Valley Ridge with Flora Bowley

 My friend Pam and I have just returned from 3 days of painting with Flora Bowley. The workshop was held at beautiful Valley Ridge,with amazing hostess, Katherine Engen. I've been to Valley Ridge once before and the property and studio are just amazing. So beautiful and peaceful. Katherine is moving onto new adventures, so Pam and I took advantage of the studio time, knowing that things are changing for Valley Ridge.

Flora's class was just amazing. It was not about pressure or perfection. It was very calm and peaceful, full of gratitude and appreciation. A wonderful way to look at life and present a workshop.Makes me want to incoporate things differently when I teach as well.

Her painting style is a process. It might take 3 days to paint a picture, it might take a week, a few weeks or more! In the beginning of the class, we were all ask to make a commitment about our goal for her class. Mine was to not to get caught up in walking away with a "masterpiece" (just not realistic). I can get easily frustrated when painting for the "magic" to happen and my goal was to just be patient. Every morning, we would recommit or remind ourselves to our goals. great philosophy to keep  yourself on track! I left feeling peaceful, content and grateful.

It was also a treat for us all to have Flora's mom and sister, joining in on the fun. It was their first time taking a workshop with her - how cool is that?

 here's a little section of one of my paintings, a bird soaring to new heights.

 I flew into Chicago, where Pam picked me up. Then we drove 4 hours to Wisconsin. We had fun along the way and of course did a little antiquing.

 

 for my birthday present (Happy Birthday to me!), Pam painted this sweet little picture for me. I feel so lucky to have a piece of art created by my dear friend. It's titled, "She waters her garden daily". yep, that's me!

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The rest of the post will be visual . I'll let you imagine the rest of the story as it unfolds through my photography. enjoy!

 

As always, thanks for tagging along!

love of nature

yesterday as i was out in the yard watering my hydrangeas, i heard the cutest little chirp and of course i had to find out where it was coming from. i ran inside and grabbed my binoculars and camera. scanning the back yard i heard the chirp again and located the source high up (about 30feet) in my big oak tree. it was a little fledgling robin. i figured maybe baby was resting from flying. i noticed it kept hopping about on the massive tree limb and then i realized baby was waiting for momma to come back with some food. it was difficult to crane my neck and try to get photos at the same time, so i had the bright idea of climbing up on the shed which was close to the tree. i figured the height would be better to watch and photograph my new friend. i grabbed the old bunk bed ladder from dillon's fort/hangout area and leaned it up against the shed. then i climbed up but had to hoist myself up on the shed (not a pretty site as i'm not exactly Miss Nimble anymore!) but it was the perfect view to watch.

baby would sit patiently and wait for mom. before mom even came into range of my sight, i noticed baby would start squawking. then mom would land with some food, feed baby and fly off again. it was fun to watch. i couldn't figure out how the baby would know mom was close, because she didn't make any noise and had food in her mouth. but baby always knew when she was getting close.

after i got the pictures i wanted, i realized that i was not going to be able to climb down the ladder (easier going up then down!) so i decided my only option was to jump off the shed and onto the trampoline, which is what the kids do (and it is pulled up right along the shed). i put my camera as close to the edge of the shed to grab later and jumped. (again not a pretty site and glad no one was watching!) then i dusted myself off, grabbed my camera and went back to watering. that's how i roll.

observing

there's been a lot of talk in the last year on the subject of "being in the present" instead of getting sidetracked by what has happened to us in the past or worrying about tomorrow. We are all guilty of this; as it is easy to get lost in our past. I just brought this up with someone recently as this person tends to reside in the past and when you reside in the past, you definitely aren't focused on what is going on around you. but i started thinking about it - how do we live in the present? how do we make ourselves participate on a daily level; what is the trick? after thinking about it for awhile, i decided one way to be present is to observe what is going on around you. take it in, notice, think about it, question it, learn from it and as you walk away take something positive from it. I thought i'd start posting some random observations from my walk through life and encourage you to share yours too.

So i'll start by sharing this observation with you. i looked out my kitchen window yesterday and was shocked to see this hawk sitting on one of my feeders. i ran upstairs as fast as i could and grabbed my camera. when i got back, i got to watch him through my zoom lens and was enchanted by the beauty of this bird. the colors of those feathers - oh how i wanted to pluck one from his tail! i watched him as he looked for food. his head turning in all directions as he searched. finally i could tell he was going to leave as he leaned forward and spread those amazing wings. quick as the shutter took its last picture, he was gone. then i called dillon to tell him what i saw.