Playing Around

Here are some bits and pieces from my Greece journal. Still working hard to get it filled with all the goodies I collected there, and with the beautiful photos that were taken. I am just loving this photo I took of Chad the other day. As a woodworker, the background suits him perfectly. It's so warm and inviting, just like his smile!

The Anniversary

We celebrated our eight year anniversary not too long ago, and here are the pictures to prove it! It ended up being a drawn out celebration, starting mellow with dinner and a movie. Dinner was at The Med in Boulder where many tapas were consumed. Bacon wrapped dates were a favorite, along with cherry tomatoes with honey, nuts, and goat cheese. Yum! Later that weekend we saw the King Tut exhibit in Denver which was amazing. Unfortunately, no sketching was allowed in the exhibit, but for once we left a museum not worn out. Unlike our all day museum visits in Greece that ended in pleasant exhaustion.

Precious Fear

This is a piece that I did some time ago. I am not sure why I never posted it, I think I was unsure if it was finished. Looking at it now, it is telling me what I need to know. How fear keeps us from living if we allow ourselves to bear its full weight. That living without it's presence is impossible, but if we can tune into it maybe we can work with it, not against it. Little reminders to move forward to take that step, to sometimes leap without looking. For me that means saying what I mean, not dancing around what the right and wrong words are. It's exhausting trying always to please, trying to never say the wrong thing. Anyway, I digress... Fear often keeps me from my passion. It keeps me out of the studio, and from really pushing myself to my full potential. It has been the reason that my work and books remain only for me and not for others. Either to sell or to teach. I'd like to think I am brave in life and certainly in love, but that passion of mine I keep pretty well guarded. There are big dreams afoot and I know what is standing in the way. I am standing in the way of myself, and at the moment it feels harder and harder to hold that position. Here's to the future, and letting go.

Reentry

So I am back. Finally resettled into life after 3 weeks in one of my favorite places, Greece. I have so much to share, to tell... but it seems to have to become an awful lot to process. So I will start by starting. Thank you everyone for your well wishes before my journey, and for the compliments for the travel journals I made. There is still so much for me to add to my journal, since with three of us, more time was spent with each other than with our books. So I will slowly make time to retrace my steps, add to my book, then share the results here.

Coming home was a surprise. How long the jet lag lasted, and feeling like I lost time somehow. Leaving in summer and coming home to holiday decorations everywhere. I am out of the haze but not back in the studio yet. I have another piece published to share with you all, and many pictures from the trip to share as well. This week I celebrated my eight year wedding anniversary. Still amazed that I am at this stage in life, with marriage underway and other dreams coming to fruition. Needless to say, I am very grateful at the moment. Grateful for the journey, and also for the journey home. It's good to see you here.

(All pics by IPhone hubby photog!)

Inside the journals

Here are a few inside shots of the Greek journal pages. The books are a combo of 90 lb watercolor paper and sewn scraps of ephemera. A 50/50 mix, so there is space to paint, draw, write and collects bits of things. The bottom image is a patterned transparency over an engraving of the goddess Athena.

Getting ready for Greece!

Can you imagine how excited I am, knowing that I am headed back to Greece very soon. My soul home. Needless to say, journals are needed for the trip. And if you know me, you know that I had to make something special for it. Since my mom is going on this amazing journey with me, and since my husband is turning 40 while we are there, journals were made for all!

Chad's is the grey book with a little Japanese influence. Mine has the oversized pattern with the periwinkle ribbon. Any my mom's is the light blue one with gorgeous coral ribbon. All books were made under the influence of many set-in-Greece films and Mary Ann Moss's online class, Remains of the Day. If you don't know this already, and you should, she is a rockstar. Always inventing new, industrious ways of making things, and making them fun and beautiful along the way. I am quite sure we will do these books justice on our journey. More to come!

It's been a busy summer

What a summer! So much fun it's hard to know where to begin. All along the way I intended to post more, show pictures, tell of my various exploits. But here it is, wrapped up in a big package at the end of it all. I guess the biggest accomplishment was laying this flagstone path. It was a lot of work for Chad and less for me, but the result is beautiful. Earthy and modern, it suits us and our house to a tee. Now to get flower beds in place and paint the front door. Dusty teal, so nice.

Other highlights were good family get togethers, the Greek festival, and the outdoor movies in Boulder. I have to tell you, watching Top Gun outdoors on the big screen, with a nostalgic and enthusiastic crowd...it doesn't get much better than that.

This was my first year at the Folks Festival and I will be going back. I love Lyons to begin with, but the experience was such a surprise. Good food, great music, all along the side of the river. When you get hot, you just jump in. Or tube down it. The stage was open, with trees dancing behind the bands. At night when The Swell Season played, the trees were lit with orange lights, and they glowed on fire. So good to hear great live music, outdoors. So good to live in Colorado. We were there, listening, sketching, taking it all in. I was playing around with the above page while listening to Gregory Alan Isakov, and it was bliss. Afterwards, when everyone was having CD's and albums signed, I went up to say "hi" and took my journal. My artwork has always done the talking for me, so armed with it I felt brave and not so shy. And the band signed it. And we actually had something to talk about, which was really fun. Later that night I let myself go and basked in the beauty of Glen and Marketa. Like I said, it was a busy summer, and a damn good one too.