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!

Happy Halloween

day two, Journalfest

After dropping keli off at Fort Worden, Jennifer and i drove to our B&B, the James House, which has an incredible bay view that surrounds Port Townsend. Jen and i took the garden studio, which was a little studio in the back of the house, in its own little world. it had a queen and a twin bed and was perfect for us to crash in. After checking in, we learned that the James House was in its last few weeks as a B&B and would be converting to a residential home. even though it was not up for sale, some buyers made the owners an offer they could not refuse. So we will have to find new lodging when we return to Port Townsend in the spring for Artfest. Not much more of interest to report for this day. we just checked out our surroundings and took tons of photos while enjoying the beauty of Port Townsend.

heading into Port Townsend

oh my gosh, i have been going through my pictures all day trying to get them blog ready. i only took about 400 or so photos! good grief. my eyes are buggy right now! this collage is pictures from us taking the ferry from Seattle over to Bainbridge Island.
we got up early in the morning, showering, packing and then off the breakfast to a cute little bakery right across the street. i gave keli and jennifer a matching pair of sunglasses that i found for myself recently. i thought they'd be fun to wear around Journalfest.

we hit the road and headed to the ferry terminal. the ferry ride takes about 25-30 minutes. it was a very foggy day over the Puget Sound. it had been rainy quite hard right before we got on the ferry. as we got closer to Bainbridge Island, it started to clear up. we were delighted to see several bald eagles perched on some pilings as we drew closer to shore. (check out the 2nd row, 7th picture in the collage above to see them!) after disembarking, it took us about an hour to get to Port Townsend. the ride was lovely with all the fall colors and the weather cleared up beautifully. We hit the town running with our first stop being an antique store. from there it was a casual walk about town, a lovely lunch in a charming little cafe, new shoes for me and then off to Fort Worden to register ourselves and to get Keli settled into her house.

back from Seattle

Well, i am back home from Journalfest. my month and a half of traveling, doing shows, teaching and taking classes has come to an end. what a whirlwind time it was and i cannot believe how much i accomplished, how many people i met, all the art i created and taught and how many nicknames i earned along the way (Ambassador and Julie - the cruise director to name a few). i have to admit, i am a tad tired! i've spent the last few days unpacking and cleaning house. whenever i get home from retreats or traveling, i get this urge to purge and clean my house! and true to form, that's what i have been doing the last few days. lots of reorganizing as i put things away. i have family coming soon and then another friend coming right after that (I hope!) so i am also getting the house company and holiday ready.
So about my latest trip. I flew into Seattle and met my friend, Jen at the airport. Jen and i met at Artnest and were roommates again at Artfest. then it was off to pick up a car belonging to my friend, Keli, who graciously loaned it to us for the day (she was flying in later that evening). jen and i had grand expectations of all these fun things we would do in Seattle, but after eating lunch and then walking around a bit in Pioneer Square, we really didn't have much time left before meeting our friend, Sara for dinner. while walking around, we ran into my new friend, Abby. i knew it was her b-day that day, so right there on the street, very loudly, i started singing happy birthday to her. i think she was surprised that i remembered and she was quite touched with the impromptu singing. we had a lovely dinner with Sara (with Abby and her friend joining us as well). after dinner we had Sara take us over to the art co-op where she lives for a tour. what a fun place and so nice of Sara to show us around. finally, exhaustion set in and we headed back to Hotel Andra to get some shut eye. the hotel was beautiful and let me tell you, the beds were UNBELIEVABLE! while at the hotel we met this couple with the absolutely cutest dog in the world. Maggie was her name and she did tricks. i wanted to put that pup in my bag. poor Keli did not arrive til almost midnight as her flight was delayed. more stories tomorrow!