My Squam Experience

Rockywold Deephaven Camp

Holderness, New Hampshire

I returned home exactly a week ago

from attending Squam Art Workshops

and I am still processing the journey that unfolded

there for me!

How do I put into words just how I feel 

about what I experienced at My Squam . . .

knowing that I can't possibly express

 exactly what I want to share and give it the justice it so deserves!

I don't think I truly can ...  BECAUSE IT WAS MAGICAL!

I am still processing all that I experienced at Squam last week,

and I don't want this feeling to end.

I want to remember all that I did, all that I learned,

all that I experienced and remember the wonderful people I met.

I have attended two Squam by the Sea journeys

and Squam in the City last fall,

but nothing compares to the "original" Squam

at Squam Lake in New Hampshire.

It was by far the most beautiful retreat experience for me!

I decided to share my favorite photos 

from my Squam experience last week ...

I am touched beyond measure that I was able to attend, 

to teach a Zentangle® class

and share this drawing process with 40 attendees! (WOW!)

I was happy to be a small part of an amazing group of people,

close to 200 attendees!

To be close to Elizabeth, 

(founder and creator of Squam Art Workshops)

who will always have my heart,

and Forrest Elliott, Mindy Tsonas and Nina Gilbert

(her outstanding team)

what an amazing job they did!

Enough said ... here are my pics

Hope you will enjoy and get a feel for my five days!

Opening night adornment

Yarn bombing everywhere

Walking the many paths

Yarns by Shalimar yarns for a tapestry

Isn't the packaging adorable!

Another art fair treat I brought home

Me and Mindy united (photo taken by Elizabeth Duvivier)

How I adore this beautiful soul!

Elizabeth reading my favorite poet Mary Oliver

in our magical writing class

Ice beauty during the Art Fair

The beautiful heart showed up everywhere

Story time with author Clara Parkes

I purchased her sock knitting book!

My art fair treat from Maya Made

New sock knitting bag

Always have to take at least one selfie!

Connecting with Susan

My Love Notes Project partner

My altered book class with Colleen Attara

Knitting in my pj's by the fire

The perfect venue for my Zentangle® class Friday morning

Best class helpers ever!!!!

Creating a class Mosaic of finished work

The BEST class helpers ever

How blessed was I!!!

Awesome and attentive class

Sweet Nina concentrating

My Instagram that day

Cabin Artwork created by

Elizabeth and Forrest

(Wished I could have brought home!)

Morning peeking through ... ready to start each day

Creating a nature mandala before class

Writing class venue

"Writing your own Myth" class with Elizabeth

Facing the blank page ...

Dream Catcher created by 

the beautiful Mindy Tsonas

for all

Adding my dream to the dream catcher

Attending a natural remedy workshop

Always inspiring words to be found

My writing sisters ... we shared a lot together

My Keens walked many a step

Anxious to get into the Art Fair on our last night

Yes I am Yogiknitgirl and I LOVE Ravelry

So fun to meet the gang in person!

Saying goodbye to Squam Lake the last day

Being greeted on Wednesday arrival

The dock at our cottage

The view from our room

The beautiful woven Heart there to greet

Best Roomy ever!

Inspiration during Altered Book Class with Colleen Attara

My view while writing on a Saturday morning

So much inspiration here

Gathering for a group photo

(photo taken by the amazing Forrest Elliott)

Daily inspiration adorning my cabin bedroom

See what I mean??????
If you ever get the chance to attend a Squam
please give yourself that gift!
They are magical, soul refreshing,
loving and safe.
So much goes into the making of such an experience
and I am filled to overflowing.
I will step lightly for awhile,
take care of my soul
and be ever so grateful
for what I took home with me!
Thank you Elizabeth, Forrest,
Mindy and Nina!
xoxoxo

Along the pathway at Squam

My Tapestry . . .

Just Beginning

Now hanging at my studio window

I am a Weaver!

It feels good to say it,

because it has been way to long 

since I have done anything creative at my looms!

I am sure you have done this as well . . .

strayed away from an art form you love,

only to learn something new . . .

something that distracts you, interests you,

and pulls your attention away.

