The Right of Writing - Give Me back my Mo-Jo

Hello :-) - it's 2020 - very hard to believe. Classes are staring in D.V. in February after a hiatus for the exhibition which went down amazingly well...and then I /we all had to do the end of the year...and then the start of new new one.  It's been hard for many people, but the good news is that creativity is very happy when life is making us THINK. This year, I have two methodologies: 1 on 1 - this is a request I have had for a while and will now implement.  These classes will be tailor-made for  individuals on request. I will combine a half hour theory and then 2 hours practice. On 11th February I will begin another ON MAKING BOOKS THERE IS NO END - a   5-6 week course at the MoJo Studio. Please note - all materials are included - including a visual diary and how to use it successfully.  This course is designed for those beginning their creative journey, as well as those who have reached a creative block.  Classes will also be held at Eye4Art in Umhlanga...

Workshops are on-going, but my photographing is not! These are the last photo's taken at a workshop held during the Letters to Spring exhibition.  It was fabulous class - just the right size for a one-off GIVE ME BACK MY MOJO! Things come out - as they are want to... but thats ok - thinking about 'blocks'  is the first step in accessing truly creative thinking.

No time to blog and keep up to date with social media - too busy with classes and the upcoming exhibition at eye4art - very exciting. The classes are feeding me as much as the participants and close bonds are being formed - many of which I feel will linger for years to come. AND I've forgotten to photograph sessions - o my...here is a golden 'oldy'from the last book making class.  This was a Babel collaboration (on-going) between 6 of us in three hours. We then took the chapbooks home to finish. Learning to work collaboratively is a new thing for a lot of artists/writers - especially ON TOP OF!

BUT it has engendered much creativity in its wake. These are two books from the last course - Trish and Merryl - others of us are still busy with homework! Another course started on Tuesday at 2 at Eye4Art - wonderful...but I forgot to take photographs... I will hold another Introductory class from the MoJo Studio on Tuesday 4th June. Classes will be held every two weeks.  Remember, all materials are supplied. Another book making class starts at the end of the month - looking forward to seeing 'Oldies', now well into their third Module. When I expanded the photograph Trish shared, I saw all the family she had made as trunks/pillars in her garden - beautiful.  Merryl has forged ahead, well ahead of me! Her Logogram book, Visual Poetry Book and Asemic Book are all finished and sewn into their pockets onto the large holding accordion spine - fabulous Merryl!  More books to come when everyone finishes their homework!

So, although the blog site and Facebook have been quiet, the MoJoians haven’t!! I just keep forgetting to take photographs…We’ve been hard at it in Studio and at Eye4Art. The Book and Writing Module has covered ancient writing forms, including hieroglyphics, cuneiform, pictograms, logograms etc - and their relevance today. We have made poetry books, symbol books and logogram books. Here are a FEW images  (thanks Michelle and Zelda). Remember - it's all in the process of accessing instinctual creativity. Some absolutely marvellous things have emerged.

We were full at the MoJo Studio yesterday. It was an exciting day. The task (aside from 'the dream boat' which remained untouched), was to create a round-robin chapbook. Each participant started with their own chapbook and drew for 15 minutes. The book was then handed on and the second person worked on it (repeat). There was tea and orange cake in-between as it takes a great deal of concentration to accomplish such a pressurised task.  EVERYONE was up for the challenge and this is the first book which is finished.  I LOVE it!!! Homework, under the title "The Portrait and the Seed", which is the content covered thus far is to find words to enhance the drawings.

Van Gogh and the field of crows shone through the Wednesday afternoon, soft light. Rain trembled in the clouds and we had much to discuss. On this and that, the natter the scatter A safe place a corner a piece of the world Perhaps you should go on living - as you've always done.

One on one sessions are always more complex and intimate than a more informal, large class arrangement. There are things to be said for both. Individual sessions, by their very nature employ a more narrative/art therapy approach as one paints and unpacks things/thoughts which are perhaps constantly on ones mind (with or without knowing it), but which are never addressed in words - or colour - or anything: or if they are, in a way which is without cohesion. With the Right of Writing approach, identifying - and yielding to the liminal space, allows it to become less anxious as we acknowledge its shadow presence with us - all the time.   As one is able to freely verbalise and visualise through words, poetry and art, thoughts which are trapped behind doors we just have not had the EXACTLY RIGHT opportunity to understand in this way, and tentatively they can find their way towards the sun. Whats more, the participant is NEVER alone. We are joined by our humanity: I am with yo...

