I used to be delighted by things like seeing robins in the grass after a long winter or taking a hot bath. Now I feel like I appreciate those things more than delight in them. I feel more grateful when I notice something small and wonderful.
I'm sitting at my desk thinking about all the other projects at hand and about the minutes it will take to write this post and hoping that I'll get to the end of it before Emmett wakes up from his nap. For the most part I've stopped writing here and that feels right to me. I like to speak through my work and photos. I've never been that patient with words. But I feel like I should describe, in some form, my weekend spent in Palm Springs with Heather Ross and Anna Maria Horner so here goes...
Myself, two friends and about 12 other ladies arrived in Palm Springs on Friday. I personally had been planning this trip since September when my friend Roz called to ask if I wanted to go. Since Richard was on a business trip at the time and I was at home with Emmett by myself, I didn't hesitate to say yes. I really didn't even think about how much it would cost, how we would get there, if I should ask Richard's opinion I just leap into it. We then had to cross our fingers that we could get in together and as if by magic, we did.
The 8 hour drive got us there around 5pm and we headed straight to Heather's room for drinks. The first person I met was Anna Maria Horner, you can find her fabric on most of my things in the last few months. I tried to be polite, happy and as little like a total spaz as I could be.
Our group gathered around an outdoor sitting area with a large bench, a fireplace, drinks, tons of yummy cheese and two amazing designers in our midst. I think we were all star-stuck at first. I looked around a few times and noticed people just beaming with contained excitement. Like if they could they'd be shouting "I'm having drinks with Heather Ross!" Luckily, we all kept our cool. At one point Heather was sitting next to me and I had to pee but I didn't want to loose my seat. Eventually, I got up and while using the bathroom, Anna Maria walked in. I made the dumbest face like Macaulay Culkin in home alone - you know the one. Anyway, things seemed to be getting off on the right foot.
After dinner Anna Maria gave a little presentation showing us her new fabric line. I love hearing professional artists and designers talk about their work. They are filled with inspiration and are determined to make their latest work the best thing they've done so far. You can tell that Anna Maria works really hard at getting things exactly right and has such strong convictions about what she wants and doesn't want. It's really important to fight for your vision. With Anna Maria and Heather, I'm sure we are all reaping the benefits.
I shared a room with my friend Roz, who is (at the time) 31 weeks along with her second child. Our room thermostat was malfunctioning or we just couldn't figure it out. In any case, the room was hot, Roz and I had a long warm night but we still didn't seem to have much to complain about. We woke to a cool and sunny Palm Springs. All the mountains and palm trees that we missed in the dark were lit up by a bright blue cloudless sky. We anxiously made our way to the sewing room which was situated in a room right off the pool. You'd think that we would be distracted by the warm pool and sunbathers but actually it was the other way around. I looked up from my machine to see 3 or 4 people, multiple times, gazing in at us with our fabric and patterns. It sounds corny but laughter filled the room. Heather and Anna Maria are both hilarious and tell great stories.
Saturday was a bit of a blur. All of us basically started on whatever projects we brought with us. I was making a little outfit for Emmett and possibly a bag if I had time. Concentrating was hard. I wanted to be in every conversation but I also wanted to come out of the weekend having actually made something.
A few times I got up from my machine to wander around the pool. I had imagined myself doing this before getting there and so I wanted to make sure that I did it for some reason. I think I wanted to step back and realize and notice things - and delight in things.
We broke for lunch, jumped into our swimsuits and headed for the poolside. We ordered lunch and took a dip. I decided to run to the store and was going to be really hip and take one of the hotel's many cruiser bikes. I hopped on with my dress on and everything! I think I was half way to the store when I realized why I wasn't having as much fun as I had hoped. I was pedaling on two flat tires! Don't ask me how I didn't notice that when I first hopped on...? We'll call that the low point and move on.
Through out the day Heather and Anna Maria would instruct, demonstrate, make suggestions, make jokes and encourage. I was really delighted with how positively they taught. I think it really helped everyone relax and work a little beyond their comfort zones. Not everyone came out of there with armfuls of finished projects but we all felt like we could embark on something new with maybe a little less fear. I think that kind of teaching is a beautiful thing. I also think we were all pretty content to just be in the room while it was all happening, I know I was. I was amazed to hear people listing all of Heather's fabric lines by heart and talking longingly about the discontinued lines. There were many autographs. I felt like I needed to leave with some kind of memento so I had her sign my wallet, which is made with her fabric. I now have it on ebay...no just kidding..
Saturday, at dinner I got lucky and ended up having a great conversation with Heather and my friend Roz and the other ladies at our end or the table. You always hope you're going to be able to connect like that but you never know. We'll call that the high point. After dinner we headed back into the sewing room. I don't think we stopped until midnight. There were a few times I looked up to see most of the lounge patrons standing at our windows looking in like a sewing room fishbowl. There was also the random drunk guy who came in to check things out and the overly plasticky bikini lady who thought it was all set up by the hotel for the guests. Like in Dirty Dancing when they are all trying on wigs and makeup.
At dinner the hotel sent their consigned crooner out to sing happy birthday, here's a piece of that.
On Sunday there wasn't one person there who was ready to leave. The weekend flew by. I did manage to finish my outfit for Emmett (although it took way longer than it should have) and start on a skirt that Anna Maria had brought the kits for. We all begrudgingly packed up our tools and fabric, checked out of rooms and began saying goodbye. I've had so many more thoughts and feelings about what this weekend meant to me. It was inspiring for me as an artist and it came with a thousand tiny moments that I just feel grateful to have noticed.
here are a few more photos you can see more in the flickr group
HERE
