St Louis with several great people

rain. headed toward st louis.

first glimpse

I am eternally grateful for artists who get what I am doing and want to see me succeed. And that is who I found in St. Louis. Linda Wiggin Kraft, Kristen Powers, and Karyl Howard are three women in the St. Louis area who are tapped into their creativity and willingly passing it on to others. The group was small, but the conversation immensely valuable. 

And it was in St. Louis that I realized how fulfilling and needed these conversations are. I work in isolation and interact mostly through the internet. I knew that making these connections personal and in-person was important, but I didn't quite realize their power. I will always have the memory of making art with that small group. I have the knowledge that others are seeing the same patterns as I am. I have a stronger connection with a few more people. I have what I need even though I couldn't understand before how badly I needed this. 

I still don't know exactly how I will move my mission forward, but I am building and preparing for when I do know.

And it will involve dancing to pop music like this...

A few stretches of road somewhere in Indiana and Illinois with some particularly pop-rific tunes. www.jumpstartcreativitytour.com

The next morning we went briefly to the St Louis Botanitcal Gardens. They were having a special exhibit on Chinese lanterns. Incredible!

that's a lantern!

that's a lantern too

also lanterns!

pincushion plants

corpse plant...it didn't actually smell that bad