October's Writers Circle
Save the date: Sunday, October 6th at 3 pm Eastern Time.
Don’t forget to RSVP at the end of this newsletter for our next Writers Circle; details are below.
is hosting Art Therapy!
Sunday, October 6th, is our fourth community Writers Circle, and this month, we have a special edition planned thanks to the support of
and . The plan for me has always been to pull back from facilitating and allow the community to come together to use their own experiences to take the lead. Alex and I have been cooking up this special breakout room to add to the Writers Circle for a while now with the set date for October.After that, things just started to fall into alignment organically.
will lead us into a libation ceremony for our ancestors to bless the circle and I’ll follow up with a guided meditation to ground us for the topic. Be on the lookout for a hot plate of Soul Food served by to feed our minds with new thoughts to explore as prompts for our writing warmup.Writers Circle is our community's space to navigate and explore intentional healing. We can all agree that healing is not linear; it’s a spiral, and at times, we are on an upward spiral. When we are in deep transformation, creativity sometimes is our only escape.
will set the stage for us to explore our own experiences with grief through our creative outlet. will offer a safe space to explore that creativity in the art therapy breakout room during our writing time for those who can’t find the words yet.September has been exhausting, and collectively, we all have felt it. We’ve been writing about it, talking about it, and watching parts of our culture being exposed. And I’m not just talking about hip-hop, we have been openly talking about grieving friendships, grieving old versions of ourselves.
As black women, we are often conditioned to tuck our grief away into the creases of our superhero cape, all the while helping others manage their fears and grief. Travel even deeper down this rotting root and we may encounter the absence of a moment when we were even educated on what grief is and how it feels.
We will briefly discuss the different types of grief, tap into where we are (or where we have been) in the land of grieving, and use our working time to allow that grief to tell its story through our creative outlets.
While this is not a therapy session, nor should it be treated as such this is an intentional time to reach deep into your creative flow and allow whatever emotions arise allowing the topic of grief to have the spotlight.
We’re not only a community of writers as many of us are multi-disciplinary creatives such as painters, photographers, and musicians. We continuously see how writers are inspired by one another, but we can also find inspiration through other art forms. This will also help create a meaningful experience with how we support each other.
There will be a separate breakout room for the art therapy.
You’re probably wondering what supplies you need to have ready. Short answer, whatever you want. However, I’ll share a few basic items you might need.
Art Journals:
I suggest a mixed-media pad if you plan to keep an art journal to play with different mediums. They can handle most mediums. Carefully read the descriptions, most brands will explain which mediums work best. The examples above are good pads to start and you can find them at your local art store or online for less than $25.
For any other journals and mediums, match the pad to what you want to use (ex. sketch pad use pens and pencils, charcoal pad use charcoal, acrylic pad use acrylic paint).
There are plenty of other papers to use so if you want to try something else do your research and ask for help if needed.
Canvases:
Canvases vary in size and material.
You can find small and medium sizes for less than $20 and in a pack such as those with wooden backs, wood panels, cotton, and linen.
You’ll also need a primer (gesso), the type of paint you want to use and varnish.
Collages:
Collages are a lot of fun because you can cut and paste nearly any kind of paper or fabric you want. Grab the canvas of your choice, primer (white or clear gesso), Mod Podge, what you want to collage, a brayer roller (or something else to help smooth out your pieces) and varnish. Think about the other things you want to add to your artwork, perhaps a scraper, stamps, stencils, tape or spray paint.
Don’t forget your paint dish.
If you’re using brushes, match your brush to the paint. Oil paint uses a natural hair and acrylic paint uses a synthetic hair. Don’t worry. When you shop for the brushes, you’ll see the brush sections labeled according to paint.
Not all supplies are created equal so safety first. Please have masks, gloves and proper ventilation when working with certain mediums.
READ THE LABELS!
It’s your art and you decide what you want it to be. I shared a few budget-friendly options but if you want to buy the non-beginner/level 1 quality, get it! You can find many paints and supplies that come in sets. Make sure to do your research when shopping for your supplies. These are suggestions to help you get started. This isn’t art class, however, if you need a little assistance please feel free to ask.
All skill levels and mediums are welcome.
After the sessions, we can share and discuss. This will be a reoccurring session so every month will be different. There is no pressure to finish a project and no pressure to share.
Join Us.
When: Oct 6, 2024 3:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpcu2trD4sHd0SAo0lL12dDytrYIHePgWl
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Conversations on the topic of grief.
The topic wasn’t hard to decide, the community has been discussing it so it felt right to give us a safe space to intentionally explore it.
 | A guest post by
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 | A guest post by
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So looking forward to this!! 🤗🤗
Oooooo i think i can make this one!!!! I appreciate all of you for putting this together at such a perfect time when the Universe is ready to collect our grief and transmute the pain to progress!
I gotta get my art supply game up.