How I’ve Spent My Summer Vacation

Or, what am I doing when I’m not writing here….

Spring and summer tend to be the busy time for instructors at art retreats. If you are not teaching, you are preparing for the next event or trying to come up with new workshop ideas for the next year. It is all good. Lately I’ve spent time in , Forest Grove, Oregon , eastern WA, Tucson, AZ and Phoenix, AZ.

Forest Grove is the location of the Focus on Book Arts Conference. It was a wonderful event where I got to meet new folks and spent time with old friends. It takes place on a lovely campus in a delightfully charming little town. It only happens every two years so the anticipation builds accordingly. Part of what makes the town so good to visit, other than it is usually when the strawberries are at peak season, is the store run by Patty Grass, The Accidental Bookbinder. Patty also runs Green Heron Press. She packs so much into her store that if she doesn’t carry it you may not really need it.

Then my husband, Tom, and I went camping on our property in eastern WA. Camping and I don’t get along as well as we once did but I am still okay with a night or two in a sleeping bag…on an air mattress. Of course, we weren’t really on a flat area so that our bags kept sliding down at night and we have to inch worm our way back to the top of the mattress a couple times a night. And the wind is a voice and presence to be reckoned with. There is more sound than there is silence. It stuns you as to how quiet it all is in the rare times the wind isn’t blowing to at least some degree.  On the way there we stopped at the Aplets and Cotlets factory in Cashmere, WA.    Oh, the goodies they make there.  In the factory store you can find flavors you can't find anywhere else.   Um, um, good.

Tucson is where my father in law lives. Well, in the area at least. We went down there to pack up the leather tools and supplies he is no longer able to use. Tom and I used to use these same tools to work our way through part of college life. We had to give them back to Tom’s dad after they came back home from Korea. It was a hard adjustment giving the tools back to Leo because they had been such a part of our lives in Kentucky but it wasn’t the case living in WA. So getting these tools back after 29 years is kind of like reclaiming part of our youth. Tom is setting up a work area for the tools and supplies and we hope that our hands and finger remember lost skills.

Phoenix is the home of Sylvia Luna and Art Unraveled. No matter how I prepare for hot climates they just beat me. I shower and leave the room feeling fresh and by the time I get to where I am supposed to be I am hot sweating and feel like I need a shower. The people make it all worth while though. I loved the folks in my classes and as always honored by the chance to be part of these events with so many fabulous people. And I admit that I love, love, love being able to spend a bit of time getting to know friends better as well as getting to met new friends. Phoenix was an outpouring of joy and friendship on so many levels for me. Any time I get to hang out with Sylvia Luna is solid gold as she is a delightful hostess and her home is like visiting a shrine/museum. What a treat. And I got see Pilar P. again and to know Deb T. And Jennifer, Nancy, Deryn, Maja and Stephanie and oh so many other wonderful folks. And I got to hug on Terry and Susan Tyson again. It has been way too long to see those folks again. If only we had time travel….. Again, it is an honor and a treat to be with all these wonderful people and the time goes way too quickly.  During the show I was able to get a photo of my aura.  Colorful, eh?   the funny thing is that all the photos of instructors had masses of colors.  I guess we are a vibrant group.

So, I’ve been traveling, teaching, learning and just being. More stuff happened with the family, so good some not but none of it major (counting my blessings).  I hope all is well with you all.   I'll  be back again soon.