Thursday, November 19, 2009

Back from the San Diego Women's Caucus for Art Retreat!

Encaustic painting set up at home © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

Just a short note to let you all know that I am back from the San Diego Women's Caucus for Art Annual Retreat, which was last weekend, November 13 - 15, 2009.

I have lots of pictures and stories to tell (don't worry - nothing embarrassing for the wine-drinking ladies,) but this is a super busy week for me with something scheduled everyday and I won't get to them until probably Sunday.

Since this retreat is for women only (because of the close sleeping quarters), it had an abundance of feminine energy, which is similar to my monthly San Diego Women's Drum Circle. However, I have never spent a weekend devoted solely to making art, meeting new people and being out in nature before. Usually, I am trapped inside with my school books (Japanese is killing me....) and spend what little time I have outside of that with my partner Chris and almost 13 year old son, Xen. I couldn't even tell you the last time I had been alone, which is a sad fact in itself. Although I did attend Ellen Benefatti's Healing Family Constellation Workshop on Friday, I have to admit that I left early during Judi Burnett's Portrait Painting Workshop so that I could be alone outside in nature. I sat on a fallen tree branch and wrote in my journal for a hour, before heading off to lunch and then to teach my afternoon workshop. More about these workshops and pictures later.

After a relaxing lunch of mushroom risotto, I came back to set up to teach Encaustic Painting Technique on Saturday afternoon. My workshop went very well, although I am not sure how many people I converted to ways of the wax, yet. We set up the stations outside to keep the smell away from the more sensitive members, and to be outside. What I wasn't counting on was how quickly the sun would go down and how cold it would get! The pictures look like I gave this workshop in Alaska, instead of Julian, California in November. The winter gear and people huddled around the heat guns will give you a hint of the weather change for all of us.

It was an amazing weekend and I look forward to sharing more about the workshops and activities, as well as the stories and general fun we had this weekend. Missing this year's retreat? You can come next year! It is an annual retreat, and while this was my first year going, I know it will not be my last.

Until then, why don't you join us in the WCA/SD Facebook Group page? I am trying to get all the members, prospective members and people who just want to know what we are doing to join this group. You can post your events to our wall, and know that you have an audience that is active in the San Diego Arts community. Share with your friends! They need to be a part of this too.

Happy art-making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Monday, November 2, 2009

Helen Redman's art show "Tensions in the Journey: From Child to Crone" at the Women's History Museum in San Diego

Another great event coming to the San Diego area this weekend on November 6, 2009: Founding Mother of the San Diego Women's Caucus for Art (SDWCA) Helen Redman's one woman show "Tensions in the Journey: From Child to Crone" at the Women's History Museum and Educational Center (WHMEC). Check out the press release below from the WHMEC for more information.

Tensions in the Journey:
From Child to Crone

Helen Redman

Exhibition: Nov. 6 - Dec. 5, 2009
Opening reception: November 6, 6-9 PM
Lecture/discussion: November 21, 2-4 PM

For nearly a half century, Helen Redman has been making art. Her stunning portraits and evocative mixed media works track events, both momentous and ordinary, in women’s life cycle. Much more than a visual account of one woman’s perspective on life, her works illuminate something transcendent: they compose a visual memoir of the flux and flow of embodiment and identity across a woman’s life cycle, a memory-laden landscape of time’s passing in a life lived through a certain era and in a particular body.

To celebrate the nearly fifty-year career of the artist Helen Redman, the Women's History Museum and Education Center is hosting Tensions in the Journey: From Child to Crone, an exhibition of selected works from the 1960s-2000s. The exhibition runs from Nov 6 - December 5, 2009, and opens with a reception on November 6th, 6-9 PM at 2323 Broadway, Suite 107, San Diego, California 92102. The exhibition is also part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of women's studies at San Diego State University.

http://www.birthingthecrone.com

I love Helen Redman's work and think this show is going to be amazing. I look forward to seeing more of her work and meeting this powerfully moving artist. I hope you can join me!

Happy art making! ~ Jaime Lyerly