Portland Art and Soul Workshops

Online ordering for the Portland retreat is now closed.  If you are interested in taking/adding a class, please visit us at the Embassy Suites Portland Airport to inquire about availability. The Art & Soul office hours are 8am-6:30pm Wed-Mon.  Thank you!

Juliana Coles 9-4:30 Sunday	944 - Private Investigations: Altered Book as Visual Journal	[back to quicklinks] $ 130
**Important:  For class locations, please refer to the 'Activities & Information' page.
A murder has been committed: there has been a loss of soul. Not for the Faint of Heart What should happen if our journals fell into unscrupulous hands?  I know, let's disguise it.  We"ll change the names and the events to protect the not-so-innocent by "altering” our story into a detective novel.  It will be a Visual Journal disguised as a whodunit.  This class will involve clues, dossiers,  and intrigue through journal writing exercises utilizing third person accounts such as eye witnesses at the scene of the crime.  We’ll alter cool old crime/mystery novels  and  whodunits with characters like Inspector Poirot.  We’ll revisit Death on the Nile, or even comedy like “Murder by death” or “Clue“.  Bring ephemeral  evidence or Tony Hillerman desert images   Think The Thin Man, Myrna Loy, Charlie Chan, Inspector Holmes, or Nancy Drew  as we attempt to solve  this caper and act  as our own witness.  We’ll create headlines and exciting pages.  We’ll come up with our specific investigation  in class through various journaling exercises designed to probe the interior.  Be prepared to do some inner detective work and self sleuthing. Consider  old movie posters,  the Orient Express, North by Northwest. This is no open and shut case, so you will not leave class with a finished product, but rather begin the process of an exciting new Visual  Journal format that puts a twist on combining journal writing with art making by describing it in third person in an altered book. As Chief Inspector, I’ll guide you every step of the way.  (Official Warning:  This workshop can be emotionally intense and psychologically challenging for some.  Please read the description carefully.  These courses are life altering and not recommended for those not interested in doing deep inner work.)   Supply List:  Mixed Media Tool Kit--your favorite supplies or your traveling mixed media tool kit.  You will definitely need the following:  your favorite glue - I love big UHU gluesticks, scissors, some brushes for your paints, a rag or two, and a jar for water.  All Visual Journalists should have a set of rubber stamp letters and numbers.   And I highly recommend Staz On stamp pads because we work so quickly.   You will need acrylic paint- any brand, any color in at least two colors, one light one & one dark.  You will need at least two brush markers in different colors- black would be good.   A graphite pencil- regular old number two is fine, but if you can get to an art store get an ebony pencil, or a 6B, or a graphite stick (not charcoal)- just make sure that you have some wet items and some dry items. You will also need:  Bring a book to alter.  (I have some great old books with wonderful covers like “The Winding Staircase” but it could be any kind of book in any size that is interesting to you. Imagine where your mystery will take place- it could be India, a small New England town, the Old West),  your favorite glue, scissors, some brushes for your paints, a rag or two, and a jar for water.  Bring plenty of collage material from your favorite era:  luggage tags, book pages, maps, and other evidence, film noir scenes from magazines, found photos or some copies of photos of yourself.  Please email Chief Inspector Juliana Coles if you have any concerns:  meandpete@msn.com  or www.meandpete.com CLOSED - CLASS FULL

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