Every once in awhile, we have a chance to meet or see a creative mentor who has opened a doorway for us in the past. This last week I was delighted to hear author Natalie Goldberg speak in Boulder. Her first book “Writing Down the Bones” had a big impact on me as a writer and a creative person, and I also loved her book “Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life”. (She just published her 14th book.)
Her website says that she teaches a method of writing that can take you beyond craft to the true source of creative power: The mind that is “raw, full of energy, alive and hungry.”
Many of you, I am sure, are very familiar with Julie Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way”, written to help people with ‘artistic creative recovery’. Julie and Natalie wrote “The Writing Life” together, and have a longtime friendship. So if you’ve enjoyed “The Artist’s Way”, I highly recommend picking up one of Natalie’s books on creativity and writing. Her philosophy definitely extends to the visual arts which of course includes quilting and fiber art!
Once you unlock the big doors of the Creative Barn, you never know what artistic adventures will be let loose. If you are following the adventures of my quilt Rocky Mountain Poison which has been on exhibit at the UN in Geneva, you may be interested to know that this quilt has taken me to the Four Corners area this weekend. My quilt is about the poisoning of the Animas River, which eventually flows through the Navajo Nation to the Colorado River and the coast.
This afternoon I spent 4 hours with a Navajo elder Medicine Man in a healing circle, and met an editor who wants to write about my quilt. What can’t be totally expressed with words, was expressed visually in the quilt, and I am grateful that others are seeing and contemplating its message about the preciousness of our water system.
We waited for the medicine man to show up at dawn, and I was wondering if I had time for a shower. “Don’t worry” they said. “He doesn’t have running water so he will not have showered either.” That was a sobering moment.
I am staying on a Horse Therapy farm – where people come to spend time with horses to heal their souls. Beyond the barn is a pond and group of tall trees, where herons are building about 20 nests in the treetops. They fly over us with twigs in their beaks, their long legs trailing beyond. There is a gentle rain, and occasionally we catch a glimpse of distant snowy peaks. So I am having a Creative Retreat of sorts, and I just wanted to share the moment with you. As I sign off here, I’ll be heading down through the pasture to watch the herons…all because of a quilt.
This weekend I am announcing another Cuban Arts Tour for Sept 18-25, by popular demand! Click through to see details about this itinerary, which will be slightly different from the May trip to Cuba. We have a couple spots open on the Polar Bear Tour in November, so if you were waiting for the moment to sign up, this is it! *smile*
Calendar:
May 8-15 – Luana’s CUBA ARTS TOUR #1 – Sold Out
May 1-31 – The Golden Hour – SAQA Call for Entries
May 20-22 – Quilt Market
Sept 18-25 – Cuba Arts Tour #2 – details here!
Nov 15-20 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Last chance!
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