Where Has She Gone? What Is She Up To?

This morning my dear friend Lyn, from Walnut Creek, California, phoned to make sure I was OK. She'd emailed me a week or so ago but hadn't heard back. And there'd been no new posts on my blog or on Facebook. Which reminded me that once you begin a correspondence with your friends and family in cyberspace, you'd better keep it up, or they start wondering where you've gone or what you're up to. So this is the story. On January 6th, I began a 10-week online course with Lisa Call, called Working in a Series. It's pretty intense and pretty wonderful. Also demanding, but in the best possible way. So that's where I am right now - living in the land of creating work that will hopefully be part of a cohesive whole, and which will help me develop my own voice in my work. First we generated an "Idea Warehouse" - possibilities for our series. Then we narrowed it down to one idea, and further restricted it by adding the parameters for the series. And then we got to work. No messing around. My original idea was for bare 

branch trees, but now it's limited to Vancouver Island Douglas fir trees. I've taken all sorts of photos over the years, and chose just one of these as my starting point. After abstracting it, I made my first piece, which I called "Old Friends". Then I critiqued it, using Lisa's guidelines. The next assignment asked me to choose a colour exercise from several options, and to make the next piece. And I just finished the top today (quilting will be done at some later date). This one's called "Of Those Remaining". Again, it had to be critiqued. And that will be the rhythm for the course - new course material, including a lecture and being introduced to three artists each week, and discussions on mindsets and studio practice, and a new piece of work created each week. I am so, so thankful to have this opportunity, but it has meant closing doors on a lot of other good things (that's part of the learning experience), and truth be told, I feel like I'm flying right now, and don't have the time to deal very well with anything else. So there you are. I am still alive and well, but you probably won't hear from me as often as usual for the next few

weeks. I will, however, report on my progress from time to time, and give you a peek into this terrific experience. Thanks for your patience, and much happiness to each of you as you follow your own creative paths.