Santa Fe itself was wonderful. We saw a very small portion of the galleries there but they were outstanding. The food was incredible. The architecture splendid. Looking forward to going back.
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Santa Fe itself was wonderful. We saw a very small portion of the galleries there but they were outstanding. The food was incredible. The architecture splendid. Looking forward to going back.
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It was beautiful.
Upon arriving in the Denver area I went straight to El Dorado canyon to meet up with my husband and siblings-in-law. I got right on a rope to climb a two pitch route. It was fabulous!
And swimming, of course.
While the siblings were at work, my husband Ben and I drove the highest auto road in the United States up Mount Evans. I will let Stella tell you more about that in the next post! But we saw a rainbow!
We did an event in Denver at Forest Room 5. It was a super cool, artsy venue with a great wine selection.
And then I got a tattoo to commemorate the tour. Good times!
My brother-in-law did too. Here they are together.
]]>I attempted to drive from L.A. to Salt Lake City in one day, but that didn't happen. I liked L.A. too much to leave early in the morning and had to fit in a swim in the Pacific before heading inland. I didn't end up leaving L.A. until 11am and so I did not make the 11.5 hour drive in one shot. But I did take a spin through Vegas. I had to see it.
Salt Lake City was an intriguging place and the lake itself was wild! The Great Salt Lake was a facinating ecosytem and a great place to take pictures.
Catherine Just took the bottom two pictures (the ones of me!)
I had a great time hanging out with Catherine Just. She is one powerhouse of a woman. Love her! We did the event at a Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. We were stationed next to the ponies!
While in Salt Lake City I also got to hang out with Jenica McKenzie. It was so nice to catch up with my fellow squamie. She is another really awesome one.
Me, Catherine, and Jenica!
August 21 & 22 marked the begining of Leg 2 of this tour! I did two event in the Southern California area: Carlsbad and Culver City (LA). Both were wonderful successes!
In Carlsbad I met up with Michelle Jones and Tracy Verdugo! We had a lovely time at Relm Wine Bar.
And then there was a great event in Culver City (LA) with Pixie Campbell and Christine Mason Miller! A good time was had by all at The Whole 9 Gallery.
I loved LA and I know I barely scratched the surface of what the area has to offer. My favorite part was the canals of Venice Beach. Just wonderful.
I'm pretty behind with these posts but will hopefully be catching in the next couple days!
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My special guest for this stop was Maya Corinne. Maya is an amazing woman of visions, hope, and action! I've enjoyed working with her over the last couple of months and was thrilled to have her at Teahouse making giant paper flowers with anyone who wanted.
I then headed back east for a break. Stella, the Mobile Creativity Unit, stayed in Santa Rosa and I relaxed at home for a couple weeks. I am now back on the west coast and the tour will resume on August 21 in Carlsbad, California.
Still so much more goodness and inspiration to come!
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Entering California felt like arriving. Like I could almost see the finish line of Leg 1. Not that I wanted it to end, but it was a nice sense of accomplishment. I had driven to California. Not in the most direct way, but it was an accomplishment I was proud of.
My event is Santa Rosa was lovely. I was staying with childhood friends and the event consisted of a bunch of their friends. We had a great time at My Friend Joe cafe.
One more post to go about Leg 1: Berkeley!
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left: a dust devil...a spinning column of wind and dust; right: gotta love 75 mph
Once in Reno we had a lovely event at Swill Coffee & Wine. Sarah Stevenson, who runs Create Explore Discover Art Retreat, was my host in Reno. She is woman of many talents! It was pure joy to stay in the gorgeous house she designed and hear about her upcoming projects. Create Explore Discover is held near Lake Tahoe in October. Plenty of time to register if you are interested! Brigitte Lyons came from Sacramento to hang out too. Looking forward to some fun projects we started discussing!
The next day we went up to Lake Tahoe for dinner and then Brigitte and I continued west.
Checking out Lake Tahoe with Sarah Stevenson and Brigitte Lyons the day after our Reno event. http://www.jumpstartcreativitytour.com/
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On July 16 I drove across Oregon to Boise, Idaho. It was a long drive made quicker by listening to Graceling
Boise was the point on the tour at which I decided I was seriously being spoiled. The tour had been wonderful up until then, but being served steak and roasted apricots with ice cream when I arrived really made me feel blessed. Melody Ross, of Brave Girls Club, made me feel so at home and Brave River Ranch was a fantastic place to spend a couple days. The stars were bright, the hot tub relaxing, the people sweet and caring, the cows adorable, and the places to hole up and work were endless. My conversations with Melody were heart-warming and encouraging. She is a powerhouse of experience and insight!
Our event was over at Rembrandts Coffeehouse, a beautiful facility with an even more beautiful mission. I also loved their new store, Full Circle Exchange, across the street. Got a great necklace there made from melted bullets. Incredible.
Rembrandts event
Melody, writing poems for kids
Brave River Ranch was a fantastic and inspiring place to spend a couple days. Melody and her sister Kathy host the Brave Girls Club camps here. Highly reccomended!
We had an impromptu encaustic class while I was there too. I had my supplies with me from teaching at EncaustiCamp and so we painted with wax in the Art Barn and Celina Wyss came over too! So fun!
After taking a break from running events while I was there, I headed to Corvallis, OR on Sunday, July 15 to do an event with Kat Sloma. Kat runs photography-based ecourses and workshops. The event was held at McMenamins on Monroe. I am a huge fan of McMenamins so it was really fun to do an event at one of their pubs.
I was in Portland for about a week. I could have stayed indefinitely. After driving across the country it felt good to relax the rigorous event and travel schedule that I had kept up. My parents met me in Portland from Massachusetts to check out the city I keep raving about. We were there for the 4th of July and enjoyed the full moon and fireworks display. I caught up on work a little too.
exploring Portland: upper left: my parents and I; lower right: Karl Kaiser's encaustic work; lower left: full moon and fireworks
On Friday events began for the World Domination Summit. I don't think I will have time to write a whole post about the summit because I am getting quite behind but maybe. For now I will say that it was a major dose of positive reinforcement, an inspiring fire of information, and a charge to change the world. And I met the most freakin' amazing people on the planet! (And did you hear about the $100 investment made to each of us?)
J.D. Roth speaking. Love this quote. Might get the last line as a tattoo.
fun in a photo booth
The Portland JCT event was Monday night after the weekend of WDS. The event was in TaborSpace, a fantastic community space in a gorgeous Presbyterian church. A mix of Portland friends, WDS attendees and EncaustiCamp attendees were there. (EncaustiCamp started the next day. I was one of the teachers.) It was a great group and our biggest event at that point.
Linda Womack was there and did an encaustic monoprinting demonstration. Attendees really enjoyed trying the simple printing with wax. Judy Wise was also there hanging out and sharing her love for creativity. I also finally got to meet my online friend Jenny Wentworth (who is raising money to go paint in Italy).
Another great event in an another great city!
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