wonderful art nest weekend

here are the beautiful women i got to spend the art nest weekend with. i look at each of their faces now and feel so grateful for a few days of their lives spent with candice and me in the snowy mountains of utah. front left to right: Cassondra, Natalie, Laurie, Lorie, Caryn, Courtney, Julie, Beth, Gloria, Kelly Rae, Jane, me middle row: Kari, Debbie, Karen, Candice, Britt, Michelle, Denise, Deb, Jolee, Lorraine, Allyson back row: Mati, Maya, Heidi, Susan, Shelley, Jodi, Diane. i loaded the photo big so you can click on it to see better. :)
the gals that have sites on the web i have linked for you to visit. enjoy...


the day before everyone arrived our families were at the cabin setting up beds, carrying in food and supplies. both our husbands took most of the week off to help us get ready and to take care of everything at home while we were at the nest. what an amazing gift... thank you Matt and Rich.

here are a few photos of the what we had waiting for everyone to arrive.




we had four days ahead of us to spend with each other, creating art, and sharing our lives. each person came with their own story waiting to unfold. i believe for artists, art is the truest expression of our hearts. in those four days it seemed as if time stopped for us, focusing all our energy towards connecting with each other and our art.
candice and i have hosted the art nest five times now and before it has been a large part about the art for me. i desperately needed to learn new things to find out what was inside me.
this time was so different. i wanted to create this wonderful experience for someone else. i loved watching the art that flowed out of each person, cooking delicious meals for them, and hearing about their happiness and struggles. i am not sure i even know what has changed inside me. i just know i have been waiting for this my whole life.
the first night at our welcome nesters meeting candice and i both talked about what we hoped each person would experience attending the nest, an opportunity to open our hearts, to nourish and heal, and to feel gratitude. michelle took this fun picture of us wearing the aprons noelle made for us to match our toolkits.


such a big part of the art nest is the teachers that come and give to each of us a day to explore something new. they are generous and open, patient and caring. it feels as if you get to see inside their studio for a day and experience their life's work.
kelly rae was our first teacher. she set the perfect tone for the retreat. on each person's kit she taped a message. each one was different and personal, it gave us each permission to begin where we were. mine said 'the creative community needs your vision....don't be shy.' the art from kelly rae's class blew me away.


you can see here photos taken the night we all displayed our work.


mati began teaching on friday with the sun streaming in the window over her art. i am so drawn to her fanciful images and gorgeous saturation of color. i love that her art evokes such happy, childlike emotions from me. everywhere in the room there was brilliant color and spontaneous laughter. it was wonderful.


i decided to work on a smaller piece with flowers inspired from some funky fabric kari brought. i will be that little bird in my garden this summer.


jane taught the class on saturday. i have taken one other class from jane and was so amazed at her process working with metal pipe. she had a whole table filled with her jewelry at the artist sale it was so hard to choose! i can finally solder without burning everything so i had so much fun starting a ring.
a few more photos i couldn't resist posting. thank you all for an amazing experience i will never forget. i miss you, julie