When Was the Last Time You Played?
I mean just for you, to feed your creative soul?
Maybe you made the time quite recently, but got choked up by voices like:
- “I don’t even know where to start!”
- “It’s just not good enough.”
- “It doesn’t look like the idea I had in my head…”
- “I can’t possibly spend time on something that doesn’t have a concrete purpose”
- “But I don’t make anything nearly as cool as what she makes.”
It’s Time for a Spiritual Bubble-Bath!
In September 2011, I invited Creatives from all over the globe to join me for a special mini-retreat, a playshop to experiment with paper and paint in the community of other Creatives.
Imagine: creative souls all over the globe, making time just for us, letting go of perfection, focusing on the process and on FUN…
Just playing…
painting…
drawing…
writing our little hearts out!
Now you can participate after the fact with the Playshop-In-A-Box!
We’ll quiet those voices of judgement – the inner critic – and let your inner child out to play. Along the way, we’ll cover:
- how to get into flow, and resume it when interrupted…
- how to play or express yourself creatively in general…
- how to start incorporating words into your artwork…
- and more!
Come spend an hour and a half to get hooked back up to the creator inside you. Enough time to immerse yourself without your “responsible adult” having a panic attack. Enough time to show you that your inner creator is still there, just waiting for you to turn back on the creative taps.
The Playshop-In-A-Box is more
than just a recorded conference call.
There are actually THREE parts to it. You get:
- pre-playshop bonus video lessons, to review at your leisure and watch as often as you like, plus a complete, annotated list of (optional) suggested materials, and links to where you can buy them if you want
- the 90-minute tele-playshop mp3 recording, which you can listen to online, or download to your iPod
- an (optional) opportunity to share your work in a Playshop Participants Art Show on Living A Creative Life
Read on for all the details…
Pre-Playshop Bonus Lessons!
To get the most fun and play out of your time with the Playshop mp3, I’m going to give you access to a password-protected page of exclusive video lessons and an annotated materials list as 
soon as you sign up. So you can get all my secret techniques on your own time and be ready to just PLAY when you schedule time for your personal Playshop.
These bonus lessons will show you:
- How to stretch watercolor paper so it won’t buckle and curl up when it gets wet with paint
- My favorite materials, why I like them and where to get them
- The process I use to create my ArtSpark pieces, from start to finish
- How I go about adding words to my art
It may be an entirely different way of working playing for you. And if you tend to be a product-oriented perfectionist (as I am), I bet you’ll find it incredibly liberating.
These bonus lessons alone could be just the thing to get you sparked, stoked and creating!
At the Playshop
When you’re listening to the Playshop recording, I’ll start with a brief check-in and meditation to create a bubble for us of safety and encouragement. Then I’ll give you some prompts, and send you off to your work play station where you’ll have time to try out the techniques in the video, or just play however you want.
You’ll also get to listen in on some group check-ins with the group, and get inspired by Playshop participants’ experiences.
Because creativity is contagious!
Hearing the excitement in other people’s voices is so energizing!
Playshop Participants’ Art Show
This part is totally optional, but if you’d like to share any of your creations from the Playshop, you’ll also get to share your art on my blog, Living A Creative Life.
Just email me pics of what you made, along with your name and any URL you want me to link to, and the next time I hold a Playshop Art Show, you’re in!
You get all of this creative recharge and inspiration
for less than you’d spend on a tank of gas.
Buy now for just $37
Playshop FAQs
Who is Melissa Dinwiddie?
That’s me! Professional artist and inspirationalist, my passion is getting people in touch with their own creative spark.
Since 1996 I’ve taught calligraphy, book arts and creative expression in my home town, and in workshops and conferences all over the United States. I believe that everyone has a creative spark, and that creativity thrives in an atmosphere of safety, encouragement and fun.