For me it has been learning the Art of Calligraphy,

teaching Zentangle® and SoulCollage® classes,

all good things, but take an immense amount of my time!

As you know I am a Poet,

I love to read it, share it out loud and write it!

I recently wrote a poem from my loom's point of view,

sitting in the corner . . . unattended, unloved and unused.

It certainly made a point with me!

I asked myself why I hadn't woven anything,

for so long ... even years?

Why have I let everything else get in the way?

I didn't have any answers, only to say that

everything has a season,

including our arts.

So I put a warp on my tapestry loom,

gathered some beautiful fibers

and began a trial piece,

just to see if I remembered the tapestry techniques.

It sure felt good to see it progressing!

Tapestry weaving is just like life . . .

taken slowly

you will grow in patience and knowledge

if only you will learn

to slow down and enjoy the process!

It feels good to just sit at the loom

and see where it leads me!

Fiber Stash

Just getting the feel of it again

Adding a little adornment

I learned Tapestry weaving when my son Curt

was only a year old,

I remember leaving him with my mom

once a week

for a two hour lesson,

Curt is soon to be 35 years old!

Weaving has been a part of my life for a long time,

it is something I turn to over and over again,

and also what I leave behind from time to time!

It is a constant reminder of who I am

and what I can accomplish!

I love the song "Tapestry" by Carole King

 (my favorite singer in the world!)

" ... my life is but a tapestry

of rich and royal hue ..."

Life is full of colors and textures,

experiences and life lessons,

friendships and family,

and so much more.

I am grateful that my weaving

reminds me of all of that ...

all creating the woven cloth of my own life.

Work in Progress

Wishing you fun and rest

during this Holiday weekend!

Sending out love

Donna Lee

Learning the Art of Color Theory

My Mandala Color Wheel

I have been taking a Color Theory Class

with my Calligraphy teacher

Betsy Rivers Kennedy

the past few Monday nights

and I must say I am learning

more than I thought possible.

I wanted to learn how to create my calligraphy

by mixing my own colors . . .

I have received more info than ever!

We started out right away learning

mixing and color theory

and it felt so good to instill the proper

way colors are mixed into my head!

Betsy's paint collection was

unbelievable!

 Just a few tubes of paint!

We started by mixing the three primary colors

in gouache and getting the right consistency,

and then we began to fill our palettes

Just beginning to mix gouache

Starting with the Primary Colors

I know that Red and Blue makes purple

Red and Yellow makes orange

Yellow and Blue makes green,

we learned that in school right?

But actually mixing it,

trying to get it right,

I was learning all over again,

it felt really good!!!

We then went on to Secondary colors and more!

My mixing of colors

During our second class we learned about

shades and tints,

my color was yellow,

which is a difficult color to work with,

we painted and mixed carefully

and created our own color charts

This Tint exercise was so fun ... I learned a lot!

Learning Shading ... Yellow mixed with black turns green!!!

The next exercise was to learn how to fill our dip pens

with our gouache

and write with it!

Making sure the consistency of the ink was 

what we wanted,

what fun was that!

We also practiced on black paper too,

which I totally loved!

I just love this pic!

I'm learning so much from my teacher,

Betsy is amazing

and I consider every minute with her

a blessing to be learning from someone so multi talented!

Her pen collection alone is inspiring,

I drool whenever I get near her calligraphy pens!

Wow ... just wow!

Next week ... working with Complementary Colors

and writing a favorite quote of ours

in Calligraphy!

I never want to stop learning, 

it is good to get out of your own comfort zone,

try something new and grow,

be with new people.

I'm grateful to have this opportunity,

cause I am totally in love with

Calligraphy

and I plan on getting really good at it!!!!

May your week be filled with love,

happiness and many happy moments.

Donna Lee

How do you see yourself?

Just playing around!

This past Sunday I was able to

attend a Calligraphy Workshop

with the sweetest teacher

Amy

of

Sincerely Amy Designs

It was an afternoon of cocktails, cupcakes and calligraphy,

filled with fellowship, sharing, laughing and inspiration!

I enjoyed the experience so much

and learned a lot from Amy!

She is amazing!

