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(Official Warning: This workshop can be emotionally intense and psychologically challenging for some. Please read the following description carefully. These courses are life altering and not recommended for those not interested in doing deep inner work.)
Learn to recognize and develop your own personal mythology through the ancient Greek myths of gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters. Like Theseus, the original bullfighter, we will enter the labyrinth without fear of getting lost, because we will have our visual journals; not just as a tool for self expression, but as a guide to our rich inner world, full of unique signs, symbols, and golden threads. Like Medusa, we will have to look deeply upon our own reflection in horror. Like Demeter, we will weep inconsolably over the loss of our daughter. These stories are rich with metaphor and energy to help us on the heroine’s journey of telling the tale of herself. By combining words with images in the safe container of a book or journal we are able to develop an inner dialogue with these ancient voices whose wisdom can help us guide ourselves with strength and determination, like Odysseus in Homer’s “The Odyssey,“ on the long journey home. This encounter with the potentially deadly Song of the Sirens is not without it’s trials and tribulations, but will be entered into with compassion for the journey. These assignments were developed for my Greece Retreat and are very intense. Please be willing to welcome and excavate this ancient and potentially buried side of yourself who has been hidden for a very, very long time. (No prior experience necessary but a certain level of self awareness will be expected)
Supply List: A Blank Book, journal, sketchbook, or altered book as your visual journal ( or two or three !) and your favorite mixed media supplies/ mixed media tool kit. Bring your favorite gluesticks, ( I like UHU, glue stick because it is fast!) scissors, some brushes for your paints, a rag or two, and a jar for water. For my Greece retreat, one student carved the Greek alphabet! you can also order Greek stencils! I will provide cool Greek Rubber stamps from Echoes Des Voyages for you to share. All Visual Journalist’s should have a set of rubber stamp letters. 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), and a writing pen.
Collage items: 1 magazine to cut up and one poetry book to cut up. Half the fun of creating is the research and collecting of images! You might want to collect Greek images, or patterns, such as the Greek Key or Meander (my personal favorite!). Or you may want to gather images that feel potent to you or seem mythological in nature. Golden wings, daggers, and any symbols that have meaning for you that you can transform in the pages of your visual journal.
Preparations: If you have time, please gesso 2 pages. Experiment w/texture.
Each student will be required to bring a “Mystery Bag.” A plastic grocery bag or smaller will do. Some suggestions are collage items, an old paintbrush that is all glued together, that orange paint you hate, stickers from when you were 14, Artist tools and supplies you no longer use or never liked, torn up pieces of your artwork that didn’t work out (no recognizable artwork, please) books to cut up, magazines, sticks, markers, 2 inch chewed up pencils, you get the picture-sort of a grab bag. What, and how much to bring, is up to you. Don’t worry about trying to include nice things- we’re looking more for garbage items. We all ready have our own nice supplies-we want your cast offs to really make us think!
Please email Juliana Coles with any questions or concerns: meandpete@msn.com
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