More from Asilomar

My first day's class was with Nina Bagley. I love her! She's a wonderful teacher with a dry sense of humor and loads of patience. We made tiny copper books that hang from a necklace, thus the name "booklace". The pages were small pieces of mica sandwiched around teeny tiny collages. My booklace seems to be a potent vessel of magic, and I know that sounds corny, but that's how I feel. Each page was a small collage that used pictures of my mom when she was a tiny girl. Maybe becauseI waited for four years after my mom died for my sister to share scans of these pictures with me--maybe because my mom is gone--who knows? But my booklace contains something very special.

More of the Studio

Here's another shot of my new space--In some ways, I know it just looks like a big box, but it's the inside that's so important (and isn't that almost always true?). Walt says it should be done in a couple of weeks, if the rain will just stop. Can't really wish for that; I love it when it's so lush and green here and we always need to replenish the ground water supply. Dry as a bone, here, from May till November--I'll take all the rain we can get. One, maybe two dry days, and the roof will be up--Walt will be able to work inside, then.

a rainy day

Still dripping, here in the foothills--Lord knows, we need the rain, but did it have to come just as we started to build my studio? I shouldn't complain, I know. Eventually the rain will stop, the sun will shine, and the studio will be finished. Right now, though, it just feels as though I'm in some kind of art limbo. This first picture is the northeast corner of the building--where my tables will be, and where I'll sit. Lovely view, and a space all my own! Oh my!

Art and Soul at Asilomar

Finally feel ready to write about my wonderful trip to Monterey to attend the Art and Soul retreat in mid February.

For me, the whole trip was a hugely big deal--I haven't gone anywhere by myself since Joel was born, thirteen years ago! So, I rented a car, white and sporty, with a functional CD player (unlike my eleven-year-old minivan), and took off, map in hand, art supplies in the trunk, to go to the coast. Amazing how freeing it was to be on the way to an event that was just for me. I listened to Bach's Goldberg Variations and Barbra Streisand's Higher Ground, and only got twisted around once, when I was within three or four miles of Asilomar itself.

Arrived, checked in, and hung out for a while watching the Super Bowl on a static-y TV in the main lobby, but really, I just couldn't wait to get started! I finally met my roommate late in the evening, and got up early the next morning to head off to my first class with Nina Bagley...