The afternoon was a gift I gave myself.

So happy to have this photo with Amy

As I was leaving the workshop,

I saw this amazing mosaic mirror

and couldn't resist taking a picture!

Don't we all love taking selfies from time to time?

All week I had lots of ideas for my blogpost today,

but somehow the question

"How do you see yourself?"

just kept coming into focus for me.

So I decided to write about it today!

It isn't an easy question,

and sometimes, on certain days,

I certainly don't want to answer that question!

What do I see when I look at myself?

A soon to be 58 year old grand mommy,

a wife and mother, a semi-retired Optician,

a friend, sister, poet, artist and teacher,

a child of God,

and a positive and loving person!

I feel that I'm living a pretty balanced life

right at this moment,

and it all feels delicious!!

It is important to re-evaluate 

how we are doing from time to time,

check in with yourself ... see if there are any imbalances!

Trust me, your body will let you know,

your mind will send you signals,

and your heart will always know the way!

Life is a balancing act,

each and every day

Don't ignore taking care of yourself,

take time to nourish your spirit,

it is so important.

If you see yourself in a positive light,

you can then be ready to give to others,

trust me ... others need you!

How do you see yourself?

We can always look at the negative side of things,

and no good can come out of it.

Take time to "take a selfie"

Write down all the positive things you can think of

about your beautiful self,

concentrate on those characteristics,

NOT the bad things going on in your life.

You may just be surprised at the list you come up with!

This beautiful spring season,

I wish you joy and abundance,

happiness in all things,

most of all

I wish you peace and understanding!

Love yourself today!

Donna Lee

Full of Beginnings

OBX Spring Beauty

Yesterday was National Poem In Your Pocket Day

and I carried this beautiful poem by David Whyte

(my absolute favorite poet!)

How I love the beauty of words!

THE LIGHTEST TOUCH

Good poetry begins with

the lightest touch,

a breeze arriving from nowhere,

a whispered healing arrival,

a word in your ear,

a settling into things,

then like a hand in the dark

it arrests your whole body,

steeling you for revelation.

In the silence that follows

a great line

you can feel Lazarus

deep inside

even the laziest, most deathly afraid

part of you,

lift up his hands and walk toward the light.

    - David Whyte

Today is the first of May

new beginnings ... yippee!

Spring is here

and I look forward to freshness in my life!

Today I am mailing out

my third Love Notes Project

postcard this morning

What fun this experience was!

(If you get the chance, sign up next time around)

Jennifer Belthoff has a gift of bringing others together

and there is usually writing at the heart of her gatherings.

I love this woman so much!!!

This Sunday afternoon I am

taking a Calligraphy Workshop

with the amazing

Sincerely Amy Designs,

and I can't wait, truly!

I am totally in love with learning

the Calligraphy process, I'm hooked!

Next weekend is another

Artful Spirit Gathering

and we are teaching the Soul Collage Process,

(link button on sidebar for details)
here is my latest card ... still in process

This spring is looking to be

a very creative and inspiring one!
I love sharing the
creative process with others.

Have a beautiful beginning of May,

Know that I think about you,

I love you

and I cherish the thought

that you come here for a visit!!

Donna Lee

The Beauty of Children

This week I had the sincere privilege

to teach the art of Zentangle®

to my niece Amy's Second Grade class

at Hermitage Elementary!

You see Virginia Beach City Schools

had to add about a half hour each day

to their schedule to make up for

all the snow days they had taken!

(Virginia Beach and snow ... hard to believe!!)

Amy and I have been trying to schedule 

a Zentangle® time with her children for quite awhile

and this was the time!

I had never taught Second Graders before,

they are young to learn the process,

but I was willing to try and see how they did.

In fact, I was curious to see how they would do!

I have taught 4-6 graders before,

so this was going to be a learning experience

for the instructor (me) as well!

I created a sample Zentangle® during the week,

trying to have four tangles I thought

young children could draw,

and then tried to have stories 

they could relate too!

Static (Harry Potter's Scar)

Crescent Moon (little lady bugs)

Knightsbridge (checkerboard)

and Printemps (spirals going round and round)

I let them know that Zentangle®

was exercise for the brain!
It would be a small gift for their classroom.

