Our new gathering of “Writers in the Gallery” will be held on the first Wednesday of each month, featuring different hosts offering new experiential strategies to expand our writing skills.  Participants will share their writing and publishing perspectives in a relaxed and intimate way reminiscent of the artist salons of the late 1800s and early 1900s.  Writers from all persuasions, beginning or advanced, are welcome: Fiction, nonfiction, poetic prose, memoir, poetry, journaling, storytelling, and other writing genres.  

On February 5th, Jennifer Jones (artist, writer, psychotherapist) will guide us through a unique “Active Imagination” technique: Participants will dialogue with the art in the gallery and then transform the conversation into a brief story or poem – a form of archetypal writing.   

On March 5th, award-winning artist, author, and gallery owner Gerald Zwers will take us into the world of ekphrastic writing. We are also planning on having a special author presentation on “How Nature Changes Your Artistic Brain” by author, artist, and neuroscience researcher Mark Waldman. Details coming soon. 

Please let us know if you plan to attend The February 5th event by sending an email to markwaldman3@gmail.com , bring pen and paper, and please feel free to ask any questions you might have!  Hope to see you there! 

Sincerely, 
Mark Waldman and Sean Colletti 
Studio Channel Islands

PS: Here’s a little writing experiment to try:  In the briefest way possible, compose a couple of creative paragraphs or a poem that shines a light on what drives and inspires you to write. Bring it to share at our next meeting, if you’d like, and if you can’t attend, send it to markwaldman3@gmail.com .