Artfest: Day One- Wednesday March 28, 2012

Still trying to overcome my jetlag, here are my overdue recollections of the last Artfest, hosted by Teesha and Tracy Moore at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington. I flew in from New York to Seattle on Tuesday, not leaving it up to chance that I might miss my shuttle to the Fort on Wednesday (which happened to me last year). I took the shuttle from the DoubleTree Hotel by the airport (very nice too- love the warm chocolate chip cookies at check-in!) back to the baggage claim to pick up the Hogwarts Express Artfest shuttle at 2:00 pm. Two and a half hours later we made it to the Fort and checked in at the Commons.

After I got my stuff into my usual room (this is my 6th Artfest and for 5 of them I've had the same room- Dorm 202 Room #16) I gathered up my trades and went back to the Commons for what I call the Trading Frenzy in the lobby before they open the doors for dinner. I didn't last till the end, reaching my limit with trades to spare for trading in classes and other activities. Here are some pictures of all the trades I did get over the five days of Artfest.

After dinner we went to the opening ceremony at the Pavilion. Teesha and Tracy gave a little speech about how Artfest has been a part of their lives and how they are looking forward to the next artistic endeavor. Teachers were introduced and then the crew that helps make Artfest work. At this point Tracy made a special introduction of David who came down from the audience as a teacher? and proceeded to propose to Tracy and Teesha's youngest daughter Trista (and she said yes!). Lots of standing ovations for Tracy and Teesha. Jesse Reno wrapped up the opening with a rambling talk on creativity and following your gut and being creative. After this I left the pavilion and picked up the fatbook 4x4 collaborative project I had contributed to. It was an incredible collection of work by Artfest artists to commemorate this last Artfest.

The other collaborative project I contributed to and picked up at Artfest was hosted by Penelope Harris "The Book of Faces" which was an awesome project inspired by classes we had taken with Roxanne Padgett. Penelope had requested people send her drawings of faces (I submitted four to the project and all were included!) What a fun thing to have and play with!

The Last Journalfest

October 25-30th I was in the Pacific Northwest having the time of my life at my second Journalfest. Lucky for me that I had decided to go because this past weekend Teesha Moore announced that she will not be planning another Journalfest in 2012, and the Artfest planned for 2012 will also be the last.

Although I support her decision and any new projects she may undertake in the future, I cannot help but be saddened at the thought that I will not have more Artfests and Journalfests to look forward to in the future. These events have been life changing for me, and a creative/mental/spiritual boost that lasts for months. I am glad I was able to participate in the two Journalfests and five Artfests I've already attended.

So without further ado, here is a recap of my art excursion: Getting to Journalfest

I flew to Seattle on Jetblue on Tuesday to meet up with another Journalfest attendee with whom I would be sharing a rental car. I met up with Dana the first time ever in the garage of the SeaTac airport and once I stowed my luggage into the trunk of the rental car and hooked up my GPS we took off to find our hotels in downtown Seattle. Luckily our hotels were right around the corner from each other and once we checked in and got settled we decided to meet across the street at the Seattle Public Library, an incredible building inside and out. Here is picture of one of the floors inside:

After a quick tour of the library we headed off to Pike's Place Market for a quick look around before they closed up for the night. We grabbed dinner at an Irish pub and then walked back to our hotels for the night.

In the morning it was back to Pike's Place Market where we had breakfast overlooking Puget Sound at the Sound View Cafe. We checked out the market, this time in set up mode before heading back to check out of the hotels and head over to the ferry to Bainbridge. We spent some time wandering around the Bainbridge main street checking out the stores and galleries before heading to the Pegasus Cafe for an awesome lunch then we were back in the car and off to Port Townsend and a stop at Akamai art store (a truly awesome store with a truly awesome staff!)before heading over to Fort Worden for checkin.

We checked in at Fort Worden and after I hauled my 44 pound suitcase, my overloaded messenger bag and pocketbook up several flights of stairs of Dorm 225 I realized that my room assignment, Rm 41 was the same room I had my first time at the fort for Artfest back in 2007! Funny how that sort of thing happens to me so often. Here's the view from my room.

After dinner we headed over to the small theatre on the grounds of the Fort for the welcome meeting and introduction to the teachers and what Teesha and Tracy had in store for us for the rest of the week.

My three classes were very fun. Here are photos of some of the work I did. More details tomorrow!

Journalfest: Lost a Pin

Well I'm back from Journalfest and still recovering from the time change. I have yet to unpack my artwork and art supplies, since I've had laundry and other chores to see to and of course I had to go back to work on Monday. I did notice that I am missing something very dear to my heart. A little pin that I had on my journal bag, which I've drawn a picture of above. I've had this pin for at least 20 years. I lost it on Saturday at Fort Worden, somewhere between Dorm 225 and the Commons area I think. I loose pins all the time, but this one was special. If you have found Jasper, please let me know. I would really like to arrange a homecoming for the little guy.
I will start posting more about my adventures at Journalfest in the next few days. I had a really great time. My world is a better place thanks to Teesha and Tracy Moore, and all the great folks at Journalfest (and Artfest).