#heartdance

Sometimes a Playshop comes together with a delicious constellation of participants, art supplies, meaning, and creation. The HeArt Zine Creative Playshop I co-facilitated with the remarkable Dodi Jackson  was one such moment in time.

You can read about the creative process that lead to magic of this Creative Playshop in this post. 

Invigorated and cocooned by the intentional Heart energy that permeated the whole of The Body Now Retreat, hosted by Turning the Wheel Productions, a circle of woman gathered in a snug room separate from the expansive spaces the rest of the retreat. Everyone dropped into a creative process guided by their intuitive heart with ease. Dodi and I fostered the creative environment with embodying activities and meditations at the beginning of each session.

A Watery Maximalist Composition

Warm Reds and Bronze

Pops of Color

Strips of Texture

Spacious Nuetrals

Bold Colors and Gesso

The first two days of the Creative Play were spent with colorful papers, feathers, Gelli-prints, and fabrics which were used to create some of the most evocative collages I have ever seen. Each one was a unique manifestation of the individual. As always I was caught off guard by the unexpected combinations of color and texture, swirling into existence in ways that I would never imagine myself.

I always make the project along with participants. Not only is it fun to play as well but I have the opportunity to model different ways to work with the materials. 

Once the collages were complete and dry we folded them up. This was a wonderful process to witness. The images completely transformed as they metamorphosed from a flat one dimensional image into an interactive booklet with eight tiny collages. Complete but separate. I adore this process of change. It keeps the process free of attachment, which so deeply mirrors the truth of our Heart space.

The Beginnings of my Heart Message

The final step of the process was to discover a message from your heart to weave through the images of the collage. Dodi is a master found poem creator and brought her genius to this process, gently guiding people into discovery. I had also curated a luscious list of words and quotes, as well as shared the magical collection of love notes from my friend Lizzi. The combinations that appeared in the poems were surprising and profound and unique. I was deeply touched by each message.

Hydration by Khiri Lee @magick_socks

Hydration by Khiri Lee @magick_socks

Hydration by Khiri Lee @magick_socks

HeArt Zine by Lulu Delphine @lululistens

HeArt Zine by Lulu Delphine @lululistens

HeArt Zine by Lulu Delphine @lululistens

Wild Awakening by Marlena

Wild Awakening by Marlena

Wild Awakening by Marlena

The completed HeArt Zines were placed in the space for the closing ritual of the retreat to radiate their deep heart wisdom into the room. The coven of creators also had the opportunity to embody a piece of their poem in front of the whole retreat, moving and speaking and showing off their zine. There is a video of all the zines together on my Instagram. Be sure to check it out and follow me over there.  It’s pretty magical!

I hope to bring this HeArt Zine Playshop to more people and other venues. I was so nourished and satisfied by the process. I now have three HeArt Zines, and going back and reading them I still receive fresh wisdom from my found words each time. If you would like to join me for my next HeArt Zine Playshop be sure to Sign Up for my Newsletter to never miss an offering or Like my Facebook Page to see upcoming events. 

Be well and Blessed Be! 

The theme for this year’s retreat is “Path of the Heart,” which resonates so strongly with me at this time in my life. When i’m in my creative process I am fairly attuned to letting my intuition and joy guide me to paint, to dance, to collage, and/or to create something meaningful that brings me joy. However, in many other areas of my life I let my gut and mind take the reins, which often lands me in situations that not only fail to serve me, but also fail to serve the greater community.

Taking time in the restorative community of summer retreat, with the intention of deepening into listening to my heart path sounds so nourishing I can hardly wait two more weeks!

As part of the retreat I am co-leading a Creative Play Workshop with my friend and mentor Dodi Jackson. Over the course of four days we will be guiding an intimate group of participants in the creation of their very own Mixed Media HeArt Zine. Influenced by my own zine adventures with THRIFTWITCH and 52 Feathers, I felt called to develop a creative play that pushed the form a zine. Zines are an exciting tool for getting your personal message out in the world without have to go through formal channels. So what would a zine look like that had been created with the voice of the heart in the pilot seat?What sort of message would we receive?

The project went through many fun and interesting iterations before landing on what Dodi and I will be sharing at the Body Now Summer Retreat. I had such a wonderful time adapting what I’ve learned from writing and creating my zines into a multi media art project, creating something that someone of any level could participate in. I also always cherish the opportunity to develop, experiment, play, and create with my friend Dodi, who brought her own wisdom to the design process for the playshop.

Experience the joy of your artistic process with the creation of your own, one of a kind, HeArt Zine, which is a small folded booklet filled with collage and words. Through a gently guided process we will unlock secret messages from our heart space to share. Using beautiful papers, found images, Wordpools and a gesso process, we will create a collage which will magically fold into a play space for our words to land. Let’s find out what our hearts have to say! 

Here are a few sneak peeks of the process and final results. Obviously each zine created over the course of the workshop will be a magnificently variation on what I’m presenting here, but I really love the samples I made to get the ball rolling.

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Last minute sign ups for the retreat are still available! Its a truly magical week of play, meditation, art making, community gathering, and personal growth! You can learn EVEN more about the event on the Turning the Wheel Website.

THE BODY NOW SUMMER RETREAT

The “Path of the Heart”

June 23rd- 29th, 2019  On Whidbey Island, WA