new hampshire memories

"How hard it is to escape from places.  However carefully one goes they hold you - you leave little bits of yourself fluttering on the fences - like rags and shreds of your very life. " -Katherine Mansfield

ah, new hampshire.  i love you so! 

what a wonderful place, a wonderful way, to herald the beginning of fall... in the middle of the state, on a beautiful lake, the days were crisp, the evenings and nights downright cold.  our cabin, which i'm not sure i mentioned, was all of six or eight feet from the water's edge, and when eastern morning sun came pouring in my bedroom windows, there were rippling shadows and undulating light all blended into one, up on the highest pine walls; there was a honey wash of golden light right next to me, as i lay there in bed, helping me to open my eyes and greet the day.

i found myself looking for faces and bodily shapes in all the many pine knots there in the walls.  so many faces, looking at me.  hello, morning.  hello faces.  hello new world.  hello.

mornings began with creaking footsteps across the back porch, coming from julie quietly stepping over to the old fashioned ice box for coffee cream.  i loved looking inside, seeing the huge thick blocks of ice that the camp workers had harvested last winter from the lake.  i can't imagine that kind of cold.  what does it look like walking out over clear ice and peering through to the water below?  i wouldn't know.  maybe it is like walking over a big, wide paperweight, or a snow globe that has yet to be shaken.  and look at the luminarias, carved by sweet jon from the ice.  so pretty.  a fairy world, in the new hampshire woods where we traipsed.

and we had our own magical fairy lights as well, little glittery points of laughter and story telling and even a few sweet tears.  it was all there.  you see?

there were fairy lights dancing in the daytime, too.  somewhere between the dark of leaf shadows and light of late afternoon sun, there were little dancing lights, there on our studio doors.  who knew a little paper towel and masking tape would create such exquisite beauty?

magic, yes?  deep breaths here.  the light was everywhere, inside and out.  look at this fairy girl, all a-glitter in her fine jewel-ry.  i love her so, my nutty fairy friend.  i hereby declare miss jonatha the fairy mascot and everyone's friend, for SAW, at squam. 

i think we all felt like fairies, there; it is that special a place.  we all felt like light and joy and depth and breadth and everything there is that is the in between.

(pay no attention to the goober on the left; she holds not a candle to the light that radiates from her beloved cabin mates and friends).

so many lovely moments, in the beauty of that place...

and my students?  i love these folks, i do.  they were generous and supportive, gentle and understanding, with a grand, grand sense of humor that i deeply appreciate.  many of them were ornamental readers, and i'm sure my own rowdy humor may have caught them unawares.  fair warning:  i have a side to me that is loud and and flippant and plain old crazy and fun.  i thank you for taking a risk in spending three whole days with me.  there was a huge amount of trust in that, and i hope you all walked away feeling rewarded and enlightened, in that order.  and maybe a whole lot more confidant in your own talents and abilities, when you saw that they were there inside of you all along.

i give you, each and every one of you, my deepest heartfelt blessings to go forward from here and create the intricate beauties that i saw unfold in our midst; go out and make and share and spread your light, with the simple movement of a flick of the wrist, a twist of the wire, a marriage of image and emotion that can be worn around the neck.  you can all do the things that i do, as well and better than i;  i hope you see this now.  it's true.  and i believe in you.

and thank you all for asking all of your questions, the tricky ones and the sticky ones and the earnest ones, all.  thank you for truly wanting to know what is best and what is honorable, in all regards - what is inspiring, what is real, where the balance between original and what is not may lie. 

you honestly opened up and shared with me, and i learned from you as well.  and jenny jinmi, i thank you for seeking me out and for taking the time to visit with me, to explore the myriad of emotions that we've shared these many years.  you are honest and true, and i thank you for being my friend.  it is so very obvious that you care for everyone; and that, my friend, makes all the difference in this art community through which we walk.  may everyone else out there in the corporate world (and here in the quiet of another small world, my world) have the same deep, heartfelt compassion and integrity as you.  