Class Demo 

We started by taking three deep breaths

to calm them down after a very busy work day,

and talked about how breathing really

helps when they need to slow themselves down

How adorable they were ... concentrating on their breathing!

I was able to demonstrate on a

cool camera which projected onto a screen for the children to see,

something new for this teacher for sure!

We took the process step by step,

and as slowly as I could

(we only had an half hour to work with)

They did so good, my heart was so happy

to see them concentrating and drawing,

asking questions,

trying!

Concentration happening here!

When we finished our work,

we talked about an artist signing their work,

so they found a place they wanted on their work,

to sign either their name or initials.

We had time to come together 

and put our tiles in an ensemble,

and view each others work!

My heart skipped and leaped, truly!

We took a class picture,

just look at those little faces!

Our Classwork Ensemble!

Mrs. Watson's Second Grade Class

I left them some other things to work on,

and I challenged them to try this same tile again,

taking their time and learning even more.

What a joy it is for me to be with my niece,

teach precious children

and share the Zentangle® process with 

any age!
Mrs. Watson will be sending each child home with
their completed artwork and a certificate
from Zentangle®

Certificate sent home

I would say it was a lovely Wednesday afternoon,

and the fact that my little grandson Grayson,

got to come along with us,

and hang with the kids

and see his mama,

well there are no words to express
my happy heart!!!

Grayson and Lauren

Have a blessed week,

do something good for someone else,

think about positive things,

and share what you know ...

whatever that is!!!

Donna Lee

The Art of Seeing

Entitled "True Vision"

I was recently able to attend

a Thursday morning

art inspiration time

with my Calligraphy teacher and mentor

Betsy Rivers Kennedy

at the beautiful One 11 Art Gallery

It was a simple two hour workshop

entitled

"Zen of Seeing"

What a treat it was for me!

We gathered quietly at the art table,

and began with a quiet exercise

of drawing for a twenty minute time period

(I was able to share my new app Insight Timer from my iPhone),

The directions were to look at the still life (below)

she had set up for us.

The only thing we were to do

was draw what we saw,

never looking at our work,

letting our eyes tell the story,

not picking up our pen

and NO TALKING!

We slowly drew,

listened to beautiful music 

softly playing in the background.

It taught me for sure to 

slow myself down,

after hurriedly trying to get to class!

Our Still Life to work with

My little finished piece

We then took the time to share with each other

 our drawings and explain how that felt

not being able to look at our work while drawing.

It is truly amazing what your eye tells your hand

Betsy's demo with Inktense blocks

She then took Intense blocks

and just colored a few areas of her drawing,

she then used a spray bottle of water on top,

and blew the water colors around,

it was so spontaneous and lovely!

(Of course now Intense blocks are on my art wish list!)

The second exercise was even more exciting to me,

she pulled out her large collection of colored inks

it was like a candy store!

Betsy's collection of colors

We were asked to chose three colors that spoke to us,

this certainly took a little time,

there were so many choices!

Betsy then demonstrated watering down

a sheet of paper,

adding ink drops of color to the paper

and then we put saran wrap over the colors,

allowing to dry outside

(it was a most beautiful morning that day!)

Betsy's demo

My color choices

Smearing the colors

After our colors had dried, we then had

a beautiful sheet of ink colored paper to work with

then the fun began ...

Betsy demonstrated and talked about different

ink pens to work with, and I was tickled

to try some new pens, I am so used to the

Micron pens with my Zentangle ....

She then began to demonstrate how to start outlining,

shapes and objects from the dried splotches on the paper,

the Zen of seeing ... enjoying the process.

We weren't able to finish our drawings

in class, but here is mine ...

 My complete work!

I enjoyed this process so much

and I have learned even more since I purchased

the book Betsy recommended to us

The Zen of Seeing by Frederick Frank

(inside the manuscript is completely handwritten!)

What a treasure to add to my creative library

Awesome book recommendation

I learned and experienced way more than I thought I would,

on a simple Thursday morning!

I was thrilled to have some time off that day,

and that there was an opening in her class!

I could have just stayed home and done housework,

but where is the fun in that?

