We shared our tent with Tala and Josi, got up before dawn to summit a few peaks in the Tobacco Root Mountains. Glorious…
Season's First Summit
BEAUTIFUL and stunningly memorable summit shared with a dear friend - AND a violinist and ballerina who performed on the summit.
Jungle juice
I danced deep in the jungle beneath the mystical glow of February’s full moon during a ceremony held by Indigenous women…
One of my passions...
Endlessly sculptural…ICE…!!!!
Excited for the season upon us but mostly I’m delighted to share adventures on ice with Raymond. I never imagined my rodeo bullfighting husband would discover his own love for the stuff. Raymond’s spiritual appreciation of and communion with Momma Nature (and the made-with-love gourmet sandwiches he creates for our adventures) are just a few sprinkles of the stardust goodness. He’s my favorite partner @raymondansotegui took this photo of me a few weeks ago…
Momma Nature Provides...
Spring and summer have been a mix of exploration and appreciation of Momma Nature both outside and inside my studio along with summer’s healthy dose of friends and family who visit this special place we get to call home. I’m finding new ways to squeeze in more mini adventures on studio days. Mountain biking “helmet hair”or the grit from rock and chalk beneath my nails or the satisfaction of happy sleepy dogs after a quickie six mile dawn hike accompany the grin on my face when I step into the studio. Raymond took this photo early one morning this week while I led a nearby “new-to-me” climb before studio time. Feeling fit. Inspired. Playfully and intentionally creative. Blessed.
Inspiration outside the studio
Endlessly sculptural. Zen garden soul stirring landscape entwined with Dr Seuss-like whimsical formations. Tantalizing. Grounding. Empowering. Humbling.
Parts of my creative process can be described with the same adjectives
Raymond and Yellowstone National Park Birthday Celebration
We celebrated both Raymond’s birthday and Yellowstone National Park’s 150th birthday with an ice climbing adventure in the Park yesterday. Perfect pairing of a magical place and the gracious bright light Raymond beams. Greeted by bison on the road, painterly skies, stellar frozen falls, beauty, wonder, nature and love followed by this moment tucked into comfy covers at a cozy little cabin in Cooke City - a wee little town perched on the edge of the Park. No cell service here. My handsome husband sleeps, my heart leaps. Blessed.
Full Moon Slow Dance
Home-sweet-home after a stellar 4 day adventure with my love. We hiked to lyrical waterfalls no longer frozen enough to climb, stayed in a historical brothel-turned-boutique-hotel (yes I packed tiny lacy things) Climbed stellar frozen Cataract Falls in the steep mountains near Augusta, attended 3 nights of Circuit Finals Rodeo to support and hang with friends and their families. I didn’t realize how hungry I was for ART until we took in the contemporary art installations at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art which prompted us to pilgrimage to Lincoln to visit Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild. Slid into the historical healing pools at Broadwater hot springs for our final interlude. Full moon magic welcomed us home-sweet-home.
Heart - Soul- Mind - Body - Cowboy boots - Ice Axes - Lace - Frozen Falls - Art - Hot springs
New Year's Day Beautitude...
Momma Nature all blinged out with magical crystal beauty that only happens in sub zero temps. New Year’s morning, Raymond and I uncurled from our cuddle, rolled off the air mattress in the dining room of the lovely Big Sky condo, suited up, tip-toed past sleeping friends, got the sliding glass door unstuck and slid into the hot tub where we soaked up the sunrise.
Thirteen degrees below zero.
I scampered barefoot and made a snow angel in my bikini as a post-it note greeting to the sky (and for the kiddos to discover when they woke from slumber).
Hiking in sub zero temps is other-worldly and LOUD. Cold snow crunch crunch crunch. Partnering up to climb on frozen falls was a sweet little retreat and memorable way to begin the New Year.
Tree Muse...
She embraced me morning and night. Vibrant vivacious daughter of the Mother. Smooth arms poised like a temple goddess. Her canopy sparkled with stars each night as I smudged with cedar and sage, accompanied by owl song. The tall red Dr Seuss bloom blew kisses while I meditated early mornings at this very spot just outside the door to our bedroom. Gratitude.
Gratitude
Birthday Blessings
Between sketchy backcountry roads and avalanche danger threatening many ice climbs; my super sweet climbing partner (dear friend Supy) treated me to a stellar fantastically fun blue bird ski day at Bridger Bowl for my birthday. Delicious home-made-with-love-by-my-mother-in-law German Chocolate Cake packed in a carrier was our pre-ski and apres-ski snack. Candlelight claw foot tub soak with wine and appetizers prepared by Raymond. The rest of the cozy-at-home birthday date night with my husband was dreamy. Still smiling from the inside out with gratitude and awe. Damn I’m lucky.
