I had the pleasure of spending four days at Milkwood Farm last month. It was a wondrous celebration of learning, laughing, creativity, and new friendships in a converted barn from the 1850's.
Wide-eyed and full of snacks from the airport vending machine, I arrived at Milkwood with fellow artists and dog lovers Abbie and Rachel Ann.
Sophie greeted us with a smile and arms full of zucchini she'd just picked from the garden. She introduced us to the staff who were are all so charming, it felt like we’d been best friends since birth.
After settling in, we all gathered for drinks, dinner, and dessert. We played a memory drawing game, then and Deb asked us to write what we expected out of the next few days.
Here's what I wrote:
The next morning, after breakfast, we marched to the workshop studio, where no wifi or phone signal could reach. That’s where creative geniuses
and Sophie Blackall led us in the most magical image-making workshops. We unearthed images from our own memories, nary a reference photo in sight. It was powerful!
After lunch on Day 2, we learned we’d be adding our own equine art to a collection of horse drawings created by all previous Milkwood attendees. Past guests include Rebecca Green, Oliver Jeffers, and
. These books are filled with incredible horse art, so it was a little intimidating. After a bit of practice, I just went for it.Here’s my horse drawing:
On the last day,
shared her beautiful paper dolls with us and we created our own! Can you guess which one is mine?
Milkwood was more than just a weekend of joyful art-making with wonderful artist friends. It was an unforgettable experience and a reminder that coming together in creativity is just as powerful as making beautiful pictures.
In the video
I share some of the art I made, lessons I learned, and a little process of combining two images in Procreate.
