raevn’s nest art retreat

This weekend we packed ourselves up and headed up to Cedarburg, Wisconsin so that I could attend the Raevn’s Nest Art Retreat. We stayed out in Grafton, which was more farmland, it seemed. Below was a view from the hotel window on Saturday morning.

The reason why I went was really for one reason alone. To meet this wonderful woman below- the lovely Judy Wise. She literally has this inner light that just glows.

My little blog here has brought me so many unasked blessings- but the gift that I appreciate so much is that it has brought me into contact with so many strong, creative women that I would never have met otherwise.

judy and me

I took her Friday evening workshop called Making Art a Business. It was a great little gathering. We sat around a fireplace in an old inn and shared our stories and absorbed what Judy shared with us about her experiences in the art world. She gave me a lot to think about. One thing I learned was that I actually know a lot about making my art a business because of amanobooks.com that I have been running since 2003. I learned a lot on my own with success and failures, but that is the best way to learn. Just throw yourself into it and figure things out.

As the description of my blog says I am transitioning to painting. And I do feel that I needed direction about selling fine art and the different venues to do so. I always had this nagging feeling that since I am-self taught and don’t have that art degree that I missed out on important information on marketing my artwork. But as it turns out and that the women in our small group shared with me- art school does not teach the business side of things. So we’re all kind of in the same boat!

Anyway, a lot to think about. So much to think about that I couldn’t go to sleep until 2 am! And then my little guy who was in the pack n play next to the bed woke up at 5 am and wouldn’t go back to sleep because mama and daddy were in the same room. But because of the early rising I was able to get the beautiful photo above of the sunrise.

On 3 hours of sleep I went to Judy’s workshop The Artful Journal. I’ve been journaling forever and visual journaling too- but it’s always a good idea to mix things up a bit and absorb from other people. I had so much fun playing with paint. Laying down backgrounds. Judy is such a great instructor with so much positive energy. Even though I was literally exhausted from no sleep, it was a great day.

It was just what I needed to- getting out into the country. My husband, son and I went for a little hike along the bluffs of Lake Michigan. We miss our hikes in Washington and it was like a reuninon with the trees and the dirt trails.

A lovely weekend overall. I will share my journal pages later.