Eye4Art at the Sunningdale Shopping centre was the venue for a new class on book binding. Give Me Back My MoJo was certainly in full swing and MoJo's were flying  😃  SUCH a great space! Those of you who have not gone there for a cappuccino and a squizz REALLY should!  We finished the accordion book - the front was the city and the back is a landscape - there were 9 beautiful paintings, all made in approximately 10 minutes! They were so exciting I forgot to take photo's... Michelle and Zelda were their usual gracious selves and their gallery has become a haven for many people interested in delving deeper than the surface of a canvas. Both are excellent teachers in their own right, interested in pushing workshop goers as far as they can. I'm in good company! 

Using my own 'new' way to think, I solved the problem of journaling in a 'different' way. We all have journals, perhaps quite a few - most of which are not full - right? I'm not giving it away...but what a wonderful solution - a good conclusion to 'practice what you teach'! Two classes in quick succession so I have just combined the photographs, but one participant at the MoJo studio had not painted before - amazing results for the book spine... we were BOTH very excited! We tackled book making, discussed chapbooks and zines and started paper altering techniques. Of COURSE I had way too much material to present, but never mind - we have 6 weeks to do this, so time to get cracking!  Well done everyone - what a mess, but what a joy... Michelle and Zelda - thank you once again for your hospitality. Prior to starting and before we were FULL at eye4art. If you have not visited this gallery - do yourself a favour and go.  Michelle will also be...

The Medici effect  refers to a phenomenon that occurs when creative, talented, and productive people from different fields come together and are able to collaborate to create something innovative and new. Frans Johansson coined the phrase in a book by the same name. During this course, we move from a  discussion  of a simple diagram to layer the art work done during the previous class. I use this idea for course participants to use their own strengths and abilities from different areas/ disciplines  in their lives to form innovative intersections which will help them achieve their goals. The diagrammatic artwork obviously becomes more complex, the more the ideas are unpacked. Risk areas are discussed, as is overstepping in certain strengths. Such 'overstepping' means the intersection is passed and the innovation is lost as the strength is not reigned in.  It’s a methodology which can work when tackling ANY goal, no matter how small...

Dates for MoJo Classes in February/March    D.V. Classes unless otherwise specified are in the Sunningdale area, along Umhlange Rocks Drive. In Brief, first classes are the following dates: 23 rd   Feb (Princes Grant, Stanger) - Introduction and Reflective Self Portrait/5 th March (MoJo Studio) - Introduction and reflective Self Portrait/9 th March (MoJo Studio) - The Right of Writing - Writing as Art/11 th March (Eye4Art) - Book making, journaling, paper treatments, poetic language. 23 rd February           -    Introductory Class - Princes Grant, Stanger                                     (Reflective Self Portrait) - no art experience necessary!              ...

Saturday was simply wonderful. I think one underestimates the power of time spent just unpacking the humdrum of our life and investing it with creative meaning. It's a powerful thing to be able to express in color and unformed word - but word none the less - the power of our hidden resources. We all have artistic abilities that remain hidden because life/time or circumstance just cannot allow us to access them. Saturday was the last class of the first MoJo Module. We summarized, drew the major lessons from the module on  Accessing Creativity,  finished the paintings,  drew the workbooks together and completed an artists book, titled  The Self Portrait and the Seed.   We cannot (me included!) wait to begin the next Module, scheduled for 9 March D.V. at the MoJo Studio. 

Its Thursday morning - a whole WEEK later! I have a lot of tidying up to do in the Studio before participants arrive...It's supposed to be my CLEAN teaching studio as opposed to the painting studio, but its such a creative space that work SNEAKS in and demands attention!!! I have 9 exciting projects on the go, so I'm taking over every available surface I can... Wednesday last  week - MUCH better!!!!!