this chilly rainy Monday with the whispers of the trees quietly meditating...
Mary Chapin Carpenter's soft gentle voice playing in my background... transcendental melodies...
I welcome the quiet after a perfectly glorious weekend with those I dearly love.
On Saturday I drove over to Columbus for a renewal...my visit with the Art Quilt Network's Fall retreat...
my heart was on a journey ....to see and possibly hold in an embrace my dear friends...
Many new vibrant faces were gathered and the facilitators had finished their workshops and many artist were heading home...
I met two friends and we headed up North to the Short North to the gallery district...
A warm renewing lunch at Mac's and then off to Global Gallery ...The Hawk Gallery with Sherrie...Studios on High and the wonderful Paper Store....we ran out of time before the evening dinner at Anne Triguba's new home and will have to make another trip to see Annie Lebowitz's exhibit at the Wexner's Art center...
so many delights for an artist's soul and so little time....I must return with my Ken for an afternoon of strolling in beauty.
Thank you GPS as we drove our way up North to Anne's new address and were greeted by the beauty of the landscape draped in brilliant colors of this Fall's paintbrush...
warm people drizzle in after their intense week of sharing and making critical but loving evaluations of each artist's works...no severe judgement here but kind acceptance and delight as each artist presents hers or his latest endeavors...workshops...traveling exhibits developing..."Not a Word Spoken"...will be traveling soon so watch for an opening in your neighborhood or state soon....
Candlelight, delicious salads and seafood rice dishes and so many cookies and sweets one could never taste them all even if we wanted to...a simple gathering of friends celebrating this most sacred union...
I feel so honored to have been there amongst this group of artists living their life in harmony.
I am so grateful.
I drove back to my cabin in the woods ...rocking out with old rock and roll on my radio...I needed to be alert in the dark drive home...the deer are rutting now and known for darting out into the roadway and I could not bear to injure one of these gentle animals...
My day of renewal was now closing. I am at peace still.
On Sunday we drove out to my beloved Dawes Arboretum to photograph the last of the colors surrounding the Whispers in the Trees...many species are already bare and some halfway to their ghost like skeleton appearance...the whispers are still holding their own but it is time to return them to the ground before the winter winds begin to blow ...we had high wind warnings on Sunday and the howling moan in the trees see to say rescue me...We had a coffee and a sandwich while sitting on the visitor's deck... the arboretum was busy with reunions, photographers, people walking their beloved pets...You will soon meet Rockie.
We were beginning to feel the chill so we headed over to see Cole, Morgan and little Lyndon.
There Dad was heading out for a night at the hospital and Erin had made a great casserole while Grandpa made us all root beer floats...simple delights and lots of silliness circled around the table.
Then it was bath time for all three little ones and that was easy with bubbles in the tubs.
Now many of you may not realize this to be a part of an artists life...but simple rituals and tall stories and bubble baths pave the wave for future stories and dear heart memories.
Today is catch up day...so many small trivial chores and yet reassurance ....I am home with my family.
GRATITUDE...that is such an important word to include in our often chaotic worlds of rushing around...
Gallery on High...Judy is still delighting us with her whimsy and joyful clay creatures...
Dad is getting ready to go to the Hospital for his shift...we love you Dad!
999 reasons to say thank you.... I lost the retreat photos so I will try to add them to the next short post for the AQN artists. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
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