Smoky Mountain Art Retreat

Canvas & Paper to Journal

Welcome to our Week!

Cathy’s Botanicals

A Sample of our Days

Notes on Our Week

Time to go home

From August 31 – September 5 Donna and I hosted our first Smoky Mountain Art Retreat!  As prudence would suggest, we started small with just four of us.  That turned out to be a good number for the Mountain House, which is rustic at best.  It was a blessing to be away from radio, television and the internet, close to nature and fellow artists.  We had a wonderful time! 

We each came with thoughts on what we wanted to do, and Fran provided our theme artist for the week – Andy Goldsworthy.  For more info on this British scupltor, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy .  I brought supplies for blank journals for those who wanted to do one, and we all worked on a collaborative journal.  I’ve included several contributions from that one in mine, which is shown above. 

I came back refreshed and inspired – ready for the Autumn markets and whatever treasures the harvest may bring.  Hope to see you at South of the James this Saturday, September 19th.

Visit to Our Roots

Dan Springs at Full Flow

New Rose Bush

Tabor Lewis Mountain House

I had an opportunity this past weekend to visit the beneficiary of the Dan Springs Collection, the Tabor Lewis Mountain House!  Thankfully rainfall this spring has been abundant and the spring is flowing more strongly than I ever remember.  Brush creek is also full, and cheerfully chortling over the rocks. 

With some of the income from market sales and classes, I bought a Europeana Floribunda rose bush and planted it next to the front steps, among the day lilies.  It’s touted as ‘exceptionally long lasting and performs well in  heat,’ so I hope it will do well there.