A Day in the Life of an Artmonk: Raphael Sacks on Day 8 of the 90-Day Retreat
Artmonk-in-Residence Raphael Sacks speaks about his first week of the 90-day art-monastic retreat in Italy in this 90-second video blog. The Art Monastery is honored to count Raphael amongst us this summer. His resume boasts everything from improvising vocal solos for audiences of up to 8,000 in Sweden with Teater Slava and premiering with the […]
Video Blog ~ Liz’s Welcome Speech
At the first dinner with all the Artmonks-in-Residence, Art Monastery Artistic Director Liz Maxwell speaks to the group about her dream, the work, and her gratitude. It all bodes well for the experiment of this summer’s 90-day intensive art-monastic collaboration!
Ad Mortem on Pinterest
As a way of building our visual vocabulary for this summer’s show, Ad Mortem, we’ve created a Pinterest board where all the creators of the show (3 stage performers, 2 musicians, 2 managers, 2 visual directors, 1 director director) can “pin” images from the internet or images that we upload ourselves. The result is a […]
Making Dirt
“We’re making dirt, guys.” The other day, Charles told us about this fellow, John Jeavons, who has been cultivating soil for decades. He has been painstakingly, gradually, birthing soil that is extremely fertile, totally organic, a nurturing environment from which just about any plant life could thrive. It is work that moves on a global […]
Protected: Inside the Process ~ Day 9 ~ Mother Lover and the Dead Moth
Access to the Inside the Process blog series is reserved for donors to our IndieGoGo campaign at the $1000 level and above. Please join us!
Beer Fast ~ Beyond the Beer
We are now a week and a half past the end of the Beer Fast. I had thought on Day 14 that the big gift of the fast was about discipline, about practice, and about emptiness. Those were certainly gifts and this quote from Father Tom Ryan certainly still resonates: “The primary reason for self-denial […]
Beer Fast ~ Day 14
PM – Eve of the Final Day As I climb into bed on the night of the last moments of the fast, I feel a strange sense of sadness. Shouldn’t I feel accomplished? Shouldn’t I feel relieved? I do look forward to the hot tea and lemon tomorrow, to my break fast of special strawberries […]
Beer Fast ~ Day 13
Again last night, I dreamt I broke the fast. Not so many specific details made it back with me past the consciousness checkpoint, but the gist is there. I might be ready for food. Disappointingly (but understandably) I’ve learned that the stepping out process should actually be longer than the stepping down was — that I should have just juices for the first day or two, and just fruit + juices + miso soup for the next few days, then introducing raw vegetables.
Beer Fast ~ Day 12
Closing in on the end! Video blog tells the story. In case the video isn’t your thing: Last night I dreamt that I broke the fast. I dreamt that I was with all my Artmonks and folks who have attended Artmonk Retreats and we were having a party at Phoebe and Nathan’s house. I was walking along the buffet of items brought in potluck and someone I didn’t know pointed out this pastry that she had made (maybe she was Italian?) — filo dough wrapped around brie or some such irresistible cheese. It was a flaky, oily, delicious mess…
Beer Fast ~ Day 11
In the last few days I have had three different people say to me, “Betsy, I’m worried about you. I think you should be drinking more beer.” “Are you drinking enough beer?” “Can I bring you another beer? Shouldn’t you be drinking more?” I will savor those moments for as long as I can remember them. Unfortunately, alcohol consumption hinders the formation of memory cells…
