the play's the thing...

It's been a whirlwind since I got home from Play. Trying to get back to the rhythm of day to day life is always rough after a retreat. I often need DAYS to settle down and let it all marinate before I am fully "recovered" and can think about blogging the experience. I'm motivated to get this adventure documented because there's are a lot of super fun, amazing things happening in the next few months...and that has motivated me to share a little bit about Play before I forget!

First, Play is all about the play. This is a long weekend geared towards doing just that. Three days of working on your own projects and doing your own thing in a shared space with 44 other people, all doing their own thing. Lots of laughing, talking and general comraderie. Each day started at 8:00 am and went to whenever you stopped. For some people, that was 2:00 am! Teesha and Tracy are always so caring in making sure we're comfortable and happy. The were also extremely generous in bringing things for us to experiment with such as a button maker, air brush and stencils, cameras, just to name a few. Teesha recently announced that she will no longer be hosting Play, Journalfest or Artfest. It's an end to an era, for sure, but not to worry. I hear there will be more for us down the road, thank goodness!

From start to finish, my trip was nothing but charmed. It began Wednesday night when right after work, I headed towards Port Townsend via Seattle to spend the night at my friend Liesel's house. Up until this point, I've only had the chance to visit with Liesel in short bursts at art retreats, as fellow attendees or when I took a class with her at Journalfest this past October. It was a treat to have Liesel all to myself for a good block of time. She is an incredibley talented and generous artist, teacher and soul. It was absolutely magical to get to see where she lives...she is living a very artful life!

The week before Play, Portland had a little snow and Seattle had a TON of snow. When I woke up Thursday morning, the sun was shining and the day was clear and crisp! How perfect because ahead of me was a ferry ride! A few pictures from that...

I got off the ferry in a cute little town called Port Gamble. As I was making my way towards the fort, I passed through Chimacum and just had to stop and take a picture of the Egg and I road sign for my momma. :-)

Once I got to Port Townsend, I decided to slow down and not be in such a big rush to get to the fort, like I always do. I stopped at a few of favorite shops along the way as well as pulled over to take pictures. This is such a lovely little town.

One of the reasons I enjoy Port Townsend so much is because it is a coastal town. I LOVE the coast! During the weekend, I went for several walks and gathered a few new treasures...

Over the course of the weekend, one of our activities was "light painting." Tracy and one of the other attendees, Steve, are amazing and gifted photographers and they totally hooked us up. It was definitely a treat and I love how the pictures turned out! I could have done this ALL DAY!

I have to show you a little something I bought for myself while at Play. Tiphoni, Teesha and Tracy's daughter, is ridiculously talented. She was selling little tiles (about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2") with the sweetest faces on them. I was looking at them and she said she could do custom tiles. "Can you make a little girl with glasses?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said. Eeek too cute!!!

While in Port Townsend, I never fail to go to Insatiables (no website), the most fantastic book store on the planet. The entire store is stuffed full of vintage books!

As for the projects I worked on while at Play, I worked on a Play Souvenir Journal to capture memories, mementos and pictures from the event. I used a little passport size book that Steve gave to everyone. This was actually one of the two books he made for every attendee. 

This little souvenir is still a work in progress with lots this and that to add to to it.

I also worked on a book for a Round Robin I just joined. I'll share more on that later!

And lastly, I worked on The Best Year of My Life project that I mentioned in a previous post. Here's a view of the page edges...love this! I'll share more later.

All in all, the weekend went way too fast (don't they always?) and I had a spectacular time. In retrospect, I was actually quite productive. It didn't feel like it at the time, but that was probably because I did a lot of socializing and made several trips in to town. I am so happy I got to spend some very treasured time with beautiful friends I already knew as well as making several new friends. And an added bonus, I also met Cynthia and we decided that she was my little sister! I don't what it was but we bonded instantly. We also discovered we have very similar, if not exactly the same, taste in ephemera and can probably never go shopping together. :-)

Monday morning, I made my way home, feeling content, inspired and very happy, as this self-portrait of me on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will attest...

So for now, it's back to the normal routine. I have a couple of exciting adventures just around the corner though...I'm attending Artfest at the end of March (I made the decision to attend while I was at Play!) and then I'll be teaching at Handmade U in April!

Yep, 2012 is awesome!

Comments

[Cynthia]

Big sister, I am missing you!! Just starting to unpack today (it has been a busy week), still looking for your email address but I found your blog so I'm halfway there! LOVE this post about your experience at PLAY!! So very glad we met.xo

[Susan Reaney]

You look adorable...I love your hair. Aside from that, your book is great and the whole event looks like sooo much fun!

If I have not told you, thank you for your lovely letter about Jud. He is in home hospice now. It is hard. We have had a beautiful life together. Thanks for your kind thoughts.

Big jugs,
Suz

[Susan Reaney]

Haha...it's all about those big jugs (hugs)

[Lucy Muraca]

Fantastic work Michelle.
How does a round robin work, how does it start?