April 12th
One of the group was working with collage today and I dug into the bottom of a drawer to find collages that had been made by previous people who were part of the group in 2011. What ensued was a conversation about the difference between a group that is taught and one that is facilitated. In the beginning I used to offer a workshop to people who arrived; activities that included painting, drawing, silk painting, felt making, paper making, collage, printmaking. Nowadays we (everyone in the group) encourage people to find their own way by introducing what is available in terms of materials and demonstrating by example what is possible. We don’t engage in critique as we would were it a taught setting but we offer advice and encouragement when it is requested. We find this allows people to really explore and discover themselves through the act of creativity. We also talk together… a lot… about art and life.