 Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. ― Mary Oliver Celebrate FallIt is beautiful outside today. Tomorrow I have four art friends visiting that I haven't spent time with since pre COVID. We are going to paint, talk and immerse ourselves in friendship. At the same time, I am in the midst of planning our first ever fall festival at the orchard including a pop-up art exhibit with three fabulous artists living close by. So today I am taking time to celebrate. Celebrate fall. Celebrate living in northern Michigan. Celebrate friendships. Celebrate life. Celebrate paying attention. I am paying attention to the beauty around me and I am paying attention to the brokenness around me. Both need attention. Honestly, I have been astonished by my emotional highs and lows recently. I can take some pretty deep dives into climate change and women's rights and grief. Yet I know how lucky I am to be living in the midst of nature and how lucky I am to have a supportive community around me. We are in this together. We all need to recharge. So today, my focus is on telling about the good things ahead (thank you, Mary Oliver!).  Crowded Table Orchard. This is still astonishing to me. Over a year ago we uprooted ourselves and moved to 55 acres in northern Michigan and we OWN AN APPLE ORCHARD. What do you do when you suddenly find yourself living amongst apple trees? Celebrate the season! Zach made us a fabulous logo. And we are putting it to use at our first annual Art and Apples Festival. Mark your calendars! I know we live far from many of you, but I tell you, it's beautiful up here. And we'd love to see you. It truly is worth a road trip. Come stroll through the orchard, enjoy the fall foliage and apples and cider, and bask in the art of four exhibiting local artists. Doesn't that sound wonderful? It's fun to plan a pop-up exhibit when you get to invite your artist friends. Come meet Mark, Lori, Lauren and me too. We love to talk art. We'll show you what we are working on. Demo a bit. Basically we are all just looking forward to having a good time together. Don't you want to join us? Plus Farmer Jeff has been baking up a storm and is getting ready to press some fresh cider. You gotta come cheer him on!
Make a weekend of it. Right before Art and Apples I am teaching at Oliver Art Center in Frankfort, MI. You can make a weekend of both activities. Class on Friday, Art and Apples on Sunday! In Collage for the Soul (Friday, October 15th) we start by taking an awe walk and go from there. It is a pretty magical day. All levels welcome. If you haven't taken a class at Oliver before, the setting is gorgeous. I am also teaching a three day workshop at the beginning of November at the Glen Arbor Arts Center. Finding Courage: Painting for Deeper Self Expression is about looking inward, discovering your sources of inspiration, communicating personal vision, learning new mixed-media techniques, and developing your own unique artistic style. This is such a fun workshop to teach and be part of - helping people get in touch with their emotions and putting them down on canvas is why I teach. It's what I love about art. And it constantly astonishes me.  If you can't make it to Art and Apples, you can still find my small paintings on Daily Paintworks. As always, I will happily put them in the mail to you. If you are interested in a painting on my website, please email me directly. You can also find my paintings in Synchronicity Gallery in Glen Arbor, MI, Blue North Arts in Suttons Bay, MI and Hayley Gallery in New Albany, OH. I hope to see you soon! My love to all, Jessica P.S. A huge thank you to Sarah for making our fabulous flyer for Art and Apples. This is definitely a family affair! Stay up-to-date on classes I am teaching and art show happenings through my website, Facebook page Jessica Kovan Art or follow me on Instagram.  Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the Earth seeking the successive autumns.
George Elliot
1 Comment
|
Jessica Kovan Artwork | Copyright Protected 2022