The Creative Subconscious Collage Workshop is a process. Trusting the workshop process includes allowing facilitation and community. As hearts and minds are opened, a personal creation is made and insightful tools are found. A collage workshop gathering also creates connections with new people, and a deeper connection to those you already know, including yourself! 

What is needed:

a table where at least 5 people can sit, work and gather round.  (the largest collage workshop I have facilitated was 25 people.)

enough light

refreshments ( optional ) 

magazines to tear, glue sticks and scissors

participants may also be encouraged to bring their own supplies as noted above

I provide: 

file folders for collage construction 

time keeping – so we all maintain our momentum and achieve our purpose

show and tell - examples of collaging and instruction

facilitation - each workshop is based on a unique theme or prompt 

Trusting environment  - folks who gather at a workshop are encouraged to offer constructive commentary on finished work. The safe, warm and encouraging environment often gives participants the opportunity to trust a gut feeling and share it. 

About Karen 

In the late '90's  Artist/Photographer Karen Hanrahan met with a group of women on Monday mornings.  For three years they worked through the timeless Artist Way Curriculum by Julia Cameron. During that time, Karen was exposed to collage. In 2000 she began sharing the creative subconscious collage process with others. In 2013 Karen began creating a body of collage work in the form of journal pages.  The pages offered autobiographical insight into an empty nest, a budding romance, a loss of home, a tragic heartbreak, and a daring move west.  Karen continues to journal with collage, and she is currently developing a project titled "Lost Art Project," about the lost art of letter writing with collage envelopes that have journeyed through the mail. "Lost Art Project"  will be the featured artist of the month show at The Bureau in Downtown Bellingham.  Her collage work is currently sold at The Bureau, and Karen also has work in a group exhibition in Seattle through April 2016. 

Karen shares:

My collage mentor created sculpture and jewelry. Her work was symbolic and strident – and she was  always working at it, always creating. I admired her very much. I feel she taught collage as a way to meet others, I also felt her interest in me was genuine. This method of connecting with others is something I have also come to treasure while facilitating this workshop.

What others say about the workshop:

"Taking the time to make space and create is a valuable thing." 

"I didn't think I'd make something I'd want to take home - but my collage was a pleasant surprise and I DID take it home!"

"The process was intuitive and it was fun taking the parts and making them into a whole."

"Collaging is like looking into the mirror. It makes things I am thinking about real."

"I loved the free and trusting environment. "   

"I am a firm believer in this collage process...I am fan."

"The workshop was a way more personal experience than I expected."

"Lots of folks decided to attend either because of Facebook or at the invitation of a friend!!"

"The environment was very authentic."

"How interesting that imagery can tie everyone together..."

"Art = self-expression - this was art with structure in a specific context."

"Having a time limit and a specific theme offered a different perspective to collage." 

Karen's current journal pages can be found here.

( collaging. ) 

works on exhibit through April 2016.

1. and then she cried.

2. parted.  

3. zippered up