Self-Making through Book-Making Series

Over the four workshops, you will use guided meditation, storytelling, and journaling to enhance the art-making process. You will learn four different book structures and a variety of mixed media techniques to explore themes of connecting more deeply to self and to soul. The workshops are designed so they can be taken individually, but participants are encouraged to take all four so they may learn a variety of book-making techniques and deepen their art and self-making practice. See below for further descriptions of each workshop!

Dates:
> Sunday September 13, 2026 | Accordion Books: Tuning in to Soul’s Song (Learn More!) 
> Sunday October 11, 2026 | Turkish Map Fold Books:
Remembering & Re-imagining Ourselves (Learn More!)
> Sunday November 8, 2026 | Pocket Accordion Books: Celebrating Home (Learn More!)
> Sunday December 13, 2026 | Heart Tunnel Books: Creating a Self-Love Letter (Learn More!)

Time: Second Sundays September – December from 12:30pm–3:30pm Pacific Time
Location: NWCEAI Studio: 1631 15th Ave W, Ste 305, Seattle, WA 98119
Facilitator: Beverly LaZar, MA, WA State K-12 Educator
Materials: All materials will be provided in studio
Cost: $99.00 per workshop, or $370.00 if you sign up for all four!

Register Here!
Registration Deadline: Wednesday prior to scheduled workshop.

 Accordion Books: Tuning in to Soul’s Song | September 13th 

Soul’s song is the deep longing that calls to us. Art-making invites in soul’s song, as image is the language of the imagination, of the soul. Spending time with the images we create and opening ourselves to their insights allows us to know ourselves more deeply. After settling in with a guided meditation, we will use a variety of materials to create collaged accordion books that speak to our longings and our joys. We will journal about our process and close with a voluntary sharing of our books and experiences.

Learning objectives

1. Participants will learn to use guided meditation and journaling to enhance the art-making process for themselves and/or their clients.
2. Participants will learn beginning collage techniques for themselves/to share this skill with clients.
3. Participants will learn how to make an accordion book for themselves/to share this skill with clients.

 Turkish Map Fold Books: Remembering & Re-imagining Ourselves | October 11th

Art-making is self-making. As we create images, we are remembering and re-imagining ourselves. Using Dr. Clarissa Pinkola-Estes’ retelling of the story of La Loba (Wolf Woman, Bone Woman), we will be “singing over the bones”, calling in and breathing soul into the lost/forgotten/abandoned parts of ourselves. We will create Turkish Map Fold books and use a variety of mixed media techniques (wet and dry media, layering with collage) to help us remember and re-imagine ourselves. We will journal about our process and close with a voluntary sharing of our books and experiences.

Learning objectives

1. Participants will learn to use storytelling and journaling to enhance the art-making process for themselves and/or their clients.
2. Participants will learn how to make a Turkish map fold book for themselves/to share this skill with clients. 
3. Participants will learn to use mixed media techniques (wet and dry media, layering with collage) to create content for their books/to share these skills with clients. 

 

 

 Pocket Accordion Books: Celebrating Home | November 8th

What is home? It may be our physical body, our inner or spiritual world, the physical place we inhabit, those we love and who love us, or any or all of those things combined. We will begin with a short guided meditation. We will then celebrate these ideas of home as we build and decorate, with a variety of mixed media, pocket accordion books to house mementos, images, and/or symbols of home. We will journal about our process and close with a voluntary sharing of our books and experiences.

Learning objectives

1. Participants will learn to use guided meditation and journaling to enhance the art-making process for themselves and/or their clients.
2. Participants will learn how to make an accordion pocket book for themselves/to share this skill with clients.
3. Participants will learn to use mixed media techniques (painting/printing/dry media, stitching, collage with various artist papers) to decorate their books/and to share these skills with clients.

 Heart Tunnel Books: Creating a Self-Love Letter | December 13th 

What message of love would you want to give your most precious self? What is it you most need to hear? We will begin with a guided meditation and journal prompt. Then we will create beautiful 3D love letters to ourselves by making heart tunnel books. We will fill the layers of these books with loving messages and/or images, and decorate them with a variety of mixed media. We will close with a voluntary sharing of our books and experiences.

Learning objectives
1. Participants will learn to use guided meditation and journaling to enhance the art-making process for themselves and/or their clients.
2. Participants will learn how to make a heart tunnel book for themselves/to share this skill with clients.
3. Participants will learn to use mixed media techniques (painting/printing/dry media/collage) to create content for their books/and to share these skills with clients.

 

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This workshop is part of our Creative Community offerings!
These are open to mental health clinicians, educators, coaches, community leaders, healthcare workers, artists and more! Creative Community offerings strive to bring information, techniques, and continued learning for your own personal enrichment and/or guidance on how to bring the expressive arts into your professional spaces.

Please note: this workshop does not offer continuing education credits.

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Northwest Creative & Expressive Arts Institute Cancellation & Refund Policy

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