layered movement {katie kendrick- seattle}

despite our midwest weather i was able to sneak away and go to seattle last weekend for Katie Kendrick's Layered Movement class. i loved Katie's spirit and it was exactly where my soul had needed to be and what i needed to hear.

the class was held at the Miller School of Art and the pic below was in this school and was done by Mark Miller. i got to meet him on friday when i got into town, and he was so down to earth and even explained a bit about the piece below- how he got the pic and made it. the sheets are metal and are a slippery surface to work on so it was interesting to hear his process.  

i loved the feel of the city- especially where i was at. i was not able to see and do the normal tourist things....and i was totally ok with that.

so on to class.....

we did a meditation to begin with and then a warm up; and then moved to our canvas......we were supposed to find our spirit and after talking about grounding ourselves with roots to the earth and feeling the warmth from above- it seemed so natural to start with green gold for my girl.

and i loved her immediately. and had to move past this love to keep going. and that was part of the process as well....moving past the "like" phase to keep working to find the love.

this is where she ended.....and she would come from the earth.

so my first morning had gone stellar....very hard to keep that flow going all day. so of course, after lunch with the prompts given, i was working and working.....and working. i had worked too wet and didn't have a dryer, so frustration was setting in.

the pink was my selection of frustration as it was a soft pastel that i used to cover all of my sins below.

i did come to terms with this painting and liked what i ended with, but it just had not come as easy as the morning. i actually gave this painting to my family that i stayed with. (that is a whole 'nother story...they are family but we had never met- and yet, they welcomed me into their home like we had grown up together....so very kind).

and sunday morning when my family and i were eating breakfast we were all visiting. i apparently needed to hear the words as the words rang all the way to my core and i knew that this painting would have to stay with my family and hang in their home as part of this seattle journey.

we went for pizza in our neighborhood for supper and a small group of us returned to paint just a bit more..... turned to my art journal and the paper and charcoal would find this sprite.

this would be the start for day 2. colorful messiness with a sprinkle of chaos.

here is Katie....talking, explaining and doing her thing.

and for me....i loved this stage in her work and would have struggled to get past this point; but, Katie kept working.

and working and contemplating paint....

i loved the whole experience this brought.....the city, so industrial and full of interest. trendy and cool, almost addicting. warmer than my home area right now, without being hot; in fact the mornings were chilly. the area i was in was fairly easy to navigate and i would have enjoyed more time there just to look. and the food....omg. so very good- everything was. seafood, pizza, pasta, pastries, coffee and the even the smoothie in a mason jar. good thing i didn't stay longer- i would have needed to stayed on a treadmill for an entire weekend!

thank you katie and lory; and you kind spirits that i met there. i needed all of you. needed to hear the words and stories; feel the canvas and paper, and draw and paint and to be in that seattle-layered moment.

happy friday.