Given that I have already been across the country twice this year already to wonderful art retreats, and spent a wonderful week at Sunset Beach, and we had the expense of the new HVAC system early this summer, I should not in any way, shape, or form feel deprived when I say that I am going to skip Journalfest this year. But I do. I yearn for it.
I took a quiz about happiness lately that identified the period before a vacation as the happiest time because of the anticipation. Makes sense to me. Doesn’t work well with the whole “be here now” philosophy, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not there, bugging me, asking me, okay, where to next, boss?
I’m considering the Newport Paper Arts Festival in Newport, Oregon, mainly because it’s an excuse to go back to Oregon with the added bonus of being in a beach town, and connect again with my awesome friend Judy. However, the information for this event hasn’t been posted yet, and it is at a time of year that is not so good for me.
To scratch my itch a little, I signed up for a shibori class in Asheville, which is a three hour drive away. I’ve wanted to take a class at Cloth Fiber Workshop, as well as at BookWorks, both in Asheville. Sandy loves Asheville so we might make a weekend of it. But he’ll have to spend Saturday on his own.
There are some interesting looking basketry classes there too, but I’m probably pushing it physically with the dyebath pots as it is.
Sometimes I get searches about “how to weave a hat” based on my posts from a hat-weaving class at John C. Campbell Folk School a few years ago. If you are here looking for a class, I noticed that Jan Stansel is offering a weekend class there in hat making next year. Go to the JCCFC site for more information. You’ll enjoy this class – I think that everyone in my week-long class with her was very happy, and she doesn’t teach it often.
