My first real art therapy session was in Mendocino when we stayed at the Stanford Inn. How I even found this vegan, dog friendly resort is beyond me but I believe I plucked it from an ad in a vegan magazine. The owners are a couple who found this location back in their youth and indeed made it into what it is (or was, before covid). They raised their children here, now adults and nearby. What makes it unique is their warm hospitality, award winning food and terraced gardens that serves as inspiration to the chef. The tiny town is on the cliffs known as headlands and was the location for the fictional town of “Cabot Cove” from Murder She Wrote. Instead of a spa or beach day, I took an art therapy class with the female proprietor who had gone back to school for her degree upon empty nesting.

I had never done this before and I was curious and I love crafting although I was never considered any good at even stick figures or my simple, square houses, five petaled flowers or doodling.

I was given free rein of her massive collection of material and left to cut, color, paste and create while we chatted. I did not leave with a masterpiece but I did manage to collage two vision boards. I also spent a lovely time with an interesting woman of my age who had renounced conventional patterns and instead wielded a pioneer stance on life with a splash of bohemian style and succeeded.

Which brings me to this morning wherein I ventured forth into another art therapy course I basically stumbled upon. Being curious and intrigued by the humble description and its informal, friendly marketing style, I signed up for the weekend and attended my first 90 minute live with a most agreeable and yet professional teacher and her course. It’s magically enchanting, playful and unexpectedly quite profound.

Gotta go now and play with my” homework”.