blog
on retreating
my first spring irisI've been on retreat. Writing workshops. Silent retreats. Creativity retreats. Experimenting with hot wax. And I've been retreating as a verb. (Humble nod to Patti Digh.) Retreating from the blogs. Connecting quietly one-on-one on email and social...
wax on, wax off: a peek at playtime
peek #1: you blew my mindHere are a few peeks at a few of the encaustic pieces I created last weekend at the Wax Works West encaustic bootcamp. Ah...this dance with visibility: I won't call anything I do as "art" as I was simply playing with a new medium and...
Wax Works West: waxing eloquent about encaustics
pigments on the Wax Works West studio wallThis creativity junkie has a new medium: encaustics. The word "encaustics" is derived from enkaustikos, meaning to burn in. Artists work with layers of hot wax medium and paints, then fuse them with heat. OK, I may not wax...
2011: playful experimentation
ready for growthThe last few months has been a time on the road, practicing reverence for the everyday sacred, and indulging in the high season of navel gazing-retrospecting-and-introspecting. 2010 turned out to be a year for sorting my internal world and dancing with...
creative entrepreneuring with Lisa Sonora Beam
glass hearts at Hacienda MosaicoAs is the case more often than not these days, I’d run across Lisa Sonora Beam via Twitter, loved her website, then bought her then-newly released book, The Creative Entrepreneur. At the time, Lisa offered a few online workshops. I took...
thoughts on connection from a misanthrope
I am a perpetual student. If you could give out a PhD in beginner's mind, I would be doing my post-doctoral work. I'm an introvert who loves signing up for art and writing retreats. I love to travel. I love solitude. I like that retreats take you out of ordinary time....
finds. + thoughts on being visible.
I am humbled, touched and surprised by Jennifer Louden's Facebook status update over a week ago that my fledgling blog is one of her new favorites! *blush* I still don't know what to say, except, Thank you for the plug, Jen! I'm thrilled...and a bit embarrassed to...
gardening, writing & creative cycling
My garden has waxed and waned over the years. I picked up my gardening bug from my father, who has an incredible garden in San Diego. I remember moving into the house, where my parents still live, when I was 12 or 13. Their lot is pie-shaped with most of the land on a...
finds. writing workshops in China & Paris
image courtesy of Book PassageNote: This is my inaugural post on the artist retreats and writing workshops that I find. Although I can't attend them all, I'd love to hear from anyone who attends great events by kind, fantastic, engaging and accessible teachers. A few...
coloring outside the lines: watercolor mandalas
watercolor mandala detail (c) 2010 joyThis past Saturday I attended a four-hour watercolor mandala class with Michele Faia, called "Painting as a Path to the Heart." I'd signed up at the urging of a good friend, who thought I'd love it. She was right! Michele taught...
taking my retreat home
It's been a week since I returned home from Taos and Jennifer Louden's annual writing retreat. Her retreat is particularly good because Jen spends a significant amount of time talking about "taking it home"--too often the schedule at a workshop or retreat is so packed...
lessons from a collage: mixing your media
my collage (c) 2010 joyThe Backstory: I'm in Taos with Jen Louden (@jenlouden) at her annual writing retreat. This is a good retreat if you're looking to be nurtured through the creative process, particularly around writing. Havi Brooks (@havi) is teaching yoga and...
