The following listings are a kind of menu of ideas and images to spark your interest and curiosity. When leading a workshop I weave in a mixture of modalities that include meditation, movement, prayer, chant and art making. The art is always an accessible project so that those with art fears can be calmed – those with an art background will be enlivened! I am a certified SoulCollage® facilitator and trained Spiritual Guide through the Shalem Institute for Contemplative Studies.
Workshop Group Fee: Once we design a workshop together the price for your group will include the following: instructional time and prep, materials + travel expense reimbursement. Some groups request a flat fee, some a per person price – either option can be discussed. All retreats are appropriate for adult groups some can be modified for teens and family groups. I would love to design a retreat that suits of your group. I am happy to come to you. Please Contact me to book a workshop.
SoulCollage®
– 1/2 day to 2 day retreat or monthly gathering: Create a set of personal collage cards. Using inspiration, intuition and imagination you will make 5”x8” cards from magazine images. Then in a conversational process of journaling and small group sharing you will unearth internal truth and divine wisdom that shine out from the card you created.Each sessions begins with quiet meditation and centering poem, then Lisa will guide you through the process of making a collage card. There will be time to journal and reflect on the meaning and message within the imagery and optional sharing at closing. All are welcome, this is an inter-spirtual, interfaith experience and no art experience needed. Small group and individual sessions available.
Prayer patches
1/2 day retreat : How this workshop unfolds depends or your groups goals and desires. It can be a contemplative experience of prayer in community, it can be a chatty stitch circle of gratitude and gathering or it can be a healing prayer time for reflection and remembering. No matter the energy your group needs the process is them same: write prayers, names or thanksgivings on a scraps of paper, fold them and pass to a neighbor to stitch into a 3×3 inch prayer patch. You will stitch your neighbors prayers they will stitch yours. At the end of the gathering the patches will be stitched together into strands to hang or if larger or ongoing group the patches can be stitched into a quilt of prayer and thanks. All are welcome, no stitch experience required.
Odes & Icons
1/2 day retreat: The urge to honor and remember is long and strong in the human spiritual story. From the ancient traditions of Hindu home shrines to Eastern Orthodox icons to Dia de los Muertos altars of Mexico, people through time and place and religion have created structures and images to remember and honor those we love and revere. To create a piece of art dedicated to a person or idea is to take the time to absorb, observe and remember – to put that person or concept foremost in our hearts and minds. Join me, Lisa Thorpe, in a day of art and meditation. You can choose a saint to honor from images I provide or bring a photo of a loved one you want to celebrate. Each person will make an “Icon” on a wooden plaque using decorative papers, copper and tin
Seeking Sacred Stories
three women lost and found in the Old Testament – 1/2 day retreat: Join artist and theological seeker, Lisa Thorpe, in exploring the redacted and reduced voices of women from the Old Testament. We will re-discover Shekinah who guides the Israelites out of Egypt and beyond. We will re-imagine Na’amah of the Ark (Noah’s unnamed wife). And finally, we will re-define Eve in the garden. Come and enjoy a creative morning of discussion and discovery, meditation and movement, community and connection.
Visio Poetica & the Everyday Collect
1/2 day retreat or ongoing series : “Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time.” -Thomas Merton. Using everyday encounters as inspiration we will write prayers in the accessible Collect form. We will begin by learning the simple Collect structure and use photos of everyday encounters with Divine Creation as the inspiration for the writing form. The Collect form gives a structure in which the writing of prayers, of gratitude, wonder and mystery can flow with ease. Join me, Lisa Thorpe, artist and educator. This can be designed as a one day taste or an ongoing series in-person or online.
Earth Prayers
1/2 day retreat: This retreat brings in the love of nature through poetry, walking meditation and prayer flag making. The flags are made using a wonderfully accessible print making technique that is at once magical and awe-inspiring while being amazingly easy. This workshop is wonderful way to make a collective art piece for a whole community and have something for everyone to take home. The day can be designed for adult or mixed aged groups to honor the wonder of the earth, our island home.
Mary’s Call
One day retreat: This one day retreat rediscovers Mary’s call, her courage, and her choice. We explore this through reading the scriptural text and looking at images of the annunciation and visitation through the lens of art through the ages. The retreat culminates in the creation of this glass bowl collage with Mary at the center and the words from the Magnificat, a poem, or personal reflection woven through. Every leaves with a collage bowl as a reminder of our own capacity to be filled and bear love into the world. No art experience needed.
Delightenment workbook
Week long or ongoing monthly series : “This workshop is designed for all who want to begin or renew a sketchbook practice. The daily routine can become beautiful fodder for art making if we take the time to observe then begin a practice of teasing out the answer to what are you finding delight in and why. This practice then becomes a tool to observe what sparks interest, what makes your synapses tingle, and how that can be translated into the elements and principles of design for art making. Each session focuses on different mixed media techniques including: gel plate printing, stamp carving, painting and collage techniques.
heart Journaling
Multi-day or ongoing monthly sessions available: This is a well-being-focused workshop series. Each session will consider life’s inflection points through sharing, writing and art exploration. We will begin each session with 15 minutes of art play to loosen up then explore a poem or quote to focus on the theme of the session. After a demonstration of art response ideas and techniques, there will be quiet space for personal reflections and a creative art response. The guided art response gives lots of space for individual creativity and originality to suit each participant’s style, background, and experience. The art responses are designed for all skill levels and are intended as an entry to an ongoing art journaling journey. Once a month in-person of virtual workshop for individuals or small groups.
Collage Cards
1/2 day retreat: Lenten Intention cards, Advent Affirmation cards, or everyday Random Acts of Love cards. This mixed modality retreat can be designed for any season or theme. The Lenten Reflection Retreat I’ve designed includes mediation and movement, group discussion, and the creation of 40 Lenten Intention cards to use through out the season of Lent. Likewise in the Advent Affirmation Retreat, participants create 25 Advent cards with affirmations, poems and verse to draw each day of the season. And of course every season is the season of love! Random Acts of Love cards are collage cards created with a message of Love meant to be cast out like seeds randomly in the world to let everyone who finds it know they are loved. All of these retreats are designed with the needs and interest of the group in mind and can be devised with adults or mixed age groups in mind.
Spirit Guides & Guardian Angels
2-day workshop minimum -We all need a little extra help sometimes, someone in our corner to boost our confidence, our spirit or even our defiance! So why not make your own Angel Imaginary saint? or Spirit Guide? Whatever kind of guide you need you can express yourself through this two-day mixed media workshop. Your Angel can be serious or silly, meditative or magical it’s up to you! I provide a mix faces, both animal and human to choose from so you don’t need to worry about your drawing skills at all. This collage technique is at once flexible, forgiving and fun. This workshop is great for beginners who want to explore mixed media art and practiced artist who want to express themselves in a new way. Everyone will go home with a unique collage on an 11×14 canvas panel.
Women of Wisdom
1 day workshop: Make your own custom Woman of Wisdom to whisper encouragement in your ear. Perhaps you need serenity… then create her, or maybe strength? Then make her. Whatever inspiration you need you can express yourself in this mixed media collage workshop. I will provide photos of female faces of different ages and ethnicity to choose from as well as hands and a basic torso body patterns so you don’t need to worry about your drawing skills at all. I will demonstrate how to design your Woman of Wisdom using the face and hands images provided which you will tint using acrylic paint then collage decorative papers to create the torso and background, the hair is made with twisted tissue paper or painted thread. This collage technique is at once flexible, forgiving and fun. Everyone will go home with an image created on an 5×7” canvas panel