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Please review the workbook (you will receive this by email prior to the workshop).
There are suggestions for ways to individualize your project with thoughts of your lost loved one and experience of grief. It is absolutely ok to not work through these.
It is absolutely ok to not want to create a loss artifact and simply have fun learning the process!
You will be greeted and led to the learning space. You can put on a name tag, but you do not have to.
Your instructor and I (Allison) will introduce ourselves and the class, but we will NOT be introducing ourselves as our grief story. You can read our loss experience in the workbook.
We will NOT be asking you to introduce yourself.
We will NOT be asking you why you are here.
We will NOT be leading with any pledges, questions, or conversation about death and dying.
You are SO welcome here and can just be.
You are brave for coming.
Your artist instructor will conduct the learning part of the workshop exactly the same way they would if they were teaching a general group of students without the commonality of loss.
The learning part of the workshop is called PROCESS.
Your ideas for your project will not be questioned, only supported. You do not need to explain why you are making your choices and how they relate to your lost loved one.
We recognize how strong the urge to talk about your lost loved one can be. We see you and we see how isolating the experience of loss is, how invisible you may be feeling.
But we must gently underline that the PROCESS part of the workshop is not the time for sharing your loss story. We cannot make it a safe learning space unless your instructor can focus on delivering the workshop in the way that they know best.
Some of your fellow grievers are not able to hold another’s loss while trying to learn.
We need to take care of each other.
We can best do that by recognizing our capacity and limitations.
Once everyone has completed their project and we are all cleaned up, we will have a designated sharing period. The sharing period will be facilitated by Allison.
You do not have to participate in the sharing period. Take care of yourself, what you need, what you can bear.
We will have limited time for the sharing space and must respect GBarts closing timelines. The sharing space will have a set format and time allotment for each maker/griever.
Please review the Sharing page and guidelines in the workbook you will receive prior to the session.
Our care for each other and offering of safety extends beyond the workshop into our lives in community with each other. Respect each other’s stories and privacy. Who participates in Griefcake and anything communicated in the sharing segment is for the boundaries of this space only.
“My well of loss was bored deep over the years with the deaths of all my grandparents, favourite aunts and close friends, two miscarriages at 12 weeks, the death of my father and so many beloved pets. in September 2022, my husband Josh died by suicide. I make meaning from the experiences of my life by creating with my heart and hands and connecting that meaning to community building.”
Allison has studied creative writing and fine art and worked in community arts engagement for many years. She creates artwork under the name Rogue Goat, traveling across Canada as part of the maker community.
website: www.rogue-goat.com
instagram @roguegoat
facebook: /roguegoat
Josh was a self taught woodworker who had a fantastic grounding in how one uses their hands to create objects, meaning and purpose, particularly through the example of his grandfather, a fine home builder, and his mother, who guided and supported his early exploration of handicraft and encouraged him to learn how to use a scroll saw.
Besides fatherhood, Josh was most proud of creating a life lived as a full time artist. He was embraced by the maker community, known for his bright energy and being the first person to offer help to anyone who needed it.
A FREE program for the bereaved that combines creative expression with grief processing in a supportive space.
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