Oh Artfest

Oh Artfest, It is bittersweet to see you go. You have been there for me for what feels like a very long time. You have found amazing art friends for me that live near and far. I have looked to you each year with eager anticipation and you have left me fulfilled with joy. What will I do without you? Another Artfest passes, and it's even more poignant, as its the very last one. How lucky I've been to have made it a part of my life. As usual, it was a fantastic experience, filled with great classes, learning, journaling and laughing into the night, and reuniting with friends new and old. Spring is already a beautiful time of year, but it was a treasure to spend it in one of my favorite places with the cherry blossoms and tulips in full bloom.

Day one of classes with Michelle Allen creating "Dolls and Dudes". Super fun. I loved making these creations out of air dry clay and can't wait to make more. Michelle is a talented artist (and art journaler!) and you can see more from the class here.

Day two with Miss Mindy. I am in love! With drawing, with Mindy, with creating kooky characters that only make sense to me. This class somehow made me feel like I was in middle school again, drawing Disney characters and dreaming of being an animator, while also satisfying the grown up side of me that's in to pinups and pirates, and also dreams of creating a children's book one day.

I roomed with my hubby Chad, and dear friends Jennifer Joanou, Susan Elliott, Jennie Cook, Gina Armfield, and Alice Joanou in an Officer's house. Jennie is an incredible Chef and prepared ALL of our meals! So our dining table pretty much looked like this at all times, fully covered with journals, food and wine. I miss those journaling nights so much. These peeps are all incredible artists and makers, and inspire me always. Check them out.

The last day, painting with Miss Mindy. More love. Today we added color and paint to our vaudeville inspired creations. It was about the mercat all weekend for me. I'm thinking it's time for me to draw more, and keep developing these characters. Maybe these piratical, sea worthy guys will become my children's book one day. Or a comic? Zine? Paintings? We will see! Thank you Teesha and Tracy!!! There are hundreds of us indebted to you and now connected because of you. It's been a pleasure.

Healing: Part 3

After several months of foot pain and a relapse where I felt like I was at square one (physically and mentally), my body wizard comes to my aid again. Further testing revealed low thyroid and adrenals. Ta da! Basically I don't metabolize well enough to produce the energy needed for regular, day to day stuff. This combined with poor sleep and stress was partly why my foot just wasn't healing, and also why I wasn't feeling like myself for some time. It wasn't just the move, change, or pain, but a general slowing of my systems. Why calm, mellow Jessie felt raw, emotional, and UNGROUNDED. Why I felt intense where I was always playful, albeit quiet and introspective. Why I felt like I wasn't dealing with my life with any kind of grace. That's tough to admit, and something I pretty well kept to myself, while nursing my injuries alone "protected" by my candy coated shell.

So that's it. It's been all about the body and now I'm allowing myself to set limits, take it slow and really figure out how to heal. I am not looking for solutions here people. I need support, but not "you're doing it wrong" advice. I find that when I do share, people get freaky about it. Which is hard for a girl who has always been guarded and quiet, to let it out and get that kind of feedback. It doesn't help. I'm putting it out there to release it, so that it's not my secret burden anymore, and also to give context to my journal art. Now I can see what it was really about.

Healing: Part 2

Next came the move back to Boulder. A dream come true, right? More space, a beautiful home near the foothills... and all the grief and loss over letting go of my first home. HARD. I had no idea. For a girl who moved a lot growing up, with no input, no choice, my first home was a really big deal. My choice. My desires. The change, transition, growing pains, whatever you want to call it was rough. A wise friend told me that "every big change feels like a big mistake". Thank god for smart people. To let you know that you aren't crazy, just human. Not to mention I found myself with a pretty serious case of plantar faciitis brought on by all the packing.

I am not teling you this to whine, have a pity party, or to seek sympathy. Typically, I am not a good sharer. I'm not great with trust and vulnerability. I could tell you that I like to be mysterious, an enigma, but mostly I've just needed to stay inside my protective walls. Like I told you before, I now understand the work I've been doing and all these personal details give context to this work. So then comes the stage of a big new move, but hardly being able to to walk, and the pain keeping me stuck at home instead of enjoying this new community. Not yet seeing that other physical and emotional factors were what was really keeping me stuck. To be cont...

Healing: Part 1

These are pages from one of my journals. This is a healing book. It is my ongoing journal from 2011, and I have had a love hate relationship with it. I now know why. It is full of pain, loss, and confusion. That is why it made me cringe to look at it, yet I was pulled to work in it nonetheless. It's been an emotionally full year and a half. I came back from another amazing visit to Greece in September 2010, and was saddled with intense neck pain on the flight home, which lasted on and off for several months. Enter phase one of pain and the emotional toll that physical pain takes on you over time. I met an amazing acupuncturist/naturopath/body wizard that within minutes of meeting me discovered that my gallbladder was the culprit. I'm not kidding. I went back and forth, up and down, in and out of pain with that one. But the pain is gone and my gallbladder seems happy. To be cont...

A Little Inspiration

Michael Pitt, I am a fan of everything that you do. The fact that you do this as well, makes me like you even more. There's just not much more that needs to be said on the matter. Just watch.

Happy Christmas!

I hope you all are having an extraordinary holiday, and are spending today with someone you love. This is a gift I made for my Mom, who always makes Christmas such a warm and rich time for me. I used a vintage ledger and rebound it with papers she would love; festive and traditional patterns, bits of flocked papers, vintagy ephemera, and then finished it off with velvet backed ribbon. There is nothing I love more than making gifts for people. Searching out just the right this or that which reminds me of them. I truly love watching someone open a gift that was made special for them and getting to experience their reaction. It is a priceless moment. Cheers to all my family and friends who support me and my creative dreams. Many thanks!

NME November pages

Trying to play around with more drawing, painting, and lettering.