Destination: Creativity--Wait! There's More!

First of all: yes. We really did go to all those retreats. We didn't fake it or phone it in, using the map and the little toy truck and plane to pretend we went when actually it was just me sitting here in front of the computer doing it all virtually.  We really did travel all those 19,600 miles last year, the two of us out on the road. That's why I'm pretty sure there will never be another book like this because 1) it's not the kind of thing most people are going to spend a year doing and 2) I am not going to do it again. Oh, no. Not unless someone buys us a tour bus. You know, one of those with a king-sized bed, an on-board chef, and a jacuzzi. So this is pretty much a one-of-a-kind thing here. I hold this book in my hands and remember last year and go, "Whoa. What a ride!" And just think: you get to share in all the fabulous parts without having to experience the hairy coffee carafe in the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Columbia, South Carolina.
You're welcome!
I realized this past week that almost everyone thinks the book is about our travels to various art retreats, with photos and stuff. Yeah, that's in there, for sure, but it's way, way more than that--documenting the retreats was only a tiny part of the reason we did this book. The real reason was to show that these gatherings are important for lots of reasons and then--and really important!--show you how you can snag a little bit of that energy and community and inspiration even if you haven't ever been to a big retreat and don't really see any chance of going in the near future. Cos I know they're expensive, and I know times are tough, and I know people need hits of inspiration now more than ever. People who think the book is just about going to the big retreats ask me if I don't think this is a bad time, economically, for a book like this, and I go, "Eeek! You've got to read it! It's the opposite of what you're thinking!"
I want you to experience the big retreats. They are, literally, life-changing. Everyone should go to at least one, and if you can swing it, go to as many as you can. Dale Wigley, does, and you can read what she has to say about them. At 82, she hardly ever misses one of them, and that right there says a ton. I don't know about you, but I want whatever she's found that gives her this energy.
While there are those of us who can spend our entire creative lives working in isolation, never meeting up with anyone else who shares our love of rusty stuff or old fabric or wax or collage, most of us really crave spending a little time with people who Get It, people who think painting is more interesting than politics and encaustic is more entrancing that television. People who would rather talk about color than shopping and would rather be playing with dye than getting a pedicure. But many, many of us (hello! That would be me!) live in creative isolation, in communities where there aren't art groups or cooperative galleries or art walks. I know this, and you know this, because you've heard me whine here before about how I've tried to form a local group of people to meet in the evenings and sit and sketch and stitch and knit or whatever, and just talk about stuff. Nothing formal, no meetings, no dues, no agenda--just people sitting together doing what they love and talking about ideas.
I have failed. Over and over (I even got a group going at Barnes and Noble, years ago, but after the second meeting, when the topic of discussion appeared to be, for the second week in a row, "Why My Life Sucks Because I'm Not Rich," I gave up).
While I obviously don't have a clue about how to get a local art group going, I do have ideas about how to organize small, local retreats--even if it's just you and a couple of friends. Because I think that, if you do that, it can grow. With luck, it could turn into something more permanent, like--whoa!--an art group. See? You come at it backwards.
Now, this isn't about creating more big, national retreats. Not at all. I really don't believe we need a ton of those competing for attendees, and the ones we've got are doing a great job, in my opinion. But I do think we need something in every state, something smaller but no less inspirational and well-organized, so that everyone, no matter where they live and how limited their budget, can find a way to experience the energy of taking good workshops and meeting top-notch instructors and sitting down and talking with other creative people. It would be good for instructors who are trying to make a living teaching, and it would be good for attendees. I think it would be good for the big retreats, as well, because I think once people get a taste of how fabulous a retreat is, they're going to want more of it.
For something like that, I think you have to start out small. Your goal isn't to get huge; it's to make something available to the people where you live. So there're tons of tips in the book to help you think about how you might make that happen, starting with maybe just you and your cousins.
Then, because I know that that wouldn't work for everyone--you're too isolated, or you really don't want to hang out with other people, or you have no organizational skills for stuff like this (me, again! While I know *how* to do it, I don't have it in me to actually *do* it), we included five complete workshops that you can do at home, by yourself (or, of course, with friends or your next-door neighbor and her sister-in-law). Step-by-step instructions and detailed photographs will lead you through projects by fabulous nationally-known instructors who really, really generously agreed to share the instructions that are their bread and butter: these people make part of their living teaching these workshops, and they've made them available to you for the price of the book. I don't know about you, but people's generosity just continues to amaze me. If you ever get a chance to take a workshop from one of these people, please do. And please tell them thank you.
So you get "Las Vegas Drawing Extravaganza" with Carla Sonheim:





And a "Wrapped In Silk Bangle Bracelet" with Deryn Mentock:





"Neptune's Necklace" with Melissa Manley:





A "Centipede Stitch" with Daniel Essig:



And "Free to Create" with Jesse Reno:


How's that for diversity? And fabulousness? You get to experience a top-notch workshop right now, without having to wait or pack or go through airport security. (Plus you'll find out tips for when you *do* pack to go to a big retreat. Think "warm socks.")
How did I pick these workshops? I picked stuff I wanted to know more about, stuff I didn't know *anything* about but found intriguing, and I tried to make it as broad as possible: painting, drawing, stitching, wire-work, and metal work.
So the scope of the book is really broad: it's a yearbook of our personal adventure, and it's information about retreats--the really big ones (Artfest, Art Unraveled, Art & Soul), a boutique retreat (Adorn Me! which is just about jewelry), some of the huge shows that aren't really retreats but that offer tons of workshops (Bead&Button, International Quilt Festival), and a small, local retreat here in Texas (Shady Ladies, now renamed as Artful Texas, I think). That last is what I want to encourage in every state. Sure, it's a ton of work. Sure, you won't make a ton of money. But one of the things I learned from talking to organizers is that they didn't go into this from, say, a job in banking, thinking, "This seems like a way to make a ton of money." Most of them went into it thinking, "I'd love to be able to take workshops closer to home." They wanted something they'd enjoy, so they made it happen. I'd like to see that happen on a smaller, local level, too. I want an annual retreat in Texas, and because Texas is a really big place, I think it could do with more than one. And if there were one in New Mexico? We could drive to that. Ditto Arkansas, and Oklahoma. And for y'all who live in places where other states are even closer? You could probably make a day trip to any one of a number of states if they had a retreat that was offering a workshop you wanted to take.
Anyway, I really believe there's something here for everyone. Melissa got to see our advance copy, and she says it's like a yearbook for instructors and attendees. Christi Friesen saw it, and she said she's even more intrigued about teaching at a mixed media retreat (she's pretty much booked up with bead shows and international teaching, but we're working on her). People who wanted to get into one of Dan's workshops but couldn't make it to Valley Ridge? They can learn his fabulous centipede stitch. The organizers who generously hosted us? They can use the book to show people, "See? This is what we're all about here."
And us? Me and The EGE? We get to look at this thing we created together and go, "Wow. What a ride!"
So now if anyone says, "Oh, that book that's about Ricë and The EGE going to art retreats," please tell them, "Wait! There's more~~a whole lot more!"

XO