Care for the Discarded
By Deborah Anne Quibell

Some parts of you lay nascent and bare.

Waiting.

It takes courage to care for the discarded,
to tend to the heap of broken glass,
the fragile voices, the barely opened seeds.

Fall, my darling, into the soft soil within you,
to begin to collect the pieces of your potential.

Don’t be selective and grab only what sparkles.

Take your time to till the land
of your majestic vulnerability.

Whisper to the gray and underdeveloped parts of your psyche.
Tell them of your patience.

Pull the weeds, kiss them,
and place them, lovingly, aside.

Walk barefoot
and invite the critters to come along.

This journey, as a gardener, my beloved friend,
is as much about the dirt,
as it is about the sun,
As much about the roots,
as it is about the blossoms.
It is, you must realize,
as much about care,
as it is about cultivation.

Our first weekend: We will push open the creaking gate and enter our garden. Walk around and find a spot to sit and have tea in the sun. 

We will tend to the land that is us. What is here in the garden? Are there rocks or weeds that need to be moved? Have birds, bugs or maybe a feral cat made their home in our garden? What is the shape of our garden? We will explore with paint, words, stories and movement. We will journey into the heart and the soul of the garden and see what the garden wants us to know. 

We will use Intentional Creativity to layer by layer explore and build up our garden ready for planting. We will look at seeds and seed shapes and add those to our garden. We will explore weeds, what is a weed? Maybe you, like me, like a planned chaotic garden? Or perhaps you prefer the more pristine English Garden. Whatever garden calls to you, we will prepare the soil and seeds for planting during the first weekend of painting and gathering together.

Our second weekend: We will again gather in our Zoom Room gardens. We will ask, what seeds did I plant and what is beginning to come up in the Garden? What ancient beings also call this garden home? Do you have an old, gnarled apple tree in your garden? Do you have an underground seep? What wisdom do they offer? We will add their wisdom and image into the garden with paint.

We will explore how you add yourself to your garden. Are you a sunflower following the sun as it travels across your garden? Are you the moss covered birdbath nourishing the wild ones who drink at your edges? We will ask ourselves, what does it look like to choose you first? What would happen if you choose you first? What supports does your garden need to choose you first?

Artist and teacher Terre will guide you through an Intentional Creativity process with paint and story to create the Garden that is YOU onto your canvas. Your final painting will be a landscape garden that represents you and your blooming potential. 

No prior painting experience necessary. You will be led step by step. We will practice basic painting techniques like lines, color, texture, space, light/shadows and bringing things into the foreground and pushing them to the background. We will create a color wheel in our journals, we will explore scratching techniques in the paint to add texture, play with collage onto the canvas and experiment with different mark making and adding stencils. 

Art Supply List for Online Class

1. Candle or vase of flowers to create a altar to celebrate your metaphorical garden. Consider including dirt, seeds, leaves, stones - things you might find in your wild overgrown garden.

2. Journal and favorite pens, markers or crayons. 

3. Acrylic paints. Below are some links to order if you need. 

4. Paint brushes.

5. Canvas - A rectangle shape - size options: 24w x 20h, 30w x 24h, 36w x 24h, 48w x 30h, link below for inexpensive canvas at Michaels.

6. Space where you can work uninterrupted.

7. Wifi access - zoom link will be sent to you after registration.

8. Luscious beverage and chocolate.

Below is a list of paints, brushes and canvases you can order from on-line sources.

 Blick Art Materials

Set of 12 paints Dick Blick Brand $19.06: https://www.dickblick.com/items/01637-0129/

Set of 24 paints Dick Blick Brand $35.10: https://www.dickblick.com/items/01637-0249/

Set of 24 Paints Liquitex - $36.95: https://www.dickblick.com/items/00717-1049/

Set of 12 paints Liquitex - $20.06: https://www.dickblick.com/items/00717-0129/

Brushes – student brushes $8.99: https://www.dickblick.com/items/06280-1309/

Michaels - (often has two for one sales on canvases)
https://www.michaels.com/level-1-back-stapled-canvas-by-artists-loft/M10015472.html?dwvar_M10015472_size=4%22%20x%204%22&dwvar_M10015472_color=None