In just one week, I will head west just a little ways to the woods of Squam! A bit of my days right now is spent trying to decide just which knitting projects to bring, what room I have for new ones, and generally preparing - physically and energetically - for the creative journey to come.
Alongside that kind of packing and dreaming, I'm counting just how many diapers I need to bring to make it through the four day stretch and wondering how she'll do through the night without her Papa... as miss Annabel will be alongside me on this adventure. (Last time, it was Harper by my side!) And then there are the five people we leave behind for five days, and their schedules to manage and games to miss and classes to plan for, and oh, it is quite a feat for a Mama to get out the door, isn't it?
Someday, these kinds of adventures will be all mine. And oh, the thought is dreamy. But that isn't right now - nor do I really want it to be. I do so love this season of my life and all the people and love and needs within it. And I feel incredibly grateful and fortunate to be heading to Squam soon, with Annabel at my side.
pages & paint!
An online workshop with Sarah Ahearn Bellemare
9 July - 3 August
Registration now open
The doers and dreamers behind Squam - intuitive, clever, and generous folks that they are - know that this struggle to go - to be there - to participate in retreats in the physical way, is not something that's possible for all of us, all of the time. That there are often children, jobs, states and budgets between making such an event a reality. That's exactly what they had in mind as they created pages & paint!, which they've asked me to share with you today. pages & paint is a four week online workshop with much-loved Squam teacher Sarah Ahearn Bellemare, intended to bring the creative magic of Squam to you - wherever you are in your days and life and creative journey. A few words from the creators:
"Over the course of four weeks, Sarah will guide you through a series of exercises that will jump start your creativity! You will receive inspiration, support and motivation that will help you make a series of paintings, as well as develop a fresh relationship with the incredible power of sketchbooks....
....You will delight in the fun of bringing elements together in beautiful and unusual ways when she walks you through each step, de-mystifying a process that might have caused blocks in the past, such as which paints do I use? Which brushes? What order? What about color? What about composition? With Sarah by your side—you will gain the confidence and skills to make art that fills your heart....
....One of the key tools that Sarah will help to demystify is the sketchbook. In fact, once you have registered, you will receive a delightful course packet in your mailbox prior to the start of the workshop. The packet will include: vintage papers & ephemera for collage from Sarah’s own collections, playful prompts, handwritten how-tos (or directions ) and MORE! This will be a starting point for play and exploration in our sketchbooks that will lead us right into the heart of the course: pages & paint!"
I'm excited to join in on the fun of the workshop come August. Until then, with some sketchbook goodies and a few extra sets of hands alongside, there will certainly be lots of play right here, right now.
Living a creative life needn't always be or start from a place of making it a career, or flying around the globe to gather with other creative folks and 'retreat'. It can fit into our lives right exactly where we are, in the small little moments of quiet that we carve out for ourselves, or alongside the little ones we love. We carry it with us wherever we go...
