Since this is a blog, a work in progress, I don't hold myself to chronology (as you might have noticed), so I am back to the Benedictine Experience. This is a sketch that I did on Desert Day, the Thursday when we have the opportunity to go deeper into silence and solitude, our own personal deserts. We made up sack lunches, were given some ideas to ponder, and then were left to our own devices. I took my sketchbook and walked back into the hills where I found a bench under a live oak tree overlooking the valley. The day was really hot so the shade was welcome and necessary. My plan was to stay there until the sun moved so that it was no longer shaded and then move on. As it turned out, it was shady all day, so I sat on that bench for over three hours---painting the valley, drawing other pilgrims as they walked up the path, reading, eating my sandwich, and having a little nap. It was glorious.
Speaking of fellow pilgrims, Helena Chan was new to BenEx this year, and brought wonderful fresh energy and insights. I sat next to her during a few of the discussions and couldn't help but glance over and notice her notes. She uses the same kind of black bound sketchbook and Artpen that I often use, but the results are very different. She is an engineer, and a very neat person, which really showed in those clear, straight lines of beautiful script and perfectly organized thoughts. And she had no ink on her fingers from that pen! I was so impressed and amazed that I couldn't resist commenting, and pointing it out to others. Helena wrote a bit about the week which she posted on St. Paul Cathedral blog on August 2. She writes beautifully, in both senses of the word, and it really is worth a look.
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