if ever you thought about attending a workshop but felt that you might stand out of place, if ever you considered going somewhere new but felt you might not fit in, remember this:  come to SAW, where elizabeth has sweated blood and spent her waking hours assuring that the experience will be one that changes your life. 

i have no pictures of her to share with you; she did not sit still long enough for me to find and capture her, to thank her for all that she does.  so, thank you, dear elizabeth; you've channeled incredible energy for hundreds of folks, you've woven your magic there in the trees by the edge of the water, you've waved your wand so that we'd all walk away a bit wiser and grateful for the experience.  i thank you for all of us, but mostly i thank you for myself.  it was absolutely grand. 

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart.  I am.  I am.  I am."  - Sylvia Plath

thank you for letting me be me, knots and thin skin and heart on my sleeve, all.  xo

(i've added a SAW Squam 2009 photo album; look in the righthand column, and scroll down to enjoy more pictures of students' work and happy faces...)

Comments

[beth]

beautiful.....xo

[sheila]

ah, lovely! so many smiles, so much light!
xxxooo

[Star]

What a beautiful accounting of your time at Squam--may you carry those feelings with you and allow them to color the days ahead.

[Adrienne Berry]

you make me want to be there.

[julie]

and i still have a squam smile on my face...x

[Bonnie Luhman]

The ice in the icebox was from LAST winter?

How can that be? Live and learn eh? :o)

Sounds like you had a wonderful time and you sound soooo happy!

I'll bet there was lots of Walter kisses upon your return.

[Amy]

How I would have loved to have been there and seen you smile in real life. I am so glad it was so beautiful for you, dear Nina.

[Jenny Doh]

Thank you, Nina, for visiting with me at Squam. Thank you for the kind words you wrote on this post. I appreciate it very much. And most of all, thank you for being open to the words of my favorite poem by Confucius:

As the sun makes it new
Day by day make it new
Yet again make it new

Let us all move forward.

With sincerity,
Jenny

[kim]

god damn....wasnt it a magical trip in time..i am still in the buffet line with patrick swayze waiting for my waffle..thank you for your part in making it all the more memorable for me...xox.xox

[Richelle]

lucky, lucky, lucky ladies.....(and gents?)
your enthusiasm radiates...

i hope the joy you felt eased some of your blues!!

[Cindy Ericsson]

mmmmmm...I can't decide which is more magical, the pictures of the students working or the pictures of friends, happy hearts shining through their smiles...

Love it all.

[Sharon Andrews]

It was almost better than Christmas morning!

[Tina in McLeansville]

it looks to be a perfect place to 'just be'. maybe a good place to begin...a good place to land. i think it would be a wonderful thing to jump and land there. lucky, lucky folks to be wrapped in the blanket of that place. i can only imagine the energy that flowed...like sparks in the air. it does sound like it was wonderful for you!

[Tess]

Beautiful, incredible, bliss....

[karen cole]

Ditto on everything. Yes, like fairies we were. That's it!

Thanks for remembering me, even though I don't stop in very often :-). Thanks for photographing my dear friend Leslie's stunning necklace. And Isabel, her creation was a testimony to the creative process taking hold of something new and wonderful.

[judy wise]

You have the words to describe what for me is nearly impossible and you also got photos of those magical ice lanterns that lit our path. Thank you for all of that and for the gentle hug. You have a way about you (can you hear me singing?) - it was good to see you there.

[mansuetude]

walking across ice is wonderful, quiet... except when men are digging holes to ice fish; ski mobiling across is wonderful too; sometimes air pockets *if the lake is spring fed will develop and the gap between the ice and the water makes a deep settling sound like groaning, and it bellows under foot... and you wonder...

looks like you had a blast!!!
love hearing about the cool air,
still feels like summer here.

[Kelly]

I swear Nina, magic follows you...

[Ally]

That's it. I'm signing up for next year as soon as registration opens. This post gave me goose bumps (as so many of your posts do).

I hope you are having (or are close to having) a blissful and happy reunion with Ben, Walter and the girls.

