last day of Journalfest

in the morning, on our lunch break and after classes on the last day, jen and i did a lot of driving around and taking even more pictures! we drove around town, went down to the lighthouse, and down to the marina. that is what is fun about spending time with someone who enjoys the same things as i do. Jen doesn't mind braking for odd photo opportunities or smiling for the millionth time, she's always willing to take my photo, or do my shadow pics with me. she's also always got her camera clicking about as much as mine is!

Journalfest cont'd

my first class at Journalfest was with one of my favorite artist/teacher, Anahata. she is such a sweetheart and her classes are so inspiring. our class was pretty quiet, with everyone working diligently and seriously in their journals (well, except keli and i!) i really love the look of her work and so of course, i just had a great time in her class.

my second class was with Stephanie Lee. we made soldered journals with paper mache pages and i really loved it (i keep saying that!) but she is another artist that i enjoy taking her classes as i get so much out of them and it is right up my alley.

it's funny, because after all the traveling i did this last month and a half (country living fair, artnsoul, art-is-you and finally journalfest), i was a little tired and second guessing myself about going to Journalfest, spending the money, feeling tired. i kind of thought, i really don't feel like going. but i know i was just tired. so fast forward to my time there and i am so glad i went. i got to reconnect with Jen, see old friends (keli) and run into new facebook friends and laugh when we didn't recognized each other, but sort of recognized each other, but didn't get it right away (Julie!). i enjoyed running into artists and friends at the grocery store late at night and feeling like, "these people get me" and enjoy silly laughs over silly things. i enjoyed embarrassing myself by not recognizing Traci and Marilyn Huskamp because traci was wearing the most awesome hat and coat and it just threw me and me, being a dork, saying"now tell me your names again" because honestly,my mind went BLANK! then to find out it was traci, was embarrassing! but you know what? these things happen and i'm ok with that. (please accept my apologies traci and see you guys at CHA and i promise i will recognize you right off!) i loved earning nicknames from my friends (Jane, calling me "The Ambassador" and keli & jen nicknaming, "julie, the cruise director" since i sort of just took over all the plans! so what is my point? it was great to reconnect on a level of me just being me (not a teacher, not trying to make money) but just relaxing and being the silly, gypsy girl that i am. it was a great time for recharging.
jen and i would get up early every morning and go out driving around Port Townsend taking photos and i got some AMAZING shots of the sun rising over the water. that kind of stuff makes me quite happy and i like to do it wherever i travel; seeing the backbones of an area; versus the token tourist view.

it was also super cool to get to have some great conversations with Tracy Moore about photography, in particular, about Lomography cameras. he's going to start blogging about them in detail, so if you are into them, keep an eye out. Although, she was a constant busy bee, i also got to connect with Teesha Moore, who is the brainchild behind Artfest/Fiberfest/Play/Journalfest. i am grateful for the few minutes i got her attention! she is an amazing artist and woman and we are all grateful to her vision of Artfest. She's just posted some incredible journaling videos on you tube on how to journal, how to create a journal, how to paint the pages, how to collage and more. if you have the time, go to her blog and see them. worth all the time you spend watching them! i've seen her journals up close and they are beyond spectacular.

my last class was with karen michel. she does altered imagery and mixed media work. she currently has a cool book out called "The green guide for artists". it is available on Amazon.com. my book is currently on its way to me. it's got great recipes for earth friendly paints and projects. anyway, jen was in the class with me and we spent a relaxing day learning various ways to alter our photos. it was the perfect way to end the retreat, with Karen being a very low key, laid back, sweet voiced and generous teacher.
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the above collage was photos taken around Fort Worden during Journalfest, lunch breaks, vendor night and any other opportunity we had to take photos!

Day two, Poulsbo, Port Townsend, Fort Worden

more art car photos. check out the frost on the windshield.it was a bit chilly!

registering to receive room keys!

"The Art Car", really cool car with all kinds of toys glued all over it. quite a site!

campus photos, middle picture is the house i stayed at - 5E. Called "officer's housing". was across a big field behind the dorms - long walk to me! it had 4 rooms upstairs. i shared a room with Sara, Jennifer got her own room (but it was tiny), Julie and Candance (Artnest girls) shared a room and then 2 other women we just met there took the last room. you have to share a bed with your roommate! i knew about this, so Sara brought some camping gear and slept on the floor, but Julie and Candance didn't know they were sharing the bed! the other room had a cot in it. there was a shower/bath upstairs (if you could call it a shower......). downstairs we had a nice kitchen, dining room, bathroom and living room. it was cool. the heat sounded like a tea kettle boiling when it was going. Julie and Candance made yummy brownies one night. the big white buildings are dorms.

signed we saw upon arriving at Fort Worden

me and Jennifer doing some shopping and looking around Port Townsend

statue in the center of town. me doing a shadow pic with balloons that were tied up outside a really cute vintage store (forgot name, sorry!). meeting up with all the "festal virgins" (first timers at Artfest). Charmster, Janet Wilson organzied it, made us necklaces and brought champagne. it was really fun!

a china doll i bought in Poulsbo - beautiful, isn't she?

on our way to Poulsbo. a cute building in Poulsbo and their marina. really pretty town. oh and i saw Elvis driving by in a pick up truck - no kidding! i screamed out "Elvis" really loud because i wanted him to come back so i could take his picture. guess he was camera shy.

here we are waiting for the ferry. see why i usually don't take off my sunglasses? look how excited Andrew is!