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Call of the Wild Soul Art Retreat

It is now over a month ago that I attended the Call of the Wild Soul Art Retreat in Petaluma, CA.
I posted an album of photos on my Facebook page which captures the essence of my trip.  This is a small selection.

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I am so grateful to the universe for prodding me along on that much needed journey.

It’s been so long since I’ve been able to travel by myself and it all feels like a dream now.

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A magical dream.

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  It was a lovely secluded location, with inspiring artists, many personal stories shared, new friends, meditation time, yoga, vegetarian meals prepared.

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Much thanks to erin faith allen & simon for organizing;  and to the inspiring artists I learned from: alena hennessy, teesha moore, and tracy verdugo!

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me

There was an art market on Saturday night where I sold my handmade lino-cut cards.  I took a chance and also brought along the painting I created in tracy verdugo’s class.  A lovely, local, woman who was also attending the retreat ended up buying it!  It was meant to be and I was so happy she connected with my work.

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Unfolding

Still can’t get over these trees.

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I was also thrilled to have my “goddess” photo taken on the last day of the retreat by photographer Stacy de la Rosa.

It was a beautiful, sunny day…I was her last shoot…she gave me some magic potions, grounded us both and then she captured this moment in time.

{photo coming soon!}

I finished up the trip by visiting my sister-in-law in San Francisco who took me to yoga, more delicious veg eateries, and topped it off with a massage & pedicure.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!  including my family who stayed behind to care for my husband and my littles!  xoxoxox

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Gelatin Printing

As promised here are my first experimental prints from my own hand-made gelatin plates.  It is a lot of fun and I think I have an idea for a series.  Something like sacred vessels.
I played with Golden Acrylics and some other cheap iridescent paint.  I love the look of the iridescent but it doesn’t translate to digital as well so I’ll save those for local art shows.   Which is your favorite?

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[The above print is available for sale in my Society6 shop here.]

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Call of the Wild Soul Art Retreat

All I can say is WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!  I’m going!!

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From their website:

“We collectively emphasize connectedness, community, open hearts, and unabashedly joyous and courageous exploring through our artmaking.  This retreat is a cocoon of safe and intuitive creativity, self-empowerment, and fun … while being nurtured in the majesty of the land once nurtured by the Miwok tribe.”

How EarthRise Retreat Center Began:  It was literally conceived in outer space.  Dr. Mitchell was on Apollo 14’s mission to the moon.  From the EarthRise website: “On the trip home Dr. Mitchell sat in the window seat of the cramped cabin of the space capsule. As he saw Earth floating freely in the vastness of space, Dr. Mitchell was engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness—an epiphany. In Dr. Mitchell’s own words: ‘The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident based on random processes . . . The knowledge came to me directly.’  Dr Mitchell returned to Earth and founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences – derived from the Greek word nous, meaning “intuitive ways of knowing.”

 

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Pattern Update!

I’m so sad that the Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design Ecourse is coming to an end!  I’ve made some wonderful friends and contacts throughout the three course modules and will be forever grateful for the opportunities and resources that Rachael & Beth offered to us.  Through this course I was recently introduced to ‘Creative Sketchbook,’ a new creative blog which is “dedicated to share art and design from the past and present along with new emerging talent to provide a source of inspiration and pleasure.”  Check in daily for some great finds 😉

I’ve done a lot of soul searching during the course and the direction I find very exciting is fashion.  I would love to see the below pattern come to life one day as a dress.  Seeing my patterns go down the runway would be a dream come true!  I’ve entered this pattern into a scarf design contest so please vote if you would like!  Click here and rate it a 5!

And I have lots of these tiled patterns in the works. I think these would be good for packaging, journals, giftwrap, and fabric.

I also think some of my patterns would work for packaging:

Hope you enjoyed a little eye-candy today!  What would you like to see these patterns on?