EncaustiCamp US and Australia

Just a heads up for those of you planning to or considering attending either of the EncaustiCamp locations this July and October; sign-ups enrolling with full payments or those paying balances due on deposits in the first 10 days of launching; 22 April-1 May, will receive a gift of Encaustic Revelation: Cutting-edge Techniques from the Master’s of EncaustiCamp-signed by the contributing authors as well as bonus NLB shop discounts. ECamp instructors are also putting all registrants names into a hat for a final day drawing to win one of the collaborative paintings on exhibit during EncaustiCamp.

Click here for more information.

This will be my 4th summer of teaching at EncaustiCamp and I'm looking forward to both locations including Bali which is sold out at this writing. (But maybe there's a waiting list.) Trish will take good care of us; she's a whiz at making people feel safe and part of her family. Travel, good friends and art. Is there anything better? Hope to see you at one of these locations. xo

Announcing a Two'fer

Just popping in to announce two great get aways with Katie and I next year. On March 14-22, 2015, Kathie Vezzani, Katie Kendrick and I will be gathering with a group of you in Mexico City to explore, paint, plaster, and have a week long party. Art, food, museums (hello Frida!), Chapultepec and so much more are on the itinerary. If you are interested please contact Kathie. She is handling all the questions and arrangements and she knows Mexico like no one else I know.

But that's not all.

On October 9-17, 2015, the three of us will also be offering a retreat in San Miguel de Allende. At this retreat we'll be having a dinner at a private home in San Miguel where we'll have Otomi painted tortillas and will be able to use anchiote to paint. Kathie has arranged a wonderful schedule throughout the week for us as well as classes with Katie and I each day to paint, wax and plaster. It's going to be amazing. If this sound like something you'd like to do contact Katie Vezzani here. She will handle all the arrangements. She will be our awesome leader. You will swoon.

That's it for today. More news next time. I've been fully engaged with my online class in painting faces for the past four weeks but soon I'll have a garden and studio update. Oh, I have so much to share in the way of life lessons and other observations. So I'll be back. Love to all. Celebrate every moment of life that you can. It goes fast. xo

More Spring, More Busting Out

Nothing slows time and nothing stops spring. Halleluia.

The family started off Sunday morning with a walk in a nearby park. 

We saw fungi.

 Pretty pink flowers. Elderberry?

Gorgeous yellow willow, shrieking to high heaven.

More shy fungi.

Hushed to us perhaps, but these woods are full of inter-species communication. 

All the green things are talking and carrying on like anything.

Or are these the elderberries?

I know these are trillium. They were everywhere.

When I got home I grabbed the camera and ran around taking pictures for you. Lots going on.

The plum trees, asian pears, and peach tree are all in bloom.

We have wallflowers. (Or are they forget-me-nots?)

The over wintered kale is blooming.

An april delicacy.

Leeks and garlic. 

More kale. 

An occasional tulip.

Spring onions.

The mache pit. We've been eating tons of this.

Big lumbers from some tree thinning. Firewood for next winter.

Buds on the lilacs.

Flowering. Everything is springing to life.

Shrinking violets.

The mister's been thinning the herd with his little tools. He does it so tenderly; thanks each one for their service.

The seedlings are stretching out.

They are happy and hopeful.

It's the beginning of everything.

The world is new again.

I got a visit from an old beloved friend that I had not seen in 40 years. 

Just imagine that. The part about the 40 years.

We were exactly as we remembered each other. No, better. In those days we went to Mexico on spring break, both attended ASU and both worked graveyard at Motorola in Phoenix, Arizona. 

We shared the closest friendship for several years. And then I moved to Oregon and she moved to Ohio to go to graduate school. 

And we lost touch.

What a gift to be reunited. 

One of the best parts of having a blog is that it gives me an opportunity to reflect on life's goodness. At my age I'm no longer interested in talking about what's difficult. (Yes, the molar's been pulled, the bone graft inserted, my face is swollen and I have a yellow bruise the size of Brazil on my jaw.) Those things happen to all of us. But after putting up a blog post like this one, my heart sees what really counts in my life and that is my family, my friends, and this beautiful world that I've gotten to live in for so many seasons. 

I hope you're noticing spring (or fall!) where you live and that you are counting your blessings as well. I'll catch you up on the art news when I next return. xo