I gave a presentation at the Columbia FiberArt Guild in Portland yesterday about my journey as an artist. What a lovely group of women! There were about 100 people there and it was an honor to speak to such a talented group.
My slide presentation had 88 slides! I loved all the questions they had about process. I spoke for about one hour and then showed many example of my work and sold many pieces.
It was a great pleasure to work with Maris Cavanagh, program director, who invited me.

Philomath Open Studios was a great event. I opened my studio for two week-ends and had about 200 visitors. It was relaxing and fun! Got to speak about philosophy, explain about the  process of the encaustic medium and catch up with many people in the community. I shared my studio this year with Cris Kostol, a fabulous jeweler from Brownsville, OR, who works with Holly Blue Agate.
Philomath Open Studios had 22 participating artists this year, at 12 different studios. We usually open our studios the last week-end of October and the first in November. This is our 11th year to do this and I have participated 9 of those!
As artists, we get to have a "pre-tour" of all the studios and that is really one of my favorite parts. I love seeing where artists work, what they surround themselves with, what inspires them and see new work. It was great to get first picks and I purchased pieces from Nena Bement, Marcella Henkels, Lee Kitzman, Faye Cummins and am doing a trade with Jerri Bartholomew and David Bayles!