Make Mine Magical

Expect magic. That's what I told my students this past weekend at the first retreat held in my new studio house. You have to approach each day expecting magic. If you're not looking for it...how are you going to recognize it when it happens? Well at least that's what I tell them. But this weekend I found that I didn't have to be vigilant in my search for magic...magic smacked me right upside the head and then proceeded to follow me wherever I went. As a matter of fact it followed all of us. For three days we had a shadow and it's name was magic.

I love talking about art almost as much as I love making art. I will expound on the life of Georgia O'Keeffe ad nauseum and I will pound the pulpit at the temple of collage with powerful sermons of the mixed media variety. I am an Art Preacher. I love to tell stories and I love to inspire. And I love to hear stories and be inspired. When 6 women come together and cocoon inside a cozy Victorian cottage with snow falling outside (a fluke I might add-gonna be 70 this week)...and their main purpose is to make art and seek creative zest...magic happens. Art is preached and creative roadblocks are breached.

Five wonderful women graced me with their presence for those 3 days. We learned the language of fabric collage and we told stories in thread and fiber that will never be on Amazon but are chapters in a book we will refer to time and time again. We laughed until I swore the house was tickling us and we bonded in a major way. For almost ten years I have made my art almost daily. It supports me financially, nurtures me spiritually, and satisfies me artistically. What more could a girl want, you ask? How about sharing it openly. In sharing what I do, why I do it and understanding where it comes from in each of us, a new dimension has been added to my artistic life. You can call it teaching...you can call it preaching...



I call it magic.