Surrender

My hubby and I had a tough week. He went in on Thursday for routine outpatient shoulder surgery, but when he was put under anesthesia and given a nerve block in his neck, his heart started doing flips and flops (my lingo for beating crazily fast). The docs didn't think that was a good thing, so hubby's orthopedic surgeon performed CPR while they waited for the ambulance and paramedics to arrive. Hubby ended up in the ER, eventually being admitted overnight for observation and tests. Turns out he has atrial fibrillation, something that can be controlled by medication. This long explanation is leading up to the real post, so stay with me here.

I had registred a while back for a one-day workshop to be held on Sunday, December 2nd, but after what I (we) had been through, I was a little hestitant to leave the house. Hubby encouraged me to go, but if it weren't for the fact that I had promised a ride to my new friend, Deirdra, I might have bailed and stayed home. Man, am I ever glad I went! The class, "The Artful Journal: Finding the Way," was led by the vivacious, talented, gracious, and fun Judy Wise. The class was offered through Innerstandings in Diane Havnen-Smith's beautiful, inspirational studio.

The class itself was phenomenal. Judy guided us through the painting of several pages to use as backgrounds, and along the way demonstrated several new techniques. I was introduced to writing words using twigs and Sumi ink, the unexpected surpise of applying water to watersoluble wax pastels, and learned how to carve my own rubber stamp! But an added bonus was the delightful group of talented women artist's who were in attendance. Besides Diane, Deirdra, and Judy, there were several notable participants: Katie Kendrick (I took a class from her at Art and Soul in Portland in October), Linda Womack, the queen of encaustic painting (I've taken a class from her at collage in the past), and Lisa Call (also an instructor at Art and Soul), not to mention several other inspiring women artists. It was like a Who's Who of my favorite artists and I was sitting in their midst!

After the exhaustion and fear of Thursday and Friday, my spirit was restored and nurtured after spending a day making art.

Here's a photo of me with Judy Wise.