Top 10 Highlights of 2017!

It warms my soul to sit back and look at the whole year as a book telling a story of who I am, and how I am creating myself.

2017 marks a crossroads in my creative path where the currents of the Divine Muse took the reigns and steered me towards deeper expression through my visual art and writing. I was moved to begin weaving the stories of my ten vision quests into a book, which I’ll continue to work on in 2018.

Here are my Top 10 Highlights from 2017, may these inspire you to ponder what shaped your year.

Learning about the Kintsugi Bowl Ceremony and making the bowls for my Wild Hearts Women’s Group (to break and glue back together with gold paint in the fault lines) made my heart sing in 2017. Read a Poem about Kintsugi here

A trip to New Mexico brought me the inspiration to write a short story titled “Coyote on the Fence”. The scene wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote the story. Read the short essay here

Two art classes with Ruth Armitage catapulted me into the realms of abstraction. Now I’m obsessed with painting rocks. Rocks under water, rocks under the earth…Rocks, rocks, rocks!

I held five Shrines for Hope and Healing workshops here in my studio. Makers created 30 shrines that now sit on shelves and hang on walls bringing more beauty into the world. “Take your broken heart and make it into art!” Carrie Fisher

Teaching SoulCollage® at Breitenbush Hot Springs with my soul friend Ann Christensen was surely a highlight in 2017. Eighteen people joined us for three days of soulful creativity, sound healing and deep introspection. I can still see the beautiful open faces around the circle!

My tenth vision quest on Modoc land in May brought me daily visits from the Antelope with a dose of animal medicine that opened my heart to living in the paradox. Read more about vision questing with the Antelope here.

The Art Department Supply Store here in Salem sponsored my first ever solo art show. I was thrilled to have fifteen of my pieces shown there. And my dear BFF, Linda West, gave me these beautiful flowers in honor of my career milestone.

Another Kintsugi Bowl Ceremony–lucky me. My friend and long-time vision quest guide, Anne Stine, asked me to facilitate the Kintsugi Bowl Ceremony in the forest near Hyatt Lake outside of Ashland, OR, to celebrate her milestone birthday. My heart was singing in the midst of all these goddesses! Look at how beautiful she is.

Will any of us ever forget where we were during the total eclipse of the sun in 2017? The air seemed to hold its breath as did we. I doubt if the effect of witnessing a total eclipse ever quite passes away. These three pieces I created are titled, Eclipse 1, 2 and 3.

I spent ten days in Mexico for girl-time with my two sisters, Lea and Dea (they are identical twins). On the last morning I took a walk along the beach. Right at my feet on an incoming wave Grandmother Ocean delivered this amazing heart-shaped shell. Another intimate gift from nature.

And a bonus photo! These littles ones are the loves of my life–great grand kids Nora and Jack, grand kids Silas and Thea– the highlights of every year! They keep me young at heart.