CSU Mountain Campus

Colorado retreat: Moose from the start

Colorado retreat: Moose from the start

Every year when I come to CSU Mountain Campus to teach tapestry retreats, I spend a fair amount of time walking and looking for moose. I would be walking anyway as that is just who I am (solvitur ambulando). But always I’m looking for those huge gangly creatures who hide in the willows by the river so well. I count it a good retreat if I see at least one moose.

From my arrival this year I started seeing them. In fact, I couldn’t miss them as I got moose-blocked immediately. (What they call it here when the moose decides to stay in the path where you’re walking and frankly, he gets to decide since he outweighs me by so much.) Here is my moose count for this retreat. These are actually sightings. Some of them I can identify as being different moose, but most certainly some of them are the same moose visiting different spots around the campus.

What happens at tapestry camp, stays at tapestry camp... except for this

What happens at tapestry camp, stays at tapestry camp... except for this

Sweet mountain air, a community of people who love tapestry, and five days of fun.

The Colorado 2018 design retreat was so much fun. We had a wonderful group of people. As an instructor, it is so rewarding to spend five days with people who are able to ask questions both of the other people but also of themselves. They were able to dive into their creative selves and identify what they wanted to work on and then actually work on it!

This was a retreat where I encouraged everyone to follow their own path. This did mean that they had to think some about what they wanted to work on before coming to the retreat and then follow their ideas with some guidance from me and their fellow weavers throughout the week.

August's Tapestry Camp

August's Tapestry Camp

The second Colorado retreat went well. It was different from the first (details here) but also a great deal of fun with lots of adventuring and creativity. It is always fascinating to me to observe how a different mix of people changes the dynamic of a particular workshop. I've taught a lot of workshops in the last six years and every one is different. Even when the material I am teaching is very similar, the outcomes can be wildly different.

High mountain weaving at Tapestry Camp!

High mountain weaving at Tapestry Camp!

We had an amazing time in the July retreat at CSU Mountain Campus. What a group! We laughed, learned from each other, shared ideas, hiked some trails, watched the hummingbirds, looked for moose (no luck), searched out flowers, watched the clouds, and saw the brilliant stars.

Here is a bit of a photo essay from the week.