Here’s what some of my students have had to say about my teaching:
Excerpts from Past Student Evaluations
I think you are one of the best teachers I have had and I thoroughly enjoyed the class. . . [Melissa] is an excellent instructor & makes it all fun . . . Please come back to New Jersey soon! Thank you for a great day. . . . enthusiastic, encouraging . . . Organized—enthusiastic—inspiring . . . Excellent teaching skills . . . I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with Melissa . . . I hope that she will be back! . . . How can you improve perfection? Love the way you present so much and make it all seem so simple! . . . open creative atmosphere . . . Excellent teacher . . . Everything is just perfect . . . Very supportive atmosphere. Encouragement to experiment, plus lots of good ideas . . . I hated for the day to end. The class was very informative and enjoyable. I’m looking forward to taking another workshop with her . . . The workshop was not only inspiring, but also fun. Loved it . . . Excellent. Loved the entire day . . . Great workshop . . . Give her a ‘10’. . .
Why are you teaching this playshop?
I used to be a very precision-minded, uptight perfectionist. Years ago I set out to master my chosen art form (calligraphy), and even built a sustainable business out of it, but over the years I found myself avoiding the thing I was most passionate about – my art.
I felt my soul start to shrivel as a result.
Out of desperation, I developed a way of making art that I call “playing in the Creative Sandbox,” which not only brought me back to my art, but made me more prolific than I’d ever dreamed I could be.
I now share my Creative Sandbox creations (some of which you see here) in a free newsletter that goes out (almost) every weekday, the not-quite-daily ArtSpark. Subscribers email all the time to comment on the artworks, and to ask me how I made them.
Meanwhile, on my blog, Living A Creative Life, I talk a lot about creative abundance, and building a life in which you’re really doing the things you love. Since I absolutely love to teach, I asked my blog readers what they wanted to learn from me.
I combined their responses with the requests I was getting from my ArtSpark subscribers to explain my process, and voilá, this playshop was born!
Do I have to be an artist to benefit from the Playshop?
NO! Anybody with an interest in playing with paper and paints can get a TON out of the Playshop-In-A-Box. You don’t need any kind of art background (though if you have an art background, that’s great too!)
What materials and tools will I need to participate?
We’ll be working on a large sheet of paper, with whatever media you like. A full- or half sheet of watercolor paper is ideal, particularly if you want to play with wet media (paints & inks), but you can use any paper you like.
The pre-playshop video lessons will show you how to stretch your paper (optional, but nice if you’re using wet media and you want your paper to end up flat, rather than buckled), and will go over in detail a lot of the materials I use most regularly.
The basic list, though, is the following:
- large sheet of paper (ideally watercolor paper, at least half-sheet size, 15″ x 22″, or full-sheet size, 22″ x 30″)
- optional, but highly recommended: a stretcher board and gummed paper tape to stretch the paper (the video lessons include instructions on how to do this, and what to use as as stretcher board)
kitchen sponge (for wetting the gummed paper tape)- straight edge (preferably metal, 24″ ideal if you have it)
- pencil
- any combination of media that you have or would like to try: inks, watercolor paints, gesso/watercolor ground (this will be explained in the video lessons), colored pencils, pastels, marker pens, rubber stamps & stamp pads, etc.
- mark-making tools: watercolor brushes, calligraphy pens, old credit cards,etc.
- water container & access to water
- paper towels
- optional, but recommended: tracing paper
- 2 white or black mat corners OR 4 long strips of white or black paper, approx. 2-3″ wide x 18-24″ long
- optional: X-acto knife with #11 blade
- optional, but nice to have: a hair dryer (for drying ink and paints more quickly)
I cover the tools & materials more comprehensively in the video lessons, but it is NOT essential that you have a studio stocked with tools! Part of the fun is in figuring out what you can create given your limitations, so do NOT feel that you have to run out and buy a bunch of stuff!
A 90-minute Playshop is cool, but I want to spend all day doing this! Heck, I want to spend a whole weekend, or even an entire week playing in the Creative Sandbox! Will you ever be teaching a class like this live, in 3-D (ie, in person)?
You bet! I’ve got lots of in-person retreat and Playshop ideas in the works. Everyone who registers for this Playshop will get advance notification and first dibs when I run a live event.
OMG, I am SO ready for this! Where do I sign up?
Glad you asked! Just click the lovely button to buy now.
Are You Ready to Get Recharged, Rejuvenated and Creatively Inspired?
Let’s flow, baby!
Click to buy now
I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
