Foggy Mornings & a Studio Full of Blessings

Its seems that summer tried to steal March as one of its months, but winter bit back 

with wind and fog and freezing temperatures and the poor blossoms that had 

begun to peek out were reminded that they really should stay bundled up unitl 

sometime in April. With the strange see-saw in temperatures came many mornings 

draped in gray fog and a mysterious, filtered light. I haven't minded much, as the 

fog invited me to see the landscape with new eyes. It looked as if the branching tree 

patterns were drawn with ink on paper washed with gray. 

Such beautiful blue-gray fields of color and delicate, reaching lines. 

The melt brought with it the challenge of navigating a dirt road in spring. Some
days the quarter of a mile from pavement to my house was quite a ride!

Cozy in the studio one day, I loved the contrast of inside and out. 

Not all days have been gray, and the moisture invited the mosses to sing 

their glowing songs. This stump keeps calling me back to photograph it. 

I'm enjoying seeing the mosses grow here and there across the rings -

like a small, mossy labyrinth for the insects.  

There hasn't been much time for painting the last two weeks, but my creativity was 
put to use in other ways. I am working on the new web site for the studio - it is still 
under construction, but you can have a peek at www.ravenwoodforestarts.com to read 
a bit about what will go on here in the future, and to get a taste of some of my other 
endeavors. Just a few pages are complete, and I think there will be some changes in 
the color somewhere to bring in more mossy greens. 

The first retreat happened in the studio last weekend, a Young Women's Retreat. 
I had the opportunity to work in a deeper way with women I teach at the university. 
It was a day of shedding, dreaming, sitting with the land and speaking intentions for 
the growng season. I was so grateful to be able to begin the work in this studio with 
this particular group of young women. They were open, willing, vulnerable, authentic 
and craving connection to each other and the more-than-human world. I was moved. 

A small group of close friends came yesterday for a blessing ritual in the new studio. 
These friends have witnessed and supported me over the past few years in countless 
ways. I called the circle to speak my gratitude for the many ways they have shown 
up for me. Both of these gatherings have filled the studio with drums and many 
singing voices, with the sharing of dreams and the speaking of gratitude. The studio
is now like a bulging cauldron filled with blessings and many seed-dreams for the 
growing season - and so is my heart.