Totally Tidal
The beauty of a daily practice...
Hello,
As I wrote in my book, there’s constancy and forgiveness in a daily practice. We always get another chance. I routinely paint the shells that I leave scattered about my desk. I appreciate the way they connect me with the tides, another rhythm that’s constantly ebbing and flowing. After spending a week at the ocean my collection has grown a bit. Shells are my scales; technical exercises that I practice again and again to flex my perception and improve my interpretation. The subject may be the same, but the light is different, I’m different. Yet another gift of a daily practice, watching life go by with intention and attention.
Making time to look deeply and with great heart subtly—or sometimes not so subtly—enriches the way we see the world. This is a gift we can share with others. Election day is quickly approaching: VOTE!!! I’m so glad you’re here.
xo Lorene
In Person
For those of you who live in the Puget Sound region, I invite you to an evening of storytelling with Generation Women, whose tagline is “Wit and wisdom, from all ages.” Six generations of women, one in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s will each share a short personal story — I’m batting for team 60s. The theme for the evening is Flesh & Bone, Stories of the Female Body. I believe we are our age and all the ones that came before. This should be fascinating and fun.
Details: Thursday, November 14, 2024, 6:30 pm at the Labor Temple in downtown Seattle.
Recent writing: Gathering Osage Oranges on Garden Rant. When October arrives, some people get out their heavy sweaters and rake leaves. Others switch over to pumpkin spice lattes, play a round of touch football, or jump in said piles of leaves. Us? We drive roughly 300 miles to Yakima, just east of the Cascade Range, to gather Osage oranges.
Recent reading: What I Ate in One Year, by Stanley Tucci Looking at life through the lens of what’s on our plate: Food for thought [Bookshop affiliate link]
In the handmade kitchen: Lately I’ve been leaning into the gardener/cook side of life and having fun in the kitchen. Earlier this week I made One-pot Chicken with Caramelized Lemons and Dates by
. BTW, I heartily and deliciously recommend her Substack newsletter called, uh, A Newsletter.Shop Talk
Many thanks to everyone who pre-ordered 2025 In Living Color calendars, they are all (!!!) packaged up and on their way to you, which feels a bit heroic for this one-woman post office. That said, I’ve polished my online store ‘til it shines and it’s stocked and ready to meet your gifting needs. In addition to calendars, I’ve got signed books, colorful postcards, and original color studies.
New this year, I’m releasing a very limited number of DIY color kits. Each set is like a virtual workshop in paying attention and recording colors. The kit comes with everything you need to get started: a watercolor dot card with 7 sample pigments, a craft brush, an encouraging handout, and a sample color study from my practice. This is the same set of materials that students receive at my in-person color workshops and I’m curious to test the online waters for this self-led version. If this strikes a (color) cord, I plan on ramping up production in the new year. Now’s your chance to get Beta pricing.
Color my World
Just as we left town a week ago a friend handed me a bouquet to take to the beach for a little pink sprinkled in with the salty, sandy bits.
From an undersea garden on a sandy ocean beach at low tide. American searocket (Cakile edentula)
Round things settle me.
Remember the time I wrote “ muscle” instead of “ mussel”? Y’all were very kind.
Look inside. This is a very special mussel, hefty shell lined with magical nacre rainbows. That indigo shell gets me every time.
Beach currency.
Oh I wish I could come on November 14th! do they record these? I love the reminder of the forgiveness of a daily practice....we can all use all the grace we can muster...:) xo