From Big Sur to an Artful Journey to the Redwood Forest

It's been just over a week but I feel as if it's been months and at the same time hardly here at all. Last Tuesday a dear friend from North Carolina arrived and on Wed. we took off on the coast highway to Big Sur. After days of rainy, stormy weather the day cleared and we couldn't have asked for a bluer sky.



The winding road we took to the beach led us by a gentle stream and these amazing willow trees.


You've seen me post pictures of the garnet sand before but I am still drawn to the amazing pink and purple colors of it as we walk along.







There were many beach treasures along our path. Maybe you don't notice the shapes and colors of rocks, or the seaweed's beauty, or the tideline's bounty but I do.







We journeyed down the road to lunch at Nepenthe where the crows sat in trees like sentinels as we gazed at the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. It is a magical, calming place to visit.



On Thursday we scrambled to collect our supplies and clothing and items needed to begin the four day Artful Journey retreat at the Presentation Center off Bear Creek Rd. Nina was to teach and I would be a student. After we arrived I walked the grounds and took photos and payed attention to the bare trees as the class I was to take with Lesley Riley would have a tree theme to apply technique to fabric.

The trees from my room looking through the screen were stately in their bareness against the gray sky that would spit rain off and on the following couple of days.








I learned a lot in Lesley's class and was most surprised that I could write on fabric, a faux type of writing that looks scripted and very arty to apply to silk scarves. I met so many wonderful new friends (the Lori's spelled in various ways) and with the small intimate setting everyone walked around serenely with smiles on their faces. If you get a chance to attend one of these Artful Journey retreats I highly recommend it. I know registration is open for one to take place in July.



After the retreat I took Nina and Lesley to Henry Cowell State Park to walk the redwoods, then sushi for lunch and a trip to Anthropologie before we parted ways, Nina to leave early in the morning back to North Carolina and Lesley to part soon back to Virginia. I miss them already and will look forward to the next journey.