Together Through Art Journaling brought together a diverse group of creative people on Zoom to learn art journaling techniques from skilled facilitators. Our participants are not art experts, just people who need a creative outlet where they can learn new things in a friendly and supportive virtual environment.
We try to keep our art supplies to items people can easily access from their homes, using common household things and upcycled materials, such as cereal boxes and junk mail to make art journals. We even experimented with old lipstick as a substitute for printing ink!
After we learned that we had received a RNSG, I sent out an email to my mailing list to ask what our participants would like to learn in the coming sessions. Subsequently, my cohost and I created a loose plan for the workshops, following that up with consultation with the other facilitators. We discussed the best way of teaching the projects on line, what materials would be needed and making handouts that would help participants both before and after the workshops. One of our facilitators makes the most amazing handouts and would kindly do that for each workshop. One challenge was in balancing what our participants wanted to learn and could learn in two hours, and also keeping materials affordable and accessible. We are committed to having sustainable art supplies as much as possible to make our classes accessible for those with mobility issues and budget concerns.
We had 3 sessions over Zoom, facilitated by 3 different artist-teachers. In our first session we learned how to do lift drawings, which are a type of monoprint. In session two we made photo transfers, using packing tape, and in session three, we made a folder to contain various types of small journals. Some of these journals we made that night, and some we hope to make in the future.
Our participants have expressed gratitude for the comradeship and relief from the sense of isolation that many of us are feeling through this pandemic. Many of our participants are older and especially careful in their social interactions. Our Zoom workshops are a way of feeling engaged socially and creatively, while remaining safe.
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