Taking Flight and Other OBX Adventures!

One week from today, I will be heading back to OBX to host my SOLD OUT “Artful Awakenings Retreat!”  I have been dreaming of this retreat for years and planning for months!  I can’t believe this dream is taking flight and is almost here!  I can't wait to share this experience with all the amazing women who have registered for the retreat!  Check back in a couple weeks for photos from our wonderful weekend!

In the meantime, I was lucky enough to spend spring break in the Outer Banks, where I literally took FLIGHT for the first time when I went hang gliding with my family at Jockey’s Ridge!  We had been planning on hang gliding for over a year now (thanks to a gift card from the Annandale Turys), but this was our first opportunity to actually do it!  We called late Sunday afternoon to make a reservation later in the week.  We were told that the days we wanted were booked and the weather didn’t look good later in the week.  The person on the phone asked if we could fly that day and be there ready to go in an hour or so.  SURE—Why not?!  I am SO glad we did!!!  Turns out that was the Perfect day for hang gliding (despite the high winds and threat of cancellation) and the Only day that week the weather cooperated!  Once we had our intro, we headed for the dunes and took turns taking flight! WOW—what a thrill!  I LOVED it!  The first time flying, I couldn’t wait to climb the dune and do it again…and again…and again!  Luckily, we each got five flights!  I will definitely be doing this again!

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you will long to return.”  -Leonardo da Vinci

Other highlights and beach adventures include:

- finding and trying to help an injured baby seal pup!  I loved this little pup and took long walks to check on him a couple times a day, even when I was the only crazy one out there in the cold and wind and rain.  Thanks to the Park Service and Karen at N.E.S.T. for following up on my calls.  Hope this little guy made it!

- watching Paul and Zoe run their first 5K in the rain and in full color!  Congrats--so proud!

- spending time with my family

- collecting and photographing  sea shells

- reading, resting, enjoying the beauty of the ocean, the sky, the sound

- coloring eggs and celebrating Easter

Bye for now OBX...I'll be back soon!

Bloom True -- A Journey into Intuitive Painting with Flora Bowley!

This post is a brief summary of my Amazing Journey into Intuitive Painting with Artist Flora Bowley! It all began in February with the start of Flora's Bloom True e-course which I had received as a gift! (You can read more about the first few layers in my earlier Bloom True post. )  I was ready to let loose and try something new and couldn't wait to get started.   I wanted to experience painting with total freedom and abandon--no limits and no expectations and that's exactly what the course delivered! 

I loved the entire process from start to finish--from blank canvas to full bloom!

My Bloom True Collection--finished and unfinished!

Above is my entire collection of Bloom True Canvases!  The original 4 canvases I started with are pretty much finished and are all beach themed (unintentionally/intuitively).  They are the Mermaid, the Underwater Scene, the Sea at Sunset, and the Bullseye.  Canvas #5 is on the easel and is pretty much finished as well.  None of these 5 are officially named, signed, or have the sides painted yet, so there may still be a bold move or two left.  They are also in various stages from more finished to more chaotic and almost tribal.  But for now, I'm declaring them done in all their various stages.  The other 6 smaller canvases are all in various beginning stages and still have several layers to go.  Most likely, they will have to wait until after the Artful Awakenings Beach Retreat I am hosting to get finished.

Below are photos of my journey and the transformations of the canvases in reverse order.  I loved seeing how each new layer totally transformed the painting!  For me, this was the most difficult part and the most rewarding!  Sometimes I resisted painting over layers that I loved, but when I did, amazing new layers emerged! The black and white layer was often my favorite.  I loved the wild energy!

I am looking forward to Blooming True again and again one blank canvas after another!  Thank you Bloomers for sharing this journey!  Thank you Flora for being such an amazing, talented, generous, inspiring artist and teacher!  I highly recommend this class and hope to paint with Flora and my fellow Bloomers in person one day!

The original 4 canvases in their black/white layer

The original 4 canvases in their  pink/purple layer

The original 4 canvases with another warm color layer

The original 4 canvases with the first cool color layer

The original 4 canvases on their first intuitive layer!

Original Canvas #1

Original Canvas #2

Original Canvas #3

Original Canvas #4

Canvas # 5:  (added during the class)

Two more small canvases I added during the class

Thank You Flora--you are Amazing!

Family Art Party!

This weekend, instead of hosting a group of women to create art--I hosted my family!  We had our own little "Family Art Party"!  We each created a mixed media piece based on Art & Technology for the Del Ray Artisans Show, "Revolution".  The show opens Friday, April 4th with an opening reception from 7-10 p.m. and runs through April 27th.  Our family had a fun evening creating and spending time together!  We each used similar parts (old disk drives, keyboard keys, computer parts, cell phones, etc), but all of our artwork turned out so differently!  We each have a different take on technology too!  I tend to find it frustrating and intimidating, while the rest of the family seems to embrace it a bit more.  I am so happy and grateful that my family shares a love of creating and I hope to have more "Family Art Parties" in the future!  Feel free to stop by the show if you are in town!  Art Update:  SOLD-two pieces down, two to go!  Congrats Paul and Autumn!