Art & Nature Retreat #7 was one of the sessions that was so engaging, I didn’t take pictures. Our theme was “Sky” and we took advantage of Kamogawa’s lovely Pacific Ocean beach for a beautiful clear vista all the way to the horizon. The clouds were varied and exciting.

We focussed our attention on clouds’ tone and shape to give our minds something to really grab onto. I explained our objective and introduced the tools – various graphite pencils, erasers, a blending stump – then everyone found a place to sit and enjoy getting their observations down on paper for about 40 minutes. Did I get any photos of our work? Nope, though I did snap my own work after the workshop was over:

One of the group was feeling unwell and wisely decided to take some medicine and rest, so we said goodbye to her and headed back up the hill for lunch at Gombei and a little walk to the rice terraces and around 555 before settling into sessions for the afternoon.

We got back into the sky theme with a quick worksheet. 1000 Dots (download it here for free) invites you to draw constellations. I enjoyed sitting outside and connecting the dots. I thought about astronavigation and my father’s days in the Navy. My constellations reflected that: The Voyager, The Voyager’s Ship, The Fishing Scow, The Anchor… did I get photos of anyone else’s interesting constellations? Not at all.

Our finale was drawing the sky any way we wanted, whether using our imaginations, being realistic, or putting down whatever flowed from mind to hand. This time we had all the colors at our disposal. We dove in for an hour and followed up with a show and tell. There were great stories explaining influences from our lives that accompanied each drawing. And maybe not taking photos helped to keep the stories personal and not turn everyone’s retreat experience into marketing or performance.

I did get a single photo of the three of us as we prepared to leave.

Although every Art & Nature retreat follows a similar agenda, no two are ever the same. This time, we enjoyed the glorious weather, saw some interesting nature (including a large rhinoceros beetle), ate delicious local food, conversed widely and we even did some art. Everyone seemed happy at the end

I’ll see you for the next one: Saturday, November 14th. Tickets available.