Refreshed. Renewed. Calmness settles in like a welcome friend. Quiet contains all that I am, at peace, at One.

It was a week of wonder, awe, joy. A week to revel in the art of creating in the woods. Of walking amidst the wildflowers. Of deer in the grasses and owls in the trees. A week of finding myself connected in a community of artists, connected with the muse flowing all around.

There is a shift, a change, a movement away from, a settling into, a gathering of — the evolving awakening of my creative core, a widening of my essential creative, a deepening of my gratitude for the gift of creativity.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing from my art journal as well as art-making that happened, using each day here as a means to capture the  week, day by day.  I’ll also be sharing photos I took along the way with my trusty smart phone!

Day 1. Sunday, July 27th

Last minute grocery shopping. Loading the car. So much stuff! Getting out of the city. Driving west, then north. Winding road into the foothills. Summer sun, hot. Wind dry. Air filled with possibility.

Arrive at River Rock shortly after lunch. Carry in 6 tubs of art supplies. Set up table. Wander the woods. Meditate at the edge of the forest. Breathe into the space, the essence of being  away, of being here where I am not away.

Only a few of us here. Five staying at the Studio, the others driving in each day from the City, from the mountains.

Jonathan Talbot greets us. Chats. We organize our workspaces. We laugh. Share stories from the surface of our lives.

Tomorrow it will begin. For now, I begin to settle in.

The poem I wrote, From Where I Sit, is on my poetry blog, HERE.