I'd exhausted my photographs of Squam yet did you?

These are the pieces I created in Sarah Ahearn's class. My intention for Squam was healing and health; that's what the pieces were about. Regaining my balance and counting my blessings.

And some journal pages for you. I can't keep up with myself. I've been a twirling dervish this week and I can't seem to settle.

Write, paint and begin again. Forget the unpacking, the laundry.

The beautiful journal above was created by Hillary. It's her photograph too (good one!) and is one of the journals I told you about that I failed to photograph in class. 

Sarah taught us a new way to make transfers so I've been going crazy with that.

I made more dill pickles when I got home.

And then truthfully, yesterday with the skies gray and Portland rain coming down I hit the wall and felt depressed. Only while watching "Project Runway" did I feel somewhat uplifted when Mondo won with all those crazy stripes. 

Now it's time to get ready for Art & Soul in only two weeks. I'm excited. This is the life. xo  

The Rest of Squam 2010

There was plenty of time for daydreaming in my journal while looking out on Squam Lake. 

Time for photography and bonfires and singing and storytelling.

Time for taking classes and walking in single file through the woods.

I took a class with this wonderful teacher, Sarah Ahearn. You will love her work. She was so nice and brought with her her little 4 month old baby. This year she had a baby and wrote a book. Last year she taught a class at Squam too and one of her students was a book publishing person which led to the book (due out May 2011). I love that story.

The next day I taught my class on making a personal journal. This was a class the students asked me to teach last year. Everyone made beautiful journals and sad to say I did not get photographs of all of them.

But here are a few that I did capture.

They all turned out beautifully.

The next day I started class by sending the people out to gather leaves and ferns.

Using natural materials as printmaking objects, stamps, stencils and elbow grease, we made yards and yards of beautiful paper.

My cabin mate was Mary Beth Shaw and she was generous enough to donate a package of her line of stencils for us to use. These stencils are incredible and can be used for textural effects as well as for paint and spray. Check out the link; I think you'll have a lot of fun using them.

This is an example of two of the stencil designs in the package. 

More beautiful paper.

Busy hands.

I guess you know by now I think these papers are gorgeous.

Bee Shay taught me how to make the nature prints. These students picked it right up.

More paper.

We used all our paints and inks.

Wouldn't these make splendid book covers?

This student travelled to Squam from London so she worked on her roll of sumi paper without tearing it. Now she can roll it back up to travel home. Clever!

This was one of her creations. I swooned.

Gold and iridescent paints put the finishing touches on the paper.

Well done, people. Now we have lots of paper for collage and gift wrap and greeting cards and lots of other uses.

After a long day of joyful making we sit on the porch with an adult beverage and enjoy each other. Ahhhh ...

Squam-the-Journal

As you know, I love Squam-the-Retreat. I have my airline tickets in hand already; this will be my 3rd year at this wonderful event. What makes it so special you ask? Well, aside from the best food anywhere, the best soul food anywhere, it is the people who attend. A cross section of photographers, writers, artists, musicians, publishers, editors, organizers. People who love people. All organized by one amazing woman, Elizabeth MacCrellish.

This was in my mailbox this morning and I want to share it with you: 

We understand that not everyone can travel to us, so we are bringing the magic to you!

There is a lovely spirit of connection and collaboration that has emerged from the gatherings at Squam Art Workshops.  However, the journal is not about the workshops themselves.  Rather, it is an exploration of the journeys we take, how we can find friendship in the most unexpected places, and the restorative power of natural beauty-- but above all, it is about what happens when you honor your creativity.  

The journal is filled with spectacular imagery from beloved photographers including Denise Andrade, Jen Gray, Susannah Conway, Jeanine Caron, and Béatrice Peltre, among many others. You can look forward to 120 pages of terrific essays and wide ranging conversations about navigating the ups and downs of life with humor, grace, or when all else fails, retail therapy.  There's a pop quiz, a kicky craft project, home tours, and so much more including an actual journal within the book itself. 

