Minturn and Paonia: 4 days of adventure journaling in Colorado

I was able to escape the heat of Denver last weekend and head to the hills...what a beautiful 4 days in the Colorado mountains! It was a perfect adventure journal trip but not one that would work in a small car. I took along a huge journal that called to me when I was shopping in my favorite art store in Denver (Guiry's). I laugh everytime I look at this jumbo lady, and feel challenged to approach each page like I am working in my regular size  books. I normally work in books that range from 6x6 inches; this one is 14x17 inches. In the picture above, I had set up my work on a shady patio and  sketched the corner of that adobe balcony. I have used pen, colored pencils and watercolor. I will add the text in pen at a later date. I spent a cool few hours listening to the river that ran by the patio and noise of the Minturn farmer's market that was taking place just a few blocks away. Perfect, so glad to have some journal time in a sparkling location.

After Minturn, I headed over to an incredibly beautiful valley on the western slope to visit friends and teach a Mixed Media Journal workshop. Paonia is an interesting town filled with lovely, quiet streets and surrounding hills full of vineyards and orchards...and the Glennie Coombe gallery on Main Street which hosted this workshop last Sunday. Susan (gallery owner and friend) and I thought we might just have 3 or 4 students...and we had 10 folks show up! What a group! Lot's of laughs, lots of courage and a willingness to try new techiques and dig deeper into the journal experience. This was also the first time teaching a brilliant border collie (Coco) who may look bored above but he was listening to every word. It was a delightful 4 hours together - complete with an ice cream break at Ollie's, located next door to the gallery. Yum! Susan was so generous as she offered tastes and humor...many thanks to all the participants.

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