cruising down the ventura highway. heading towards my long awaited art retreat with joyce & sharron.
we met at lucky llama's for a cappucino before returning to joyce's for a few days of "untrammeled idleness".
In his essay entitled “Of Idleness” the philosopher Michel de Montaigne, equated idleness with imaginative fecundity when he declared: “It seemed to me that I could do my mind no greater favour than to allow it, in idleness, to entertain itself.”
in between stretches of idleness we drew and read.
and sat.
staring at the water as it became like liquid mercury.
dolphin pods casually swam past.
"the scenery of the locality is lovely; the air is considered to be peculiarly health-compelling; the gossipings during the untrammelled idleness of the day are very grateful to those whose lives are generally laborious…
-anthony trollope
i had the pleasure of meeting sharron's 2 lovely grandaughters who walked by on the shore's edge looking for a good spot for a sunset swim.
we considered the words of sven birkets in his mother of possibility article in lapthams.
sharron shared the special journal she made from her oregon trip to study with watercolorist andie thrams. her website is where we found the link to the article above.
we chirped and trilled over natalie wargin's rich work and found it to be good.
we tried different things in our sketchbooks, ate good food, and when it became really dark we went outside and discovered the milky way in the southern sky. a hazy band of concentrated starlight that made all of us gasp.
Mary Ann, I just wanted to chime in and say thank you SO much for your posts – it’s like a fresh breeze in my hair or an ice cube clinking in a glass when they land in my inbox. Always beautiful, thoughtful, and inspiring. Thank you 🙂
wendy,
that quote is from an essay he wrote entitled Why Frau Frohmann Raised Her Prices. it’s in a book called GOOD WORDS
So love the views from the car of the beach…and the sunset! I’m missing the ocean so much these days. I’ve lived in NV for 37 years, now I want to spend the rest of my days beside the ocean where I grew up.
HMMMMMNnnnnnnnnn I could just sit here all day and get lost in the photos….I’m fully content just thinking about you there and have joined you all in spirit…you won’t even know I’m there…:) xoxox
*sigh*
Divine. I love being at the beach – it always restores my soul
If I wasn’t already relaxed I would be now! Such evocative hotos and writing.
Can you tell me the source of the wonderful Anthony Trollope quote please?
This post made me gasp….absolutely beautiful!
Sooo beautiful. Have a happy time at the ocean.
hey… i just wanna say that i am always stopping by but never leaving words these days. *thank you* for all of the inspiration and links! i really love the paintings of natalie wargin…
carry on… have been struck by the importance of idleness myself lately.
xoxo
You are so blessed. Not only to be who you are and do what you do, but to share it with Joyce and Sharron….what luck! And the Milky Way to boot. You are one lucky duck.
This is my favorite post yet Mary Ann.
I’m inspired to let the work shift inside and get it to paper as it springs.
Thank you for this.
Oh how I miss the Milky Way… one has to drive quite a ways out of the cities now to see it, yet when I was a kid, we could see it from our house near the beach in San Francisco… oh those days!
Loved your little glimpse into your peaceful beachside weekend! Thanks!
A perfect place for untrammeled idleness. Enjoy. You can always count on the dolphins there. I sat on that beach when I learned my mother had died. The dolphins came and I wasn’t alone. Beautiful photos.
oh how I wish I could swim in that liquid mercury, or just sit and watch the day go by. Thanks for taking me there 🙂