What do we all have in common? It turns out many, many things! We began our workshop intentionally building a quick community of artists interested in a day of playful exploration, and boy, did we have a blast! Thanks to Elyse, Heidi, Jill, Linda, Sandy, Lauren, Robin, Cyndi, Diana, Jennifer, Nancy and Susie! Your presence was a gift to me. 

I spent most of the week in CT trying to help my 94 year old dad clean out files in preparation for a permanent move to Florida. The best part of the 3 days was working with my sister and laughing at all the ridiculous things we were finding. I have so many friends who have been in the exact same spot. It was interesting to see how little the ephemera inspired; we tossed mountains of old things which seemed to lose their appeal by virtue of the shear number. It was interesting to muse about how the files of our lives will be less about paper and more about finding the correct passcodes! (Except for all of my journals and hand-made books. I suppose I should just be giving them all away as soon as I create them!) Upon returning to Denver and my studio I have been frantically preparing for my upcoming class tomorrow (Healing Pages) as well as my retreat in Crested Butte next week. After the retreat I will be teaching 2 workshops during the CB Art Festival and one will be on book-making. Below are my class examples using the long stitch and the simple portfolio stitch. I can't wait to get to those beautiful Crested Butte mountains and slow down, breathe deep and stand up straight!

Just in case a walk around a lovely garden on a cool day was not  enough of a soul-lifter, I had an added boost of delight with the addition of the Chihuly Glass sculptures to feast my eyes on today at the Denver Botanic Gardens. OMG - this is amazing! You MUST get there to witness, drink in, gasp, sketch and just be with the most wonderful shapes and colors that seem to dance with the surrounding flowers. Thanks to Debra, Joyce, Jennifer and Diana who joined me in this cool, grey day of intense beauty (and a few good laughs!). The energy of these magnificent sculptures with delicious colors is palpable. 

I found myself dead-heading the geraniums the other day (thanks Debra!) and loving the wild, brilliant colors of the flowers that were in full bloom. I pinched just a few petals and played with the rubbing technique that I had used while traveling last month when we wandered into a rose garden after a very strong Mistral wind which left many petals on the ground. My sister, niece and I had such fun finding spoons to work with and transferring the petal image to our journals. I thought I'd also try rubbing some herbs and was surprised to find that dill and mint seem to transfer so beautifully. I prefer to rub rather than pound as it seems to preserve the delicate shapes. Check it out: