Two half-day workshops in the  Art for soothing & strengthening program will explore  Grief and Loss. Dates are Tuesday, 27 November, and Monday 3 December.  Workshops will be run in my studio in Highett.  You are welcome to come to one or both.

These workshops are for those who have experienced life-changing loss, and are mourning. You may be grieving the death of a loved one and would like to explore your feelings through art.   Participants may want to create a piece that focusses on your loss, however, you might like to create a piece that celebrates the things you remember, miss or enjoyed about your loved one.  Mourning them can take a long time.  You might feel a bit stuck in your loss and grief and would like to explore these in clay.

Death is one form of loss, yet we also experience many others throughout our life.  Endings, illness and change are some of these.  It is hard to name and hard to express these complex feelings and what do we do with them? Art making is a gentle and effective way to sit with and express them.

Participants in similar groups tell me that they appreciate being with others who share similar experiences.  They love that the focus is on creativity and art, and that don’t have to talk about what has brought them to the group, yet they know the others will understand them and their pain.

We will be working with clay for these workshops.   This wonderful material is  easy to mould and responds so beautifully to the touch of the maker’s hand.  There is something about it being earth that seems to make it particularly soothing.  I recall a participant who said that her feelings seemed to come out of her fingers and into the clay without her having to really think about them.   It just happened, she said, and the piece she made “was perfect”.

If you feel stuck in your feelings of grief and loss, I invite you to consider exploring them in this gentle and supported workshop.

Information is here : 2018 Art for soothing & strengthening. Nov Dec

Bookings are here TRYBOOKINGS.

The artwork on this flyer was created by Marion in a community art group I run for women who have been abused. The artwork will be installed at the Monash Medical Centre as part of a Mourning Wall we are creating with survivors.

I am planning a program of creative arts workshops  for 2019 to support people with trauma, grief and loss.  Please register your interest, and I will keep let you know of upcoming workshops.