Reach out, find a fun little workshop to attend,

all the new things you learn can just be added

to your creative toolbox!

Mine is becoming quite full these days!

Donna Lee

living creatively each and everyday!

Things that are yummy!

Spring beauty!

How wonderful that today April 1st,

is the day I get to greet my computer

and come to write my blog post.

There is something special about a Wednesday morning!

Perhaps it is because I am off today,

I can concentrate on putting the thoughts in my head,

to the page on the blog,

perhaps it is smelling the

applesauce raisin cake baking in my oven,

or feeling the warmth from the fire

(even though it is springtime!)

There are so many wonderful

and yummy moments in our lives,

if only we would take the time

to enjoy and experience them!

I pride myself on seeking out moments

to enjoy, to pause, to learn

to just be still with myself.

Perhaps the art I choose to work on,

allows me to do that as well

 Small tapestry weaving of mine ... thread by thread

 Learning the Art of Calligraphy ... patience required

Drawing Zentangle in a coffee shop

Oh how I love creating my Mixed Media Mandalas

There are so many beautiful things around me,

I scarcely can take it all in.

When I do have moments to myself,

there is usually a quiet art that follows me,

perhaps it is because they teach me ...

patience

the art of slowing down

 calmness of heart

how to center myself
being alone is okay
stillness is beautiful

Perhaps it is just seeing a movie by myself,

having coffee with girlfriends on the spur of the moment,

snuggling up to a good book,

writing a poem 
spending time in God's Word,

listening to soft music by Debussy,
writing a letter,

knitting a pair of socks

or

taking a walk at my beloved ocean

(this is truly the yummiest gift of all!)

The beautiful Outer Banks

Springtime has arrived

and now it is time to work in the garden,

planting my herbs and flowers

to enjoy all summer long!

Time to get the bird feeders well stocked,

it's going to be a beautiful season!

Backyard beauty

So on this beautiful first day of April,
grab some yumminess of your own,
be creative, be open
and share with me what you are doing,
I would love to hear.

Don't waste a moment,
living this life is a gift given ...
 we must recognize all 
the special moments we are given
Make happy yummy moments of your own
and recognize them when they happen!

Happy Easter Week
May your life be filled with love and laughter
and all beautiful things
I treasure you, my reader ...
thank you for stopping by today!

Donna Lee Zeppieri Wynn
(wow that's a mouthful!)

Believe

My daily Mantra!

I recently attended the 25th Anniversary

for Blue Skies Gallery,

in Hampton, Virginia.

I have fond memories of being a part owner and artist

in this collaborative art gallery over the years,

in fact, I truly can't believe I left there over 10 years ago!

I was thrilled to be invited and so happy to attend!

The crowd that gathered was impressive ... what a turn out they had!

I purchased this lovely clay sculpture (pictured above)

 as a keepsake,

to always remind myself to

"Believe I can do anything"

Blue Skies Gallery believed in my artistic abilities,

and back then I was concentrating on

my hand weaving and I loved my work!

Now I stand here ... 10 years later

and barely find time to sit at my weaving loom,

I miss it!

I truly miss the time I spent working in the gallery,

the fellowship with other artists, the inspirations,

creative conversation,

meeting patrons from all over

as they visited the gallery.

Those were good times, wonderful memories

and I grew in confidence,

in my artistic abilities.

Attending this gala last weekend,

forced me to think about the past ten years 

since I left the gallery to pursue a full time position

at Gilbert Eyecare,

I had to give up a lot to work full time again,

especially time!

Time is a precious gift for sure.

Now here I am ten years later . . .

now just working three days a week as an Optician,

caring for grand children two days a week,

and fitting in my artistic pursuits wherever I can!

My artwork has gone totally in another direction,

and I have learned so much along the way.

Yes, I believe in Me!

I believe there is time to pursue what interests us,

I believe in the Artistic Process and in Growth,

I believe I have a strong purpose in my life,

I believe my words matter,

I believe in God, love, truth, faith, family and all good things.

B ` E ` L ` I `E `V ` E

in yourself

in your own dreams

in your life pursuits

You can do anything!

Donna Lee