painting by CLARE ELSAESSER “This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.” – Mary Oliver In this season of gifts and giving I wanted to share this image above by the luminous Clare Elsaesser. Her work feeds my heart in such deep ways and this image in particular really sings to me today, as I reflect on this moment– which wraps around me with all I have learned, all I … View Post

This weekend we had our first snowfall here in Salem — my first experience of snow in New England this winter. My goodness, was it gorgeous! My boyfriend and I took a walk at the local farm as the flakes were falling down and sticking to our eyelashes and freezing to the pom-pom on my hat! We walked through the fields with the cows and a field full of hundreds of geese, reminding me of Mary Oliver’s poem, Wild Geese. This time last year when I … View Post

Introducing Morgan Dyer, one of our fabulous new Fall 2018 teachers! Morgan’s expressive, abstract works are inspired primarily by landscapes and personal experience, and are brought to life by her affinity for color — she is primarily known for her large abstract paintings often representing mountains or the sea. My experience with painting has often been wrought with questions on how to achieve a certain emotion in my work, or riddled with frustrations around mixing the same paint color twice! Which is why I’m REALLY excited … View Post

Happy December my friends! This morning I want to share with you a story and a lesson learned… On Saturday evening, my boyfriend, our cat and I were snuggled up on the sofa for an early night in and I realized that my body was aching, truly aching. Not a coming-down-with-a-flu-ache or an ache of tiredness, but a winter-time ache: the type that comes when our bodies start to turn inwards and embrace the longer evenings, the lower light of the sun, and the need to … View Post

First of all — WOW, what a week. I am beyond grateful. I absolutely loved feeling all the excitement about the Spring and Fall 2018 retreats and am delighted by all your pre-registrations flooding in. Truly — thank you, thank you, thank you. When I put the retreats ‘live’ on Monday, my hands were shaking… but any seeds of doubt vanished after all the supportive e-mails and encouraging messages on Instagram. And mostly, I am humbled by those of you who thanked me for “keeping … View Post