Blog

August Retreat: floating down the Ichetucknee

peggy — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:15:32 +0000

Cha Cha, Katy, Patty, and Rose huddle while floating

Our President floats like an angel

Six of us spent much of day last Friday floating down the Ichetucknee River, one of the few pristene waterways on this planet.Thankfully, this pure and beautiful place is right “in our backyard.” “The Blue Path,” an exhibit at The Florida Museum of Natural History, is about to open in Gainesville. This show will celebrate our magnificent springs and their importance to the people of the State of Florida. Be sure to check this out.

I have attached some photos of us as we floated, made art, and spent three hours contemplating our exquisite crystalline surroundings. At the end of our run (Yes, we did the entire trip!), we enjoyed our picnic lunches and had our usual review between rain showers that held off until 2 PM. What a beautiful day we had!

Look at my site for the image that I made and visit the page, “Notes and Journey Daybook pages to see the pages made by the other alumni participants.

Ancient bald cypress on on shore

Alumni Adventure at Kanapaha Gardens

peggy — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 01:39:33 +0000

On Friday, June 11^th, eight Journey Daybook alumna met at Kanapaha Gardens in Gainesville for our monthly adventure. We had time to stroll in the, gardens before having our lunches in the shaded picnic area behind Summer House (though a couple of us couldn’t resist starting our pages right away). After lunch and lively conversation, we spread out to work on our pages and gathered 1 ½ hours later to share the results: eight individual, inspired takes on various sites in the gardens, including bamboo, a memorial waterfall, the view from a gazebo, reflections in a gazing ball, trees and flowers. Though the weather was very hot and muggy, we were energized by our efforts and our fellowship. We all agreed that a return trip to Kanapaha Gardens is in our future!

Anne sent this fine photo of the assembled group observing the finished pages at the end of the adventure.

Journals in Public Art

peggy — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:23:59 +0000

On Saturday, our Journal Keepers group makes a stop at the Nature Center State Park on the Rio Grande bosque. The highlight of this excursion is seeing the blind designed to observe indigenous plants and animals in their environment. Margy O’Brien created tiles, some of which were made from journals pages in collaboration with Bonnie Schmader, an Albuquerque naturalist, for this useful practical monument, The structure is very accessible, located on the corner of the parking lot where everyone has an opportunity to not only read the journal entries but also to watch the animals that include a host of different ducks, geese, migratory birds, and turtles without intruding on their natural activity. This group of photos of the blind show the site, Margy’s work, and the recontextualization of the journal pages - here in a very different art form - ceramic sculpture. Bravo, Margy! You have made a wonderful piece of public art from a your personal journal pages and in so doing you have changed our thinking about the untold ways that our journey daybooks can be reused.

Friday in Albuquerque

peggy — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 14:03:15 +0000

Three of us move around the open, green spaces of the city. Ruthy from California joins Patty and me for a morning of sketching in the main square of Old Town, where we each occupy a different spot in the park - foreground, middle-ground, and background - as we work. The subject we face is St Philip Neri church, the oldest Catholic Church in Albuquerque. As we draw, a mass is underway, music fills the empty spaces of our consciousness, and, finally, a funeral procession exits the church. Many Hispanic families gather in the courtyard as the coffin and flowers are loaded in the hearse. How special it is that we are able to witness these private moments in the life of a different culture!

Later, the three of us drive to Sandia Mountain and ride the Sandia tram to the crest, where we each draw and paint. I plan to post images before too long. I promise!

There has been a heat wave in this part of New Mexico; although, from our perspective, it seems comfortable - with dry heat and cool evenings. Last night a cold front passed here, and we look forward to cooler weather in the next few days. How thankful the 28 or so of us journal keepers are for this time together we are together!

Patty and Peggy in Albuquerque

peggy — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:11:17 +0000

We arrived safely at the Spiritual Renewal Center yesterday after a wonderful four-day road trip from Cedar Key. There are about 25 illustrated journal keepers retreating here and preparing for our exhibit opening at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History in Old Town tonight. The women participants come from a different parts of the United States and Canada and bring to the table a wonderful diversity of talents and interests. We have botanists, ornithologists, nature lovers, college professors, writers, artists, and journey daybook keepers, like us.

One of our littermates bound journal pages after our gathering in Zion in October. Because many of you have seen a book that Beki produced in 2007, I am posting a photo of this “2009 edition.” More later . . . .

Summer Journey Daybook Pages

peggy — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:02:49 +0000

While some alumni will be attending scheduled Alumni Adventures (See the next post,) others of us will be traveling this summer. I hope that everyone will make an attempt to scan and send images of the pages to me so that everyone can enjoy them. As a Preview of what is to come, I am posting one of Anne’s pages that she made last week when she made a trip to the North Carolina beach with her grandchildren. Go to the Notes and Journey Daybook Page to see the remainder of these pages. Thanks, Anne!

Summer Alumni Adventures Scheduled

peggy — Sun, 23 May 2010 02:14:09 +0000

At the JDB Board meeting 17 May, three summer Alumni Adventures were scheduled. These will occur:

11 June at Kanapaha Gardens in Gainesville. The group will meet at 11 AM. Barbara Beynon is hostess. Below is an image made at Kanapaha Gardens. A few years ago we took a group of girls (the Cedar Key Sisters) to Kanapaha to make journey daybook pages. 16 July (tentative) in Cedar Key. The group will meet at 11 AM at the St. Clair Witman House on the State Museum property. Sue Reichert is hostess.

August (date t.b.a) in Chiefland, FL at the Dakotah Winery. Patty Jett is hostess.

Small Boat Meet in Cedar Key

peggy — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:19:45 +0000

Seven of our Journey Daybook members met yesterday for several hours to make pages that reflected our impression of the joyful yearly gathering of small, often handmade wooden sailboats. We planted ourselves in some tree shade that made the experience of working cool and comfortable. The breeze was fresh. The day was clear. And, we each made pages that were individually special. See these pages in the NOTES AND JOURNEY DAYBOOK PAGES page.

Journey Daybook Adventure at the Tench

These photos show some of our members enjoying lunch at Big Lou’s Pizza. From left to right: Carol, Barb and Patty, and Sue. As always, be sure to look for the pages on the Notes and Journey Daybook Pages.

New Adventures Scheduled

peggy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:57:29 +0000

Be sure to check out Alumni Adventures where three new Adventures are described.

Making a journey daybook page on Astena Otie during 2009 Small Boat Meet

Journey Daybook Adventure at Rainbow Springs

peggy — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:54:54 +0000

Eight Journey Daybook alumni spent three hours at this magical Florida State Park today. The weather was in the balmy 70’s, and, of course, the water bubbling up from the spring is a constant 72°, year ’round. Anne planned this adventure beautifully, hoping that the spring flowers would be blooming. We, of course, were not disappointed.

Each of us worked in a different part of the park, and each of the pages that we made showed a unique point of view. All of the pages were colorful and exciting, reflecting this spectacular, bright, warm afternoon. Be sure to check out Notes and Journey Daybook Pages to see our individual pages.