Sometimes we all need refuge.
A peony, heavy with it's beauty, drapes into the water.
In the heat I need refuge.
But the daisies thrive.
So I draw. And paint. And only work outside in the mornings.
All during June I worked on my Nature Journaling online workshop.
My students are still posting their beautiful work on this Nature Journaling Flickr Site. Looking at it all makes me smile.
I learned so many things about myself during this workshop.
Most importantly that I still loved to draw and to paint.
By the time I was finished with the last video and blog post I ended up with several new pages of my own work.
This is the bird I demonstrated drawing and painting for the workshop. She is a Common Snipe.
I found that I like to draw more with my paintbrush now, not so much with my ink pens like I used to.
During June thunderstorms came and went, casting a pink glow across my garden in the evenings. (I wish we would have one now so that it would cool off.)
This is a work area I set up for a video shoot.
I was missing collaging. And happily my students asked for more mixed media. So I began an accordian book.
A Concertina, as this lovely lady told me.
I photographed and videotaped as I worked.
Here is the outside in progress...
And all bundeled up. Taking refuge in the shade.
Sadly my gardens were florishing until this heat.
This is a Japanese Iris, the last one to bloom.
When I photograph something, I remember not only that which I am photographing, but that moment, that time and place.
It is the same when I draw something, especially when I add words to a page.
That is what I want my students to know.
And so, the moist month of June changed to July and I went from my online workshop to a live workshop.
At a new place for me, The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.
This is the house my husband and I stayed in. Sitka Center provides housing for it's instructors and their families.
After my workshop this is what I gazed upon every evening. It was as though we were living in a tree house.
There was beautiful artwork everywhere. This piece was nestled in a fern lined trail behind our house. The bird is the same one I had just drawn a few weeks ago.
This sculpure was in a garden around a courtyard where my students and I ate.
I think he is finding refuge behind his hands. Or maybe someone else's?
Here is another sculpture above our Sitka house. When you climb the trail behind it there is a certian point where you can see the ocean through the center of the circle.
This is the ceiling of the studio where my workshop was held. I loved the party lights. Of course we had them on during the workshop!
You can see photographs of my Sitka Center workshop on my Facebook here!
Now I am home again. Taking refuge from the heat. Painting big again, in acrylics because my griddle stopped working for encaustics and I needed to work with color.
While I was writing this post I realized that everything is a refuge for something.
I have and Encaustic Workshop coming up August 23rd at Sage Place in lovely Bandon By the Sea. You can read about it here.
I also have two wonderful pieces of news...
I am now a gallery artist at Ilahee Gallery, in Ashland, Oregon. It has always been my favorite Ashland gallery, and this is a dream come true for me.
And, I got accepted to teach two workshops in 2014 at the Pacific NorthWest Art School on Whidbey Island in July. So my schedule is starting to fill up for next year.
And don't forget my upcoming workshops at Art Is...You, in September. I have been waiting for this forever!!
