Dispatch From the Ranch - Progress Report and Leslie Baum

Hello Friends,

It's been crunch time here. Every waking hour there is a task to be done. It can easily make your head swirl. Just like spring, that has been emerging over the last weeks, what we are building feels so much like the foundation for what is to come. The possibilities, layers, and patina.

I'll be announcing new retreats, some of the weekends at the ranch, and events over the next few weeks. I hope you will join us for this foundational year.

Speaking of retreats, we have a few more shared rooms available for Leslie Baum's The Art of Noticing August 10th-13th. Grab a friend and join us! You do not need any painting experience to join this creative and contemplative long weekend.

I'd like to tell you a little about Leslie, her art, teaching practice and why she is one of the first people I asked to host a retreat.

When I first met Leslie years ago I quickly started asking her perspective because it was always so considered and provoked me to think further or have one of those 'aha' moments.

Leslie's painting practice is also rooted in this thoughtfulness. Her work is from observation but she isn't interested in rendering in a super descriptive way. Rather she seeks to get to the essential - focusing on shape, and color. She is interested in what a painting can do, what it can evoke and the generosity of evocation. Her paintings are an invitation to a viewer that point to mystery rather than recognition.

Seeing is a subjective experience. As a teacher or a making guide, Leslie seeks to help people explore their own unique way of seeing.

When working in plein air, there is often a desire to capture all the beauty and complexity of the landscape. However, it is also can overwhelm both painter and a painting. Her approach is to encourage the letting go, to engage in creative play, and to arrive at what is essential.

Why plein air or painting outside I asked Leslie? She responded "it's dynamic. Clouds go by, light changes, time passes. It's instructive to put yourself in the position where you don't have all the control and you are in collaboration with what you are viewing. There is a deep personal value and enrichment in being outside in a multi-sensory way. Hearing, listening, and going deep in a moment. You enter a flow state. It's so good for us."

Join us for The Art of Noticing: Watercolor and the Landscape August 10-13 with Leslie Baum. The retreat will include guided and independent painting time, opportunities to share work, morning yoga, sauna time, farm to table meals, and a contemplative forest walk. Embrace the creative potential of noticing our environment, slowing down, and being present. No painting experience necessary.