Slipping and Sliding

You know that dream where you're trying to run and you can't get any traction? That's me in winter.

Sure I get up every day, drink tea, make my lists. And then I read. Or get bogged down online. My mind is scattered and daydreamy. Someone said Christmas was the other Halloween. It was never that when the kids were kids. Then I was young, focused, incredibly festive. But now, like the snow, I drift.

Sure, I still teach, journal, get into the studio. But my lists take forever to complete. Instead of going down the list each day I allow myself space. I tell myself I've worked and traveled hard all year and now I'm in a repair mode. Like the seeds, I'm scattered and resting.

 I did get some collaborative hot wax work out this week.

But little else. My dear friends, I wish each of you a safe and heartfelt wish of well being during this time of busy-ness, emotional stress and travel. Be kind to each other and extra patient. I'll do the same. May each of you have a friend to love. xo

Paint Oaxaca

Announcement number two. This is a huge one that we are announcing far in advance so you'll have time to dream and hopefully arrange so that you can join us. This time we're traveling to the gustatory center of the universe.

OAXACA!

September 6-14, 2014

Photo by Paula Fava

Here is the announcement in the words of our host, Kathie Vezzani:

"We are so excited to share this trip with you. Oaxaca is a beautiful city filled with breathtaking beauty, people, architecture, food (moles, lots of them), and most importantly, art. Especially the art we will make with Judy and Katie. 

There will be an introduction to Oaxacan arts and crafts with former gallery owner, Mary Jane Gagnier, author of Oaxaca Celebrations.

We will see the famous black pottery and visit the nearby village where the colorful albreijes or wooden carvings are made with a demonstration on how they use natural ingredients for painting, including the cochineal bug from the maguey cactus. We have warned the cochineal farm where we will visit, that you will want to buy some of this unique and fabulous powder for your paintings. 

There will be four full days of classes with Judy and Katie with little surprises thrown in here and there, and yes, one may include chocolate. Judy is preparing a fabulous class with a guest artist on painting ex-votos on tin. You won’t want to miss this! Our guest artist is fabulous!

Katie is devising painting classes that will incorporate interpreting Mexican artists and a treasure hunt at the huge Abastos Mercado. And they have more surprises for us as we Paint Oaxaca. 

More in depth descriptions of their classes will be forthcoming later in December.

We can’t be in Oaxaca without experiencing the food. There will be two classes, one with Pastry Chef Ana Elena Martinez from Puebla and one at Susana Trilling’s Season of My Heart cooking school. You can read more at www.seasonsofmyheart.com 

On the way to Susana’s we will stop at the beautiful Centro de Las Artes de San Agustín (CASA) where you will want to apply for an artist’s sabbatical, and down the hill we will visit the Arte Papel in Vista Hermosa La Fabrica de Papal where you can buy colorful handmade paper, necklaces and earrings, all made from paper. 

Now meet our friend, Emelia Arroyo Cabrera.

Isn't she beautiful? She is the matriarch of the Cabrera family with whom we will be staying in Oaxaca at 

Casa de las Bugambilias is a striking modern house decorated with contemporary art, local folk art and antiques in a minimalist aesthetic promoting peace and restfulness. It is located just one block from the legendary baroque Santo Domingo Cathedral and Cultural Museum. 

http://lasbugambilias.com/the-houses/las-bugambilias/ 

Her daughter, Pilar is a chef and runs their cooking school and restaurant, La Olla, and she will prepare our meals. Most breakfasts and lunches will be on site at Bugambilias. 

A welcoming fiesta is planned on the rooftop, and four dinners, including a final meal at Orijen, one of the most sought after reservations in Oaxaca. 

You will also meet Rene, Emilia’s son who will be with us as a tour guide and his wife, Adriana helps run the three B&B’s. It’s truly a family run business. 

El Secreto 

And here is where Emilia offers the temazcal that purifies your mind, body and spirit. She is an extraordinary healer. You can sign up for this service and/or a massage. 

For more information and images: http://lasbugambilias.com/services/temazcal/ 

You may also sign up to see the Ethnobotaniacal Gardens. 

We hope you can join us for this extraordinary opportunity to 

Paint Oaxaca with Katie Kendrick and Judy Wise 

Included in the price is 8 night’s accommodation, breakfasts, lunches (except one), 4 dinners, welcoming fiesta, two cooking classes. It does not include airfare or transfers from the airport ($20 taxi ride). Price is $2,980 and the trip will be limited to 14 participants 

There are a limited number of single rooms so register early. A nonrefundable deposit of $500 is due now with the remaining payment due May 1. Installments can be made for the remaining balance. 

Contact Kathie Vezzani at kathievezzani@yahoo.com to register or if you have questions. 

Kathie and Ana Elena have been leading culinary tours to Mexico for over 17 years."

Katie and I are working on our class samples all this month and will have a separate post to show you what we plan to present. We'll offer daily painting classes and will do all we can to insure a safe and joyful trip for each participant.

 We think the cooking classes will be a fabulous experience to add to our offering as a trip to Oaxaca would not be complete without experiencing the incredible food of this culture. One of the things that makes the food here so unusual is that Oaxaca is surrounded by mountains and scores of micro climate zones that have given rise to a great diversity of plant life and the cuisines they inspired. We are going to absorb art, color, food and joy in equal abundance.

Oh my.