See you next year? (please tell me you'll be there!!)

:-) Ally

P.S. Did Jonatha sing for you? I LOVE her music. sigh.

[jenn desjardins]

When I went to comment, I couldn't help but notice the pic in the post below......sniff..sniff! Anyways, as I wipe my tears away, it looks like all had a great time! This time of the year is so gorgeous! I am in upstate ny..and it is not much different than new hampshire! Thanks for sharing!

[fay]

Oh sweetie
Looks fabulous, wish I could come to one of your classes. I have to live vicariously thru your pics though, until I find a job. Anyway, looks like a ton of fun, beautiful looking place. I could just see me on that dock at sunset, g & t ice and a slice in hand........heaven.

[Leslie M.]

What a magical time we shared in Squam! Yes, the fairies were busy. Loved, loved, LOVED your class. I am armed with so much inspiration and so many tools to carry me forward.

Thanks sweet Nina!

xo

[Colette]

I've just been to Squam vicariously-- through you, and Jenny, who is all the things you say, which I know firsthand.
xoxo

[Renate]

Looks like there were faeries everywhere, in every picture! You put a smile on my face, sweet woman! xo

[diane cook]

Ahhh, your post made me feel like I was right there with you....*magical*
xoxo

[martha]

I wanna go!!

I am so glad it was good for you, Nina. It sounds like a true respite.

[elizabeth woodford]

Oh I sooooo wanted to join you at Squam!!! I spent my childhood summers aon a small lake closeby and when i heard that you would be there it was almost to much to bear!! Perhaps you will teach there again??? ( SHE HOPES FERVENTLY!!!)
I am so glad that you ahd a wonderful time. There is magic in those mountains!!
hugs!
Elizabeth

P.S. you sound so much better and ahppier and at ease since you have come thru your latest journey!! thREE CHEERS FOR YOU!!!!!!!!

[Olwyn Hughes]

Makes me wish I had the funds to jump on a plane right now! One day....

am not sure that you realize it but I would not be doing what I am doing with my art today if I had not met you and been inspired by you all those years ago. So, thank you, dear Nina, for all that you do and here's to hoping that I find myself one day, once again in your presence.

Olwyn

[Karen]

It looks like such a magical place, so good for renewing your soul, dear Nina. I hope one day to have the opportunity to go there.

xo,
Karen

[Kelly Reagan]

Nothing like a little time with the girls, Nina, a little time to get silly, trade stories and maybe cry a little! We've all had our sad times and hopefully we've all been in love. Amazing is what life is going to be for you from here on. Enjoy the ride we all share with you...
Hugs
Kelly

[michelle renee bernard]

Nina... I look at these photos and think I wish I was at that place... and I was! But through your eyes it looks different. Thanks for reminding us all that we need to see... not only our surroundings, but how special we are... how talented we are... how loved we are... and that we can just be who we are...

Much love,
Michelle
xoxoxo

[Kelly Jeanette]

It looks like you are happy and having loads of fun in a very beautiful place. Good for you!

That does truly looks like a magical place. Enjoy it.

hugs

[Isabel]

Ah my dear Nina, it was MAGICAL and REVEALING!!! I learned beyond my expectations. With an open heart. Your instruction and sense of humor made it a moment to cherish forever. Leslie's piece is just beautiful! And all because you gave us the tools and shared your spirit and skills. I am thrilled by every single minute of those three day classes and the time we spent together.

Thank you again my dear Nina :)

xox

Isabel

[Erin Prais-Hintz]

What a magical happy place you have found in NH! I would love to take an intensive retreat with you creating art...I see that you are on the schedule for Valley Ridge.....I am making it my mission to be sure that I am in attendance. That sounds like a little slice of heaven and you have found a chorus of angels. Delightful pictures and post as ever, Miss Nina! Enjoy the day! Erin

[Carole]

What a beautiful place.

Reminds me a little bit of Menucha, which is a local art retreat that I used to attend in the fall every year. The venue no longer exists and I do miss it. The sharing, the teaching, the learning. It was a special time.