Last year I hosted my first workshop, I didn’t want it to be like other workshops.  There are so many amazing workshops and photographers to learn from, I have loved the ones that I have attended.  My entire life I have been a creative.  I started at a young age making things, I remember when I was 6 or 7 I crocheted a little blanket for my dolls.  I loved to get my hands on anything that I could transform into something different.  Through the years I have tried all sorts of projects, I love to learn something new, or to create a pattern.  Some of my main hobbies right now are sewing, cooking, baking, leather making, gardening, and knitting.  I go through phases and I do not do them all at one time.  Every time I try something new, I get all into it and I love learning about all of the different ways and I make mistakes and I learn how to get around those mistakes.  There is something so magical about creating something, I think it is good for the soul to explore creative outlets.

I have been a professional photographer for over 14 years now.  I know a lot of my early years in business I had a lot to learn and to improve on.  And I still am learning new things and becoming a better photographer.  In those 14 years, I have never hated photography, I have never wanted a break from shooting, I have always wanted more.  This doesn’t mean I haven’t struggled with staying on top of business areas or finding ways to market or have been frustrated.  But I have never complained about photography as my craft.  Too often I hear how photographers or creatives are burned out, and I always feel bad that they have to experience the burnout feeling.  I have been able to stay out of that area, by exploring other artistic outlets.  When I quilt or dye fabric, I am being inspired in my photography.  I am thinking of ways to improve or change.  I always end up finding a way to photograph the process or the end result.

A lot of people tell me how they could never do what I do, or make something that I have made.  I may have a lot of experience, but everyone can do something with practice.  I had someone once tell me they wanted to give up on something because my project was better, she had just started and I started when I was 10.  I felt so bad after she told me that, I don’t want people to quit because of other peoples successes, I want to teach people skills so that they can have satisfaction in what they can achieve.  For the last 5 years, I have held a little wreath night, and I invite family, friends, neighbors, Instagram friends anyone that wants to come.  Everyone that comes for the first time has never made a wreath and they are all intimidated when they begin and they all comment how they are not going to be able to do it.  But every person that has come has created a beautiful wreath and they always leave so satisfied and happy with themselves.  I want more people to feel this.  I want to teach people how to feel the joy from creating. When I started coming up with the idea of my workshop, my goal wasn’t to earn money, it was to teach people to find their creativity interests and to pursue those things.  Not to make it a career, but to give themselves an outlet from their business or from ordinary life.

My creative workshop, A Creative Awakening will be held on April 16th, 2019 in beautiful Bear Lake.  It will be a full day of creating and inspiring each other!  The day will begin at 10:00 am and go until 8:00 pm.  We will first start with learning how to use natural dyes to dye fabric.  Each attendee will be able to dye 6 linen napkins that can be used for your next dinner part, or to style in photo shoots. I have been amazed at some of the colors that I have been able to create from ordinary food and foliage.  You will also go home with all of the tools to continue to experiment with natural color dying.  We will then break for a light lunch and then start into learning how to make homemade gnocchi and other pasta shapes.  This is one of my favorite things, I know that it sounds like a lot of work, but when you are creating the shapes it really is relaxing and the taste is just so good!  We will end the dinner with a fancy dinner, with shrimp scampi and homemade pasta!  Amber Reverie will be styling the dinner and you won’t want to miss out.  She creates such a beautiful atmosphere where we can talk and discuss ways creativity can influence your business or life.  You will go away from the day inspired and ready to go back to business and maybe it will be something you want to keep pursuing or it will inspire you to look into something else.

I would love for you to join me!  Tuesday, March 19th, is the last day for early pricing.  Right now it is $350 for the entire day and on Wednesday it goes up to $425.  Head to this link to secure your seat!  Can’t wait to meet you!

If you are coming from out of town, no worries there are options to stay over night on the 15th and the 16th for just $50 per night!  If you choose to stay the night the party will continue all night!  Click here for the options to stay over.  And if you have a certain diet, don’t worry I will create a specific meal just for you!  I want you to feel like you can still come!

Above images are film, shot with a Pentax 645nii with Fuji Pro400H film and developed by The Find Lab.

“I firmly believe that we all need to find something to do in our lives that stops us from eating the couch. Whether we make a profession out of it or not, we all need an activity that is beyond the mundane and takes us out of our established and limiting roles in society. We all need something that helps us forget ourselves for awhile—-to momentarily forget our age, our gender, our socioeconomic background, our duties, our failures, and all that we have lost and screwed up. We need something that takes us so far out of ourselves that we forget to eat, forget to mow the lawn, forget to resent our enemies, forget to brood over our insecurities. Prayer can do it for us, community service can do it, exercise can do it—but creative living can do it, too. By completely absorbing our attention for a short and magical spell, it can relieve us temporarily from the dreadful burden of being who we are. Best of all, at the end of your creative adventure, you have a souvenir—- something that you made, something to remind you forever of your brief but transformative encounter with inspiration.”

Elizabeth Gilbert, “Big Magic”