For
the last several months, since Beyond Barbie ended, I've been unclear
about what my next step should/could be (as I've written about here several times already). I haven't felt like creating
large paintings, or, for that matter, any paintings at all. It was a
bit scary to go from a time period of such extreme creativity to this
dearth of ideas. Out of this time of "not knowing", I felt led to
create a journal/sketchbook which I have been using almost daily. I go
into the studio where I have pulled out almost all of the art supplies I
own (yes, what a mess!) and let the muse take me. My mantra is "I
wonder what would happen if..." then I allow myself to find out.
Sometimes I write inspirational quotes in calligraphy. Sometimes I
play with paint. Sometimes I doodle with patterns. Sometimes I paint
flowers. Every day it's something different, but it's always
interesting to me, and, almost magically, it is lifting the fog I'd
found myself in. I'm finding it to be an incredible tool for self
exploration.
Because
it's been so powerful for me, I feel led to offer it to others. The
format I've come up with is a bit unorthodox - first we'll meet over a
weekend, Oct 6th and 7th, to create the journals themselves - yes! We
will prepare the paper, make the cover, and bind the books ourselves!
Then we'll meet Monday evenings for six weeks to fill the journals.
The class will be skill-based in that you'll learn to make a book, and
you may learn some skills in exploring different media, but it'll also
be about personal exploration and opening to your creativity. This
course will take you wherever you choose to go!
 |
| Three of the handmade journals I've created as part of this process. |
Below
I've pasted the blurb from my website so you can get the whole story.
Please contact me if you are interested, have questions, or would like
to sign up. I sense the class will fill quickly, so follow your urge,
and sign up soon!
Happy creating!
Susan
Make a Visual Journal to Your Soul
Because
our analytical brains (words and thoughts) sometimes get in the way of
accessing insights, it can be helpful to take a visual approach to
journaling to allow our more intuitive selves to emerge and teach us.
In
this class, we’ll spend a weekend creating a unique, personal 64-page
bound journal, then we’ll spend the next six Monday evenings filling
them with musings, experiments, drawings, paintings, collages,
brainstorms, and whatever else we decide would be
fun/enticing/creative/helpful/juicy and/or delicious to explore. No art
experience is needed whatsoever. This is about play, experimentation,
and exploration, a journey to your soul…
Dates: Saturday, October 6, 10 AM – 4 PM
Sunday, October 7, 1 PM – 5 PM
Monday evenings, October 8 – November 12, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Location: Susan Singer’s studio off Huguenot Rd. near Stony Point.
Cost: $250 plus materials fee of $25
Enrollment limited to six, so please sign up early to reserve your spot. (As for 8/24, there are already four people signed up.)
I'm floating an idea to see if it resonates with folks - because my Visual Journaling class filled so quickly, I am thinking about offering another, daytime, one if there are enough folks interested in taking it. It would meet Tuesday mornings 10 - 12:30 for six weeks in my studio on Southside Richmond. We'd spend the first 2-3 weeks making the journal itself, then the rest of the time filling it by playing/doing exercises/experimenting, etc. If you think you might be interested, get in touch with me. We'd start next week and go through 10/23! (I can only take 6 folks due to the size of my studio, so register right away if you're interested.) There's more info about the class itself on my website.