Saturday Painting Class at Collage in Portland

Gosh, I'm falling behind on all kinds of announcements. I'll start with this one because the class is Saturday, THIS Saturday, (gasp) - but if you live close by you can arrive at Collage on 1639 NE Alberta between 9:30 and 10 am. The supply list is here but if you're missing anything Maria has ordered everything you'll need that you can pick up at the store.

We have room for a few more thanks to my tardy announcement so come join us for some exploration in paint.

I have two more big announcements so I'll post one tomorrow and one on Monday. Whew!!

Spreading the Word

Here's an online class that's going to be amazing. I'm not teaching in this one but my amiga Katie Kendrick is and I want you to go here to her site to sign up for it.

It starts on January 9th, just in time to get busy indoors and goes for 9 weeks!! There is all the information spelled out at the link and the insructors include Stephanie Lee, Katie Kendrick (of course), Kate Thompson, Christy Tomlinson, Junelle Jacobsen, Danielle Donaldson, Teresa Sheeley, Jenny Wentworth and Jeanne Oliver. See what I mean? Over 60 discussion and technique videos and weekly live chats on the site. 

Earlybird registration is open and the cost is $48 if you sign up now.

 It's going to a lot of fun. And would make a great Christmas gift for yourself or a friend. Just sign up at Katie's site. And I'll see you there. xo

Little Pieces

As much as anything, I'm posting today in a fit of procrastination. 

A friend contacted me last night to ask if my feet were on the ground here yet. I can say that yes, I do feel at home now. I'm back in the studio and also reading a lot. Looking out the window at the frozen landscape which is so beautiful. Daydreamy. Thinking about the face painting online class that a group of you have requested. I've never considered doing it before because others have done it but it is true that we each bring something unique to the table.

I'm not fully in on the idea yet. So that's just a recurring thought.

Eating too much. That's a symptom.

Drifting.

Counting the days until Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to that.

Being grateful for a warm house, hot coffee, my excellent mate and the ways he is kind to me and that I am kind to him. It makes us both content.

These are the two books I've just read; the first one leading me into the second which is related. 

Discovered I'm a yankee through and through. Well, kind of a Buddhist-leaning Yankee. 

November. *sigh* Don't you think they invented these winter holidays here in the northern hemisphere to distract us from cabin fever and the like? 

Maybe I'll go clean the house now. 

Rocky Re-entry

I wish I could come home from travel and stick the landing like I was able to do a couple of decades ago. This re entry was particularly brutal; I'm still trying to convince myself that I'm here and not there. I'm not getting much done.

My great consolation as I've said before is painting. Good, bad, indifferent, putting paint to paper always comforts and lifts me. I crave the color and the form.

These daily meditation paintings are particularly so. Done in my journal, they are intimate and friendly. 

As Henry Miller said, "Paint what you like and die happy".

This is my therapy. Different paintings for different moods. Some are just to play. Some are more ambitious. Some get painted over when I get finished with looking at them for a few days.

And then I move on.

Einstein said that creativity is intelligence having fun.

That's what's going on here. Just hanging by a thread of paint. 

xo

San Miguel Group Two

Photo credit Paula Fava

After a few days' rest for Katie and me, the second group of creatives arrived in San Miguel. 

What follows will be a taste of this and a taste of that.

 More triptychs were created. More tours of San Miguel taken.

We visited Casa Las Ranas, which Cynthia Fawcett has captured so beautifully in this post.

From recycled wine bottles to catfood cans, this edifice and home is a source of pleasure and wonder.

We marvelled at the colorful chandelier.

The bathtub Virgin of Guadalupe.

The paving stones of mosaic tiles.

The wall studded with used cat food cans. Delightful.

Also delightful was our cooking class with Kirstin West, a knowledgable expert on indigenous foods and Mexican food history. She served us a wonderful meal that was prepared for the most part while we watched and gave us all recipes to bring home. 

Of course we had calacas in our midst!

Group explorations of the safe and beautiful streets.

Living art and endless time to create.

Again, plaster, wax, paint, repeat.

All in a tranquil courtyard where meals could be smelled being prepared for us and where we were steps away from our quiet rooms for naps or alone time.

On one of our tours we visited this chapel in the courtyard of the first church in old San Miguel which is out in the country now. I loved the boulders incorporated into the walls and door sills of this church. Surely a difficult job for the artisans who built it.

On the road to Tierra Blanca. Some of the beautiful country that surrounds San Miguel.

These are some of the pouches we fashioned to hold our creations. Each one a reflection of it's maker.

One day Kathy Vezzani (check out her link! Wonderful photos of the trip!) took Katie and I to the home of her friend where I shot these two tin retablos. 

The man who we visited is an avid foodie and I thought these retablos were perfect. Some day I want to paint my own.

This was the rooftop seating area of the same house. Exquisite.

And a typical street in the town of Tierra Blanca. I fell in love with this town, smallish and nestled right in the mountains. 

More creations by the pilgrims.

Mexico's bounty. Surrounding us everywhere.

And like all moments in time, we at last had to part and return to our separate lives. 

It was one week ago today (Thursday the 14th) that I bid Mexico good-bye once again and headed home. 

Last night John noticed the fog creeping toward the pasture on its way to engulf us here. It has been mild and foggy; no killing frost so far.

This is our poor persimmon tree, victim of her own success. 

Spectacular fall and a rising moon to welcome us home. 

Sending good wishes to all. Time to start planning Thanksgiving!