Last week at this time I was attending a workshop at the California Center for Creative Renewal in Encinitas. It was called “Art Meditations in Nature”. I needed some creative inspiration and this sounded perfect!!
The morning was spent on the beach with guest artist Andres Amador and his massive sand work with Sacred Geometry. Anything with the word “geometry” in it would usually send me running scared. But Andres was creating Mandalas in the sand, and lines, shapes, repeating patterns, and radial symmetry I can do.
After some practice with the tools, the 10 members of the group worked collaboratively on a gigantic sand mandala. It was a beautiful experience. The sound of the waves, sand between your toes, sun overhead, creating impermanent art, only to watch it wash away with the tides.
We left the beach to return to the Creative Renewal Center. The grounds are covered in blooming plants and pathways to hidden areas of quiet. Ellen, the owner and art therapist, has spent 40 years bringing this dream to life. Halfway down the property is the art studio, in which the back sliding doors open completely to a gorgeous vista of the canyon. Below the studio is a healing labyrinth. Here we were able to design and paint our own mandalas.
What a day, what an experience. It was the inspiration I was looking for. 
