I started my journey at the crack of dawn, 3:30 to be exact. I had a 5:45 am flight with a stop in Denver and then onto Aspen. Everything went well until I had to pick up my luggage. The carousel went around, and around, and around… All I could think was my luggage was gone. Lost. Panic, what would I wear? Could I buy enough supplies at the small art store at Anderson Ranch to be able to participate in my workshop?
I walked around the entire carousel just to make sure I didn’t miss something. Luckily I did because my bag fell off the conveyor belt behind the carousel. Here is photo evidence, my suitcase is the blue one:
I made it to Anderson Ranch after a short cab ride and the town is just beautiful. The art center campus is nestled in the village and surrounded by mountains. I just noticed a cloud in the panoramic photo I shot looks like a whale or a snail. See it?
Anderson Ranch is an eclectic mix of rustic and modern wood clad and log cabin structures.
As I mentioned in my previous post, all my meals will be provided in their dining hall. I’m lucky to be here in the summer, the outdoor seating is really fabulous. In fact I’m sitting on the patio right now typing this blog post. It just rained and the air is slightly cool.
My dorm room is right next to the dining hall. I’m on the first floor and the dorm has a neat little gallery space, a lounge and a laundry room.
If you read my previous post you know I was a little worried about sharing a quad. Well I still have a quad but my room doesn’t have bunk beds, I just have one roommate. Sweet!
A few funny things about my dorm and checking in. This is the sign in my room. “No Smoking, No Art Making in the Dorm.”
And included in my welcome packet were a pair of ear plugs. Hmmm…the last time this happened I was at The Jupiter in Portland and our room was next to their really loud bar. The Jupiter included condoms with their check-in, luckily there was none here. That would be weird.
Once I settled into my room I decided to explore and grab a bite to eat. I hadn’t had anything since I left in the morning and the dining hall doesn’t open until dinner on Sunday. So I headed out on a trail and had lunch at the Nest located in the Viceroy hotel.
In the evening there was a welcome dinner where we sat with our classes and instructor. The dinner was delicious, I had vegetarian quinoa chili with cornbread, creamed spinach and a salad. We talked for most of the dinner, each introducing ourselves. You could hear the anticipation in everyone’s voice, everyone is curious about what this workshop will offer us. Brenda assured us just to come with an open mind and a willingness to play.
After dinner everyone met for a lecture from two different artists. The first lecturer was Mark Klett, a photographer from Arizona. When I listened to him speak and saw his images I felt like I had seen his work before. I just did an internet search and he’s represented by Lisa Sette Gallery – I knew I had seen his work before!
The second lecture was from sculptor Rick Parsons. His work looked heavily at the effects of decay over time. His intrigue with the rusted and decomposed came from growing up in Galveston Texas. An island that is constantly changing from the tides, hurricanes and the petroleum industry.
I was so tired after the lecture I thought for sure it was time to go to bed but no, it was only just after 8. I decided to take advantage of the light while it was still out and go for a walk. I’m glad I did, I was able to catch perfect lighting on this mountainside:
