the Makerie retreat

Last weekend I was fortunate to attend the Makerie, a 3 1/2 day retreat in Boulder. Since I'll be teaching at the Makerie in the summer (at a different location), I wanted a chance to experience the extended version as a student, to get restored and refreshed (it's been a rough winter), and to connect with fellow creatives near and far.

I love all the sweet, pretty touches that the Makerie team creates to surprise and delight us. You can see professional photos here if you're interested.

I took four 4-hour classes over two days. First up: Designing Your Own Clothes with the delightful Cal Patch. I left with two patterns, an A-line skirt and a simple shift, custom designed for me. Now to sew them!

Lunch-time talk from the lovely Sara Bercholz, editor of Roost Books, called "From Dream to Book." I really enjoyed this for obvious reasons. Roost published one of my absolute favorite cookbooks (and blogs), La Tartine Gourmande. I love their beautiful books that focus on home, craft, creativity, food, design, and family.

Color Wheel Sampler with Rebecca Ringquist of Dropcloth Samplers. If you know anything about my first book and my obsession with this rather creepy Victorian sampler, you'll know that this class was a real treat for me. However, even in a four-hour class with frequent tea and chatting breaks, my eyes were glazed over and dry as a bone by the end. No wonder Victorian seamstresses--and sweatshop workers today--developed all sorts of physical maladies!

The assistant teacher Fran Meneley, who has a studio in Boulder, shared an incredible--and I mean incredible!--stack of embroidery. She creates many of her own designs. Wow!

Little Picasso with Kristin FitzGerrell of Studio22 and her lovely assistant Holland. Time to operate a power tool! Yikes! 

We took a blown-up sample of our children's artwork, cut it out with a jigsaw, sanded and painted, and voilà: a wall-worthy version of our kids' art!

 You can see Owen's African shell duck in the top right corner. This class pushed me. Owen's drawing required more painting than other people's, and I'm definitely not a painter, so it was a challenge for me to go with the flow and accept what I came up with. Kristin is an incredible teacher, also a local artist, and I hope we connect again soon.

Finding Your Art Voice, a painting class with Jennifer Mercede. What fun to doodle, blind contour draw, paint, and play. Since I haven't painted since a high-school art class (which I loved), I was able to really let go and just be free. I had nothing to lose!

Dinnertime. Meals in the dining room were a real treat. I talked with so many interesting people!

One of Fran's stunning visual journals, full of painting, mixed-media art, poems, memorabilia. I had no idea people made books like these. The good news is that she teaches local classes. 

On our final night, we entered the lodge to find it transformed into a magical space. Sarah Olmsted, author of Imagine Childhood, called her talk "Makeshift Magic." The tent and garland she created definitely transported all of us. This night was a highlight for me. I had chatted with Sarah earlier while drinking a delicious lavendar cocktail (!) and felt really drawn to her. When she started reading from her book--a collection of projects to inspire magic, creativity, and time in nature for families--I felt like I'd met a true friend. 

 One of the Pajaki paper chandeliers that students made in one of the classes.

 Saying goodbye to my roommates Melinda and Sheryl.

Melinda (on the left), hails from Philadelphia by way of England and India. That first afternoon, she stumbled in wearing a kelly green colorblocked dress and lugging an unwieldy suitcase. In an instant the quiet Craftsman-style cabin was buzzing with the witty repartee and feisty energy of this little English dynamo. Smart as a tack, a true creative muse brimming with ideas (she does brand development and writing), and hilarious to boot: she blew into our cabin like a gust of fresh air. We would go to our separate classes then giggle our way home, laughing like teenagers over who knows what, and dreaming up ideas for the future.

I headed off for this retreat exhausted (I've had chronic insomnia since our fall car accident), depleted, and frankly, pretty discouraged. I thought what I needed was solitude, contemplation, time and space alone. But then in burst Melinda--and a host of other creative, warm, fascinating, and open women--and my weekend was crammed with laughter, beauty, meaningful work, and camaraderie. It turned out to be exactly what I needed, a spark of creative connection to remind me that there are many kindred spirits in this world. When we come together magic truly does happen.