Summer seems to always draw me to the sea. I am so grateful I live near the sea in the Pacific Northwest. This August, in the fleeting days of summer, I went on a mini art retreat with my mom. We rented a nearby island bungalow, took the ferry, and enjoyed time together. Morning coffee on the deck looking out to the oceanview and the sound of birds was the perfect way to enter into each day. We ended each day with wild blackberries picked right from the side drive and vanilla ice cream, so delicious!

On this particular weekend, we had a summer storm on one of the mornings, which kept us inside and in front of our art supplies, a real gift. It was on this day we spent the afternoon on the beach at the lighthouse. We took a picnic lunch, picked the best bench near the sandy piles of weathered driftwood, and enjoyed our sandwiches and the view.

It was lovely. And quiet.

I was able to find a bit of seaweed to use as a model for a nature sketch as my last project of the stay. My plan for our weekend was to do some botanical sketches and make them look old. I chose to do two sketches of some Yellow Yarrow that grows everywhere on the island. It has beautiful green lacy foliage and its flowers look like little bunches of bright yellow buttons at the tops of a cluster of stems. I kept it simple and used just a pencil and charcoal as a wash with water for shading. I thought these three subjects would be a great representation of our retreat time and so I got busy.

My mom wanted to try her hand at watercolor painting, so I was able to give her some pointers and she took to it surprisingly rather quickly. The true mark of an artist.

Her medium of choice is acrylic but on this occasion, she painted and collage some pine cones from the bungalow grounds. I enjoy watching my mom work, the way she holds her tools, and how she approaches what she is doing. She is a classically trained artist. Here are our finished pieces. This time although short was rejuvenating and restorative. It reminded me of how important my art is for my overall well-being and how much pleasure and enjoyment I get from this practice.