Day Four, Big Shapes & Emotion

Our morning yoga was peaceful, only enhanced as we watched this mystical dance of a fly fisherman casting poetically across the still mornin' lake.

Jean has our first assignment of the day, "Walk & Draw". Originally we'd planned to travel over the ridge doing this exercise en route to Duck Lake, but with not all our "knees" able to take the full 4 mile hike, we opted to include everyone and meander around Lake Alpine.

Jean's instructions went something like:

" 'Walking Drawing' is a way to train ourselves to look for the big
picture, main shapes, thrusts, tangents, and space divisions. We then
developed one of the 2" squares into a larger painting, pleased with what our
memory provided."

I did enjoy this exercise ... it stretched my brain. I found that the long and farther I walked, the better my eye became accustomed to "seeing" this way. So of course, when I got back to the cabin to pick my favorite 2" square to turn into an actual painting, I choose the final sketch square. But my lil brain at that point, almost hurt, attempting to make up or pull from memory, what I'd so loved about that scene without relying upon the local color to influence me.

I had some extra space along the left side of my bottom page and wanted to capture for my memory, this sweet scene that one of the participants provided for us each morn. She'd tear into small cubes, a parade of bread squares along the deck railing for the crazy birds to come feast upon. It was just another added delight that each lady brought along with her to add to this delicious mix of women.

After we each enjoyed our lunch selections of choice, we were on to the afternoon agenda. This process was to involve an emotional scenario in our life, one that had a strong charge to it. The primary expression was to be painted or drawn, augmented with images/words found in magazines provided. We all worked diligently and once more, the outcomes were so diverse and fascinating. I'll display Jean's and my pages . . . well, to protect the "innocent" :)

Next exercise was more playful. This invention for dropping in something into one's journal came to me completely from having to solve a problem. We designed the image, either to paint, or to be painted, then cut out a shape in our journal page. Next, in the journal we cut a larger window, or sort of a margin or "moat" - - into which we would stitch the original piece of journal page back into the space.

Here's a sampling: Jean choose to replicate the "Talking Stick" that we'd all created our first evening together, the colorful ice cream cone came from a reminiscent moment from our Murphys visit the day before and I wanted to use the unusual, brilliant thread samplings a friend had saved up and sent me - just a couple days before I left for this retreat (PS. Thanks Vicki!!!).

This evening started to mark the gentle ending of our group. One of the participants had chosen to leave one day early just so she'd not miss another fun gathering, but it sadden us to see any of our precious participants leave. In these few days we'd woven into a close, dear little family. We all waved and bid her g'bye with this telltale shot off the deck as she drove off.

This big dark magical night sky quieted us into sleep under this full moon sky.