An inspired reunion
/When I reflected on having done a year of workshops for individuals, I had an urge to invite people back for a reunion. I was eager to reconnect with workshop participants, and to have people who attended different workshops meet one another.
It was an inspired idea! The group that gathered at the reunion included people from five of the workshops. Everyone connected easily and spirits were high. The pot-luck dinner was special, as everyone contributed a dish made with love. As if by magic, the meal was perfectly balanced and every taste complemented the others. It was as if a master menu-planner had created the meal.
As we ate we each shared something we created, something that has inspired us, or both. The range of offerings was fascinating. One person brought a magnificent glass bowl she recently made (a new technique for that person, and one she’d dreamed up and sketched shortly after taking the workshop). One person came with gardening gloves of various sizes — hers, her kids’ and her husband’s. Following the workshop she attended last summer, she discovered that being in fresh air and tending a garden was the creative outlet she craved. And, for the first time, her family happily centered some of their weekend activities around her passion. One person brought back her sketchbook from the workshop. It was nearly filled with vivid drawings and poems she’s been creating. Someone else brought a dramatic drawing, also done in her sketchbook, that she made on a vacation soon after her workshop experience. She said that drawing held more vivid memories for her than all of the photos from her trip.
After eating and enjoying all of the creative sharing, we moved on to start creating anew as a group. I had been inspired by two visits I recently made to the ICA, to see the work of Nick Cave. He uses "mundane" materials like buttons, pipe cleaners, yarn, beads, and more to create his sound suits and fabulous “paintings”. With that in mind, I hit art supply and craft stores, as well rifling through my own cabinets and drawers, to source a host of fun materials. With Edith Piaf as our sound track and glue guns in hand, we dove in and started playing and forming the materials into fantastic creations.
As the evening came to a close, someone suggested that the reunion had been more fun than a book club meeting and that we should continue to meet and create together. Plans are underway already for our next creative adventure!
Nick Cave sound suits at the ICA Boston; creations made at the reunion from similar materials.
