Rare
Workshop Fusion
In 2005, artist Judy Willoughby attended a day workshop I
was teaching on fairy tales. Afterwards, she approached me with the
idea of joining forces to put on a collaborative workshop experience
in which we take on the same subject matter but from our different
areas of expertise. I had admired Judy's work for some time and this
seemed a unique opportunity to explore new ground as a facilitator
with a partner whose approach towards the creative process, though
using a different medium, felt in sympathy with mine. The experience
felt rare and exciting and we've worked together ever since, aiming
to stage a workshop each season.
Who
is it for?
This unique multi-disciplinary workshop is for writers and
artists of all levels of experience. Each activity is designed with
beginners in mind, to support them in taking steps into new creative
territory but established practitioners often find the exercises,
as well as the solidarity, useful in refreshing the system.
Workshop
Themes
Each two-day experience is characterised by its own theme, something
that both lends itself to the written and the visual arts, that has
the potential to be interesting from the point of view of aesthetics
as well as content, and something that offers the individual scope
to explore their inner-life and produce a series of works that make
manifest this inner-life. Past workshops include dreams, fairytales,
secret gardens, self-portraiture and objects of desire.
Workshop
Structure
Day one tends to be 'Writing Day' in which the workshop theme
is initially presented and discussed. Participants are then invited
to engage in simple guided writing activities that facilitate the
creation of personal narratives,
in either poetry or prose, which explores the given subject matter.
Day two,
usually 'Painting Day', invites participants to use their written
imagery as
a starting point for visual expression. After a series of warm-up
techniques intended to free up the more wary artist, individuals are
supported in transforming the elements of their textual pieces into
new and visible
forms.
Processes
and Possibilities
Each activity is designed to be simple but processes that are
taking place beneath the surface are evidently rich and complex. Through
making these transitions from one artistic discipline to another,
we come to see our subject anew. Unseen metaphoric and aesthetic properties
of each of our images are revealed, enabling fresh questions to be
asked and suggesting fresh directions for the work to take. This shift
between art forms, or between sensory modalities, or between looking,
reading or listening, seemingly allows for different parts of the
self to be in conversation with one another, particularly the conscious
and the intuitive. So for the writer to experiment with visual art
forms and for the artist to experiment with words and language, doors
to previously untapped sources of creative material can be unlocked,
and new insights into one's subject gained.
Price:
£65 for the two days. £20 deposit secures you a place.
All art materials are included in the price.
Location:
Courses are run in Wiveliscombe / Milverton and Taunton Area
Date:
Please contact Briony for details of the next two-day workshop.
