Day Three, Switched Around in Murphys

Confused? Don't be . . . its easy to explain. One of our participants had to leave one day early and to best accommodate mileage and time, the group decided to help her by switching around which day we all visited Murphys.

More clear? Good!!

So anyway, after our precious mornin' yoga, we organized, as best you can five women, and hopped into Jean's vehicle (which she was kind enough to chauffeur). And we were on our way.


We'd planned a short drawing exercise while en route but, discovered it was less than successful due to the abundance of turns and lack of visibility for all in the back seat. So we scrapped that idea early, trading it in for just enjoying the views.

Once we reached Murphys, we parked near the park and first toured town. Notice the big frog here with two of our artist - Calavaras County is well know for its frog jumping competitions. My personal favorite was the towns "Moon Alley" Candle Shop. Not only was the craftsmanship outstanding but their decor and slightly Asian in flavor for its displays were entrancing. My journal page here shows the candles as well as their outstanding and unusual business card, again reflecting the Asian theme. Its a charming historic town with some shopping opportunities. We had to reel in some of us to get them all in attendance for a delicious, inventive and zesty flavored meal at "Grounds".

After we'd met briefly at the Murphys City Park for writing exercise (where we were also entertained with the birthday celebration of a cluster of lil' girls and their hoola hoops - remember them?) we dispersed to choose our favorite visual and spend a couple of hours sketching.

Here Jean caught me just setting up in a tiny corner of afternoon shade preparing to sketch the "Spices" building, selling fresh spices and herbs, and offering even better shadows and color combos for us artists. The woman, whose office door is behind me, was so kind to offer me water and a tour of her cozy work space. Not only was she a gracious and generous Psychologist, but an accomplished mask artist in her own right. She had several of them hanging in her entry way and she and her husband ran the gallery in the street front of the building. As you can see, I've not finished my journal entry yet, but here's one of our participants completed pages.


Since we'd all just finished a luscious and large lunch, we all agreed to return to our Lake Alpine cabin and just "graze" for our evening meal. Having a more "open" evening offered us the opportunity to set our watches and get down to the lake in hopes of capturing the "alpine glow" reflected in the water from the ridges high above the lakes edge. But alas, fickle Mother Nature saw fit to leave out the pinks in her palette and we disappointedly shot a couple "golden" shimmers.

The remainder of the evening was cozy with conversation and journal work. Then we tumbled into bed with dreams of another cluster of hours spent creating away our time. Ahhhhhhhhhhh . . .