Back From Sun Valley

Idaho is a starkly beautiful state.  I was struck by the beauty of the melting snow on the mountains.  

After a whirlwind journey, and a full 

day of facilitating a Creative Spirit Workshop and an afternoon session of mandala making.  I am full and satisfied.  

Leading a workshop with over a 120 people felt like it would be daunting, but it was actually exhilerating and special.  

The participants, teachers, counselors and juvenile 

prevention specialists, from all over Idaho were so

 appreciative and engaged in the process and really  open to exploring creative interventions that they could adapt to use with students,  clients and family members.  

We loved being there, sharing the healing and communicati

ve aspects of artmaking and witnessing their excitement.  

The afternoon mandala session was most enjoyable, we were able to slow down a bit and spend more time diving into art making.  The mandalas that participants made were really amazing.   

However, as beautiful as Idaho was, being back in northern California and particularly Sonoma County, makes me remember how blessed I am to be living in such a beautiful part of the planet.  Its good to be home.

Threshold to the Inner Garden

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.

I recently created this mixed media encaustic painting, which  evokes so much for me as I continue to stand at new thresholds in my life, reevaluating  what I do in the world.  ..I seek the hidden words hoping to I to decipher  an aspect of what is being revealed in my art.

Sacred Imagery of the Elephant Kind....

So we think that we are the only creative beings on this planet,  but actually that is not the case.  The natural world abounds with creative spirits.  I once saw a wonderful special on Nova  about bower birds, who work three dimensionally, building amazing environmental installations.  Their awe inspiring, performance art is  created to draw their lovers to them.   

And although I have heard about elephants painting before, this video is amazing.  Take the time to watch this video of an elephant painting a self portrait.  Slow moving and conscious, this wise being creates a stylized, expressive self portrait that blows my mind.  Slow down and  watch the whole thing and enjoy.  

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v= LHoyB81LnE

Working in my Studio..My plate it full...

I have been working in my studio in between all my other commitments and life...getting ready for doing the Art At the Source Open Studio the first two weekends in June.   This image is something I am striving for in my work, both texture and luminosity. However I often get lost in detail and love to carve out and dig into the wax.  Although I strive for simplicity it rarely happens.   

My plate is  full.  I am getting ready to go to Sun Valley Idaho, with Patricia, my friend and business partner in the Creative Arts Studio.  We are facilitating two workshops on Creativity at the Idaho State Prevention Conference.  We have over 115 people signed up for our Free the Creative Spirit workshop and 77 in the Bringing the Mandala into The Classroom session.  That many people in an art workshop is a bit overwhelming...but it will be exciting as well.  It has been a long time since I have been in the snow.   I plan on taking photos and posting them when I return.