2009

Click here to read what people have said about their experiences at the Center.

January 24, 2009

Passages: Exploring Life's Transitions

Times of transition can bring instability to our lives. Changes also challenge us to explore new ways to move forward. This workshop provides a variety of art experiences designed to help us reflect on the patterns of our life passages. We playfully end the workshop by creating "survival kits" to help us along the journey. It has become our tradition to begin the year with this workshop to "jump start" the season. NO artistic skill is necessary, only the willingness to play.

Feb 14, 2009

Create Your Own Heart: Hearts of Stone Workshop


Come learn the contemporary fresco process on natural stone as we celebrate the beauty in our own hearts.  Using broken mosaic we will be adding paint to decorate, celebrate and discover the intrinsic beauty in the cracks, crevices and the multi faceted surfaces of the stone and the heart.  "Broken hearts may be mended, nailed, screwed or left slightly readjusted.  Sometimes it's in the breaking that one finds the necessary pieces to put their heart together", says d.goth.

(materials fee $10)

March 14, 2009

Dreams : Awakening Our Creativity

Through guided imagery, paint and clay we will enter our dream landscapes, confront dream adversaries, and find creativity in both our waking and sleeping lives.

April 25, 2009

Spirit Sticks

Connection and loss are both essential elements in our lives. While painting with vibrant dyes on yards of pure white silk, stretched on a circle of bamboo poles, we celebrate our connections with others and with the beauty of nature. As we create "spirit sticks " with the silk and bamboo, we also acknowledge the grief of loss, death and separation and the power of the spirit to move us forward. (Please note, a $10. materials fee will be added to the cost of this workshop.)

May 9, 2009

Mothers & Daughters & Sisters: Creating Affirmation Dolls

What relationship is more complex than that of mother and daughter? The process of creating affirmation dolls is handed down from African American slave mothers, who practiced this tradition with their daughters as a way to preserve a sense of dignity, hope and survival of spirit. This will be a day dedicated to our mothers, daughters and sisters and will be enriched if you can come with either one from your own family or someone who has been like a "mother", "daughter" or "sister" to you. Through the use of yarn and cloth you will learn to create dolls which preserve the strength and dignity of life, countering the critical voices from the past that have held us back from embracing our full creativity and self confidence.

May 16, 2009

Color Pencil Drawing in the Garden

Come discover how drawing can help us more fully experience the world of nature. During this day in the garden we will practice an approach to the drawing process that will enhance our ability to see. Both the novice and the experienced artist will discover the pleasure and the meditative calm that comes from slow, responsive observation.

$15.00 materials fee or you can bring your own unlined journal and colored pencils.

Southern California Art Therapy Association Conference

Growing your Practice

June 27, 2009 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM 8.5 CEUs provided

Whether you are currently in private practice or dream of having a practice one day, you will learn the tricks of the trade in building your art therapy private practice and developing a creative marketing strategy. You will hear a panel of expert art therapists share how they created their specialties. At the end of the day, you will participate in an art experiential to envision the growth of your own private practice from seedlings to a thriving garden.

For details and registration, visit http://socalataworkshop.blogspot.com/

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Women and Anger

This ever-popular workshop empowers us as women to explore the full range of our emotions, from joy to grief, from delight to anger. Have you been socialized to be sweet, gentle and quiet, while a part of you would like to scream? How easy is it for you to say "NO"? Here's a chance for you to assert your power. Come try out the exhilaration of claiming your full voice in this fun-filled workshop. For women only, sorry guys!

Saturday, July 25, 2009
*NEW*
Soul Collage with Jill Fitzgerald

SoulCollage is the process of creating a deck of collaged cards from both found (magazines) and personal images (photos) for the primary purpose of self-exploration and self-acceptance. Suits include dimensions of your life such as: inner personalities, archetypal influences, community and more, working in a 5x7" format, with a playful use of imagery.

All materials are provided but you can bring a couple of photographs or images you want to include. No previous art skill necessary.

Saturday, September 26

Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style

Be inspired to record your life, your trip, or your daily adventures in an illustrated journal as you spend a meditative day drawing and sketching in the healing gardens. Jane will guide you through basic drawing, inking and watercolor painting. You’ll choose simple objects, vignettes or vistas to draw and paint, and then journal your thoughts right onto the drawings.  See Jane’s journal here. At the end of the day you will create a small portfolio to hold your artwork. The class is geared for beginners, but all levels are welcome. Fifteen dollar materials fee includes everything you’ll need: watercolor paper, ink pen, pencil and watercolor set with special Niji Waterbrush.  

($15 materials fee)

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Drawing Meditation in the Garden
with Irina Gronborg

Come discover how drawing can help us more fully experience the world of nature. During this day in the garden we will practice an approach to the drawing process that will enhance our ability to see. Both the novice and the experienced artist will discover the pleasure and the meditative calm that comes from slow, responsive observation.

$15.00 materials fee or you can bring your own unlined journal and colored pencils.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style
with Jane LaFazio

Be inspired to record your life, your trip, or your daily adventures in an illustrated journal as you spend a meditative day drawing and sketching in the healing gardens. Jane will guide you through basic drawing, inking and watercolor painting. You’ll choose simple objects, vignettes or vistas to draw and paint, and then journal your thoughts right onto the drawings.  See Jane’s journal here. At the end of the day you will create a small portfolio to hold your artwork. The class is geared for beginners, but all levels are welcome. Fifteen dollar materials fee includes everything you’ll need: watercolor paper, ink pen, pencil and watercolor set with special Niji Waterbrush.  

($15 materials fee)

All participants are required to preregister. A $25.00, nonrefundable deposit is required for each workshop you plan to attend. Deposits are due prior to the workshop. Download a 2008 workshop information, schedule and registration form click the button below.

Workshop Leaders :

Irina Gronborg is an artist and illustrator, recognized for her botanical drawings in color pencil, artists books, and her Solana Beach home garden. With degrees in studio art from Stanford University and many years teaching drawing in community college, Irina currently teaches at the Athenaeum School of Art. She keeps a daily sketchbook. Irina taught me to draw and continues to be my mentor.

Jill Fitzgerald is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Art Therapist, specializing in issues of grief and loss. Jill is also an artist who continues to engage in her own creative process.

Jane LaFazio is a mixed media artist working in paper and cloth. She 's worked in watercolor since 1992, and her work can be seen on www.PlainJaneStudio.com and her blog JaneVille.blogspot.com

Lauren Lee is a silk artist, jeweler and poet. She has been the artist in residence at the Center for the past five years, bringing beauty, creativity and a great sense of humor to our workshops.

Ellen Speert, director of the California Center for Creative Renewal, is a Board Certified and Registered Art Therapist as well as a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist. She is a founding member and past president of the San Diego Art Therapy Association. Ellen leads workshops for groups, organizations and spiritual communities. For more information on Ellen click here

d.goth is a professional artist and published poet, has developed programs, taught art and poetry and is the founder of Hearts of Stone and d.goth contemporary frescoes. Her work has received numerous awards and is in many collections.