Your Writer's Writer

People often ask what Orcas Island is like in fall and winter, and we have a hard time describing how some days everything is tinged a foggy blue, like waking to a muted, indigo dream, or how the late afternoon light reflected off the water illuminates everything with a doubly golden glow. But now we don't have to explain. We can tell them to watch the movie "Your Sister's Sister." Filmed on Orcas Island in the fall and winter, it shows how along the shorelines the ambience of majestic trees are silhouetted  by two sources of light: the low-slung sun, and dappled light off the water that shimmer along the undersides of branches. Unless it rains. Then the grasses brighten and dense mosses come to life. The trails are quiet. One is tempted to wrap up in a cozy blanket with a hot mug of goodness and remember what it means to relax so deeply your thoughts run just as deep. The kind of contemplation writers and artists in residence often seek.

Why, you might wonder, are we thinking of fall and winter during these glorious days of summer? Because the application period for the 2015 Artsmith Artist Residency, January 4-11, as well as Writer Island with the incomparable Peggy Shumaker, October 24-26, 2014, are both open. Plus, Doug and Anne Johnson as well as Peggy have both offered scholarships for Writer Island, so the application period is open for that, too! Join us for an escape to our island of creative rejuvenation.