Seldovia Arts Council

Instructors Susan Mumma and Savannah Lewis will be sharing some of what they learned in a previous Seldovia Arts Council book-making workshop and encouraging the class to use book-embellishment techniques to enrich a journal of their choice.

The workshop will consist of one evening and one full day, beginning Friday evening at 7 pm and resuming on Saturday at 10 am.

That first evening will be introductory. We’ll look at some of the things that can be called books in a show-and-tell from that previous workshop as well as having a number of books on hand to demonstrate yet more techniques and provide inspiration. There will also be a writing exercise to get us started thinking about a journal entry, even for those who don’t plan on focusing their journals on written content.

Saturday will be devoted to creating a journal, either from scratch or by adding to a purchased volume, and then completing a journal entry of some kind. Materials will be brought in by participants, with a few special tools shared among the group.

While this workshop will offer a lot of inspirations and potentials, it’s up to each participant to choose a direction of their own. Journals come in many types and many forms, so each participant will want something a little different. This doesn’t have to be a serious and weighty document; we endorse frivolity and joy. Create a diary, a travel record, a book of daily sketches, poetry, multimedia works, photography, embellishment, textiles, a collection of doodles made while listening on the phone, a pet journal, a dream record, a serial journal to be contributed to in turn with another person, a food or tv or movie or book log and review journal, a collection of life goals, a personal cookbook of recipes, a pet-peeve rant collection or voodoo doll sketch pool, a project notebook, an enhanced address book with whole pages about your contacts, a spiritual quest, a special holiday–there are lots of things we can collect and savor in a journal.

We’ll be posting a suggested materials and links list shortly, so check back to this entry for a class handout download. Update: Here’s your workshop handout, available for download in pdf format.

The workshop fee will be $15 and both sessions will be held in the Multipurpose Room. Participants are also encouraged to bring a snack to share on Saturday; coffee and tea will be provided.

Questions? Email journaling@seldoviaartscouncil.org.