Post-commission retreat
Crazy but fun afternoon with unexpected twists and turns - a wonderful and long story full of luck (both good and bad but mostly magically good luck). I retreated from social media during five weeks in the studio while focused on a commissioned project. The day after the sculptures were loaded on a trailer, I loaded my truck with tent and bike and headed for Sedona.
Blazing Saddles Ride
Yesterday kicked my ass. And my CROTCH. And the bottoms of my feet, my toes, my forearms and my neck. But mostly my crotch. Fortunately my thighs, calves and lungs held up pretty damn good for the whole 100 miles. My spirit wavered occasionally and I had the shit scared out of me twice. But it was worth it.
Fifty people donated in support of my ride. Together we raised over $3000 of the $15,000 at the Blazing Saddles event to help Montana families of children with cancer. Your support helped carry me across those miles.
When I faced a knurly headwind during the 8th hour on that tiny abusive seat on top of those impossibly skinny hard tires I swore out loud. Seriously. I also panted a mantra the last few miles, “you are healthy – you are healthy – you are healthy” which was as close as I could get to “you are strong” and “you got this” because at those moments when the wind pounded my spirit and the relentless deep cracks in the pavement punched my softest most sensitive parts, I didn’t feel like I “had this” or that I was “strong.” I felt like crying and more than anything I wanted to be DONE.
My pain was real. But I was heartily aware that my pain was temporary and a self-imposed “luxury” that comes from a choice I made while being healthy, unlike young’uns faced with cancer. Cancer has touched all of us one way or another. I witnessed my father’s last breath when pancreatic cancer took him. I saw the fear in my mother’s eyes when they wheeled her away to cut off her breast. The day before the ride a courageous dear friend who continues to fight texted (without whining) that he was “Feeling lousy today. Weak from chemo and sick.”
I do not personally know a child with cancer but I thought about three new babies recently born to 3 of the ten couples Raymond has married. I rode for those healthy babies and their future even as I road for the children currently fighting. Yesterday was the kind of day that took me places within myself that are both personal and not-at-all about “self.”
Being Seen - feeling connected...
A sense of calm washed over me as the raven brazenly looked at me with clear sharp eyes beneath a sky drama of change. The photo was for Raymond. A moment of connection across miles - singular journeys, courageous commitments and a shared willingness to delve into a limitless changing expanse.
Desert Night
Followed a GIANT jackrabbit a ways down a desert dirt road somewhere near Escalante until it dead ended at a rocky ravine. I rolled out the cozy o’l sleeping bag I used when I was a wilderness ranger 30 years ago, lay down and watched as clouds rushed the moon. Wind whipped. Rain fell until the storm drove me into the back seat of the truck where I curled up and dozed. The storm passed, I crawled out of my burrow and sprawled in the truck bed as the clouds crept away and the stars marched in...
Tala photo-bomb
We haven’t a clue how the dogs found a stick on a treeless summit.
Carving for the King - inspiring slideshow
I became the first woman to carve in the country of Bhutan when the Prime Minister (his Excellency Dasho Tshering Tobgay) asked me to create an artwork in a retreat palace for their revered king. My adventurous story unfolded during three lengthy trips to the fairytale kingdom of Bhutan nestled high in the Himalayan Mountains.
“Bhutan is a magical country steeped in tradition, color and kindness. My experience was transformative; which means of course that along with vivid rich awe-inspiring joy there were intense challenges on top of challenges that tested my mettle.I dug deep. Art triumphed. Both myself and the country are forever changed.”
JULY 16
6:30-8:00
at the Museum of the Rockies
(hosted by the Bozeman Art Museum)
Springtime adventure with my niece
Chloe was soooooooo ready to stretch her wings when she moved to Montana last summer. We’ve spun some depth and breadth together into this post-college chapter in her life. Next week she will begin a new chapter moving to the east coast with her boyfriend - so we got ourselves out for one more dance together with Momma Nature…
Sometimes you must take the plunge...
I’ve completed two intensive workshop retreats during the last two weeks. Today Raymond and I leave to immerse in a one-day creative workshop together this weekend. The last two weekend workshops shifted, stretched, renewed and resurfaced parts of myself in a zillion positive ways. I am blessed (and excited to return to my studio…!!!)