Our hope for this 8" x 8" volume is that it will easily tuck into your bag and accompany you everywhere... on the subway, in the cab, on the train, in the airport, on holiday, etc.  We hope it fills your day with inspiration, fresh perspective and belly laughs.  We trust you're going to like it very much as we created it just for you.

I have an essay in this book and can't wait to see it myself. Click here to pre-order. 

Idyllwild and Squam

No, this isn't a self-portrait but rather a subject I've wanted to interpret for a long time. A friend brought back a post card to me from a show he saw in South America somewhere (sorry, it was a long time ago) by an artist named Linnit DuFlor. She had the martyr sawing off her handcuffs with a hacksaw while the flames dances and she painted it in watercolor which I loved. I'm pretty sure the inspiration for the painting was first done in oils.

During my last trip to Santa Fe I saw another interpretation done in collage with real chili peppers representing the flames. It was at the Museum there, in a drawer. I wish I had a picture to show you. If anyone knows the story behind the original painting I would love to hear it. Is it Joan of Arc and what's with the handcuffs?

Anyway, my version was painted in my journal on a page covered with a thick layer of white acrylic which made the watercolor sit on the surface of the paint and want to bead up. I perversely love to use materials in a way they were not meant to be used.

All beside the point of this post of course which is to announce that two sites have gone live offering classes where I'll be teaching this summer and fall. The first one is Idyllwild in California, a wonderful school that offers summer classes. I'll be teaching a Journaling class on the 8th of July and then on the 9th and 10th I'll be teaching a 2 day class on Waxy Layers. Having 2 days for this class instead of one will allow us to really go in depth with the wax and do some wonderful work.

Then in September I'll be returning to Squam for my 3rd fabulous year there. On Friday the 17th we'll spend the day making journals together like the ones I work in. This is a class that I am always asked to teach so this is it. Then on Saturday morning we'll be making Wabi Sabi paper; an approach that is half printmaking and wonderful fun turning out pages with nature themes as well as gossamer iridescent sheets that can be used in so many other book arts, painting and collage. It will be an intense morning of discovery.

I hope some of you can come and dream the dream with me. Now go make something!

Squam Part 2

Here is my encaustic collage class in front of the Sap House where our class was held. Sap refers to the maple syrup that was made in this building at one time. Like the real maple syrup we ate on our french toast each morning. The food!! OMG, but I digress. I am in the very back like the mother hen. These are my happy onions who have each made a beautiful painting.

This is my angel assistant who took most of these photos. I seldom get a class photo which is so precious to me after the class is held. To look into your faces one by one when I return home. So thank you, Ali. You deepened my pleasure of this year's Squam. Now I can remember and sigh.

Inside the Sap House, surrounded by nature. Imagine the wood fire going all day long (again, kudos to Ali who can lay a real fire and keep it going and to Stephanie Brazil who stepped up more than once to throw on another log).

Hey guys, you get the Blue Blocks at Dharma Trading. The 10 block set is what I'd try. Cheaper here than what I pay for them in my town but I think the same thing. If you google Penscore Magic Stamp Moldable Foam that should get you more than one supplier.

Jamie Ewald with her dreamy painting.

Cheryl Connell.

Cheryl Connell.

Here I am washing off my favorite blue block stamp of a doll baby. It's really creepy. hee hee.

Jenica Mackenzie.

Jenica Mackenzie.

My cabin mates. The faces I will never, ever forget. Phenomenal sistahs. We shared. And bonded. You are each in my heart right this minute.

The journal class that I taught on the second day. Thank you all for allowing yourselves to be herded out like cattle for a class photo. It means so much to me to have it in my journal now. And again, Ali, thank you for taking the photos.

I'm high on Squam. I haven't even mentioned the ice lanterns: big blocks of ice harvested last winter from the lake that held flickering candles and lit a couple of the pathways at night. You could see the bubbles of air held in the ice like fairy wings - pure magic. I keep seeing glimpses of the magic flickering through my memory as I go about my work of preparing to teach at Art and Soul and I feel my heart opened fully to my mission. Which is to share. To strengthen the younger women and men who are this season's people. To live a life of compassion and to stay open.

And the art. Always in the center is the celebration of expression. Making and sharing. Mmmm.