Just Folks. Wendell, MA. The Love & Joy in Making Art.
Following up from last week’s thumbnail of my week in Wendell, MA. Here is my full story of An Artist’s Retreat.
It's remarkable what can happen when you give yourself the opportunity to get away somewhere with the intention of allowing new experiences to influence your creative growth. Wonderful things! This is exactly what transpired for me during a week-long, self-imposed artist's retreat at my cousin Lisa's house in MA recently. Coincidentally, this same week of July 22 was a big week of shifts and changes for all of us: starting with the Buck (full) Moon on Sunday, then Joe Biden stepping down and Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee as the Olympics began its opening ceremonies by week’s end. It felt like we were riding a crest of wonderful possibilities ahead!
What’s unique about Lisa’s homestead in Wendell is that it’s a free-spirited wonderland filled with blueberry and raspberry bushes, scattered fruit trees, and a meadow of cutting flowers that grow alongside a small greenhouse and vegetable garden. Birds would sing loudly every morning as we woke up early and had our tea and toast together. We’d briefly discuss the current events each day then got right into the main event of making art!
Since I can remember, Lisa has always had a passion for making and collecting miniatures and throughout her home she has amassed multiple vignettes in her collection, including a large piece entitled “Hope House.” Hope House began as an expression of lifetime experiences and has morphed and expanded over several years now. It is part fantasy and part autobiographical. This particular week, however Lisa was making a sleigh bed for a new vignette, which she started by cutting out a frame for the bed silhouette using reclaimed wood, then sewed the mattress using an antique striped fabric from India. With her fastidious attention to detail Lisa added piping and cushion tucks on both sides before filling it. It was masterful!
When I arrived on Sunday with my car overpacked with art supplies, my intention was to remain open for new inspiration. I brought with me some whimsical bird sketches I had started about three weeks before, but I had gotten distracted and felt stalled. All I needed was some time away to focus. Once we got set-up I began sketching on small pieces of watercolor paper and larger sheets and continued one bird after another. Soon I was in marathon mode. It felt great! Trees and branches came next until the entire table was covered.
All week we devoted large chunks of our days to making art which felt like such a luxury! But we also took some local excursions, to “refill our creative wells.” We went foraging for wild mushrooms in the woods with Cory and kayaked on Miller’s River while observing native birdlife. We experienced a local brewery in NH on burger night. One day we drove an hour to a farm devoted to growing native low bush blueberries that you ordered ahead to pick-up. This was no ordinary farm! And on another day Wendy came over to bring us some foraged Oyster Mushrooms which we made into a frittata. And later on, Mez stopped by with her needlepoint for "stitch and bitch" and stayed to work along with us. By Saturday, Lisa’s son Erik came over to demonstrate his new 3D cutting machine. Together, we all felt a sense of community.
By the following Sunday, it was time for me to head back to Long Island. Lisa and I talked several times the following week still bathing in the afterglow. How lucky are we to be kindred spirits! There is so much that’s automatically understood within the silences and the conversations that are so reassuring and nurturing. We never really looked at the clock as we worked and played. For the most part, we were too busy collaborating, sharing and content being in the present.
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