Events & Workshops
For workshops coming up, please take a look at the CALENDAR below.
My workshops and special events focus on a wide variety of topics, and I love teaching in person (as well as by Zoom) people of all ages. I also enjoy exhibiting my artwork (both calligraphic and photographic pieces) and in the past year have exhibited in the following places: Sonoran Art League Gallery, Carefree, AZ * Essex Art Association Gallery, Essex, CT Prometheus Gallery, Deep River, CT * Spectrum Gallery, Centerbrook, CT * Cooperative Art Gallery, Westerly, RI * In recent times, I have also conducted numerous workshops and taught classes in many places, including universities, libraries, art centers, churches, spiritual retreat centers, and more, from east to west, including Essex, CT, Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, MA, Newport, RI, Kennebunk, ME, Carefree, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, and Maui, HI, among other locations. Wherever I teach, my goal is to create a fun, relaxing, educational experience, where everyone who participates feels free to ignite their creativity; make connections with fellow participants; and feel inspired, supported, and totally welcomed.
Calendar
FEEL FREE TO Contact me at: [email protected], or my cell phone (508)209-1916 for more information on upcoming EVENTS or any other workshops or classes you may wish to schedule for your organization.
2024 Workshops/Events
Sonoran Art League School, Carefree, AZ
The Art of Calligraphy February 1- March 7
(Please note that this class will likely repeat in the fall of 2024, and the winter of 2025, specific dates to be determined.)
New Visions Center, Phoenix, AZ
January 21 , 2024 Transformational Journaling
Vineyard Haven Public Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
The following creative writing workshops are conducted by Zoom, and run from 6:00-7:30 pm
January 9, 2024 Transformational Journaling
February 21, Writing About Love
March 19, Memoir Writing
April 23, Have Fun with Haiku
May 21, Writing About Nature
I will also be presenting a one-day in-person workshop on Martha’s Vineyard soon, date and details will be posted as soon as they have been determined.
Sacred Art Institute, Enders Island, Mystic, CT
Calligraphic Art & Christmas Gift Making
November 2, 2024
Mystic Museum of Art, Mystic, CT
Introduction to Calligraphy
May 18 2024, a one-day workshop
Acton Public Library, Old Saybrook, CT
Great Travels Writing Workshop
July 30, and August 6, 2024
In addition, I will be conducting a number of creative writing and memoir writing workshops this summer and fall, in various locations on the coast of Connecticut, including in Old Saybrook and Mystic — as well as in the late fall of 2024, and the winter of 2025 in the greater Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona area. Some of the topics that will be included are as follows: Transformational Journaling; Memoir with a Message; Writing Through Grief & Loss; Writing Your Life’s Sacred Story; Writing as a Pathway to Forgiveness; Creating Mesmerizing, Memorable Characters; Have Fun with Haiku; and more. This website will contain specifics as soon as they are available. Please feel free to contact me at (508)209-1916 or email me at [email protected] for further information.
2023 Workshops/Events
Vineyard Haven Public Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Memoir Writing Spring series; January 17, 2023 * February 21, 2023 * March 14, 2023 * April 11, 2023
May 10, 2023: Memoir Writing: People of Influence in Our Lives – Held by Zoom, sponsored by the Vineyard Haven Public Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Sacred Art Institute, Enders Island, Mystic, CT
May 9 – June 20, 2023: Introduction to the Art & Craft of Calligraphy (www.endersisland.org)
Fairfield University
July 19, 2023 Calligraphy workshop for MFA in Creative Writing students, Summer residency held in Mystic, CT
Vineyard Haven Public Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Fall Memoir Writing series: Tuesday nights, from 6:00 -7:30 pm, conducted via Zoom
September, October, November, December 2023
New Visions Center, Phoenix, AZ
Transformational Journaling, Nov. 15, in-person, 6:00 -7:30 pm
Sacred Art Institute, Enders Island, Mystic, CT
Introduction to Calligraphy- Christmas card and gift-making workshop, Dec. 3, 10:00 am – 3;30 pm
Lori Warner Gallery, Visiting Artist of the Day, Dec. 10, Winter Market, Chester, CT
Fairfield University, MFA in Creative Writing program, Guest Faculty at the Winter residency, Mystic, CT , Dec. 27-Dec. 31, 2023
Past Events
Some workshops and events from 2022
2022 Spring, Summer and Fall
April 2022: Great Travels Writing Workshop – Newport Public Library, Newport, RI
April 2022: Forgiveness as a Pathway to Healing – New Visions Center, Phoenix, AZ
April, May, and June 2022: Creative Writing – In-person, on various themes, Kennebunk Free Public Library, Kennebunk, ME
May 2022: Great Travels Writing Workshop – via Zoom, Vineyard Haven Public Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
May, June and July 2022: Creative Writing – In-person, on various themes, Newport Public Library, Newport, RI
September 6 and 13, 2022: Writing Through Grief and Loss – via Zoom, Vineyard Haven Public Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
October 16, 2022: Introduction to Calligraphy – St. John’s Episcopal Church, Essex, CT
December 4, 2022: Calligraphic Card and Gift Making – St. Johns’ Episcopal Church, Essex, CT
December 6, 2022: Writing as a Gift – via Zoom, sponsored by Vineyard Haven Public Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
December 10, 2022: Holiday Enchantment – Christmas Calligraphy Demonstration, Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT
December 18, 2022: Christmas Gift Calligraphy Event – Lori Warner Gallery, Chester, CT
Scheduling a Workshop
If you are in charge of scheduling workshops for an organization, school, resort, conference, spiritual retreat, art center, or other venue, you may want to take a look at the list of popular workshops that follows, and then feel free to inquire about my future availability.
- I now spend part of the year in beautiful coastal Connecticut, and love teaching classes and workshops in various places here, as well as in other New England locations. I also spend time each year in the majestic Grand Canyon state of Arizona (where I was a college English professor for twelve years) and love teaching workshops there whenever possible – as well as anywhere else that provides the opportunity.
- Each of the workshops described here can be offered as a one-time or multiple-session event, ranging from one hour, to a whole afternoon or evening; as a day-long or weekend event; or as an ongoing, multi-session class.
- Each class or workshop can be conducted by Zoom or in-person – except for calligraphy classes, which I only offer in-person. As well, each can be adapted for different age groups, and the format structured to best fit the needs of your intended audience.
- Feel free to contact me at [email protected] or call (508)209-1916 we can set up a time to talk if there is anything that might be of interest to your group or location, so we can discuss possibilities for the future. (And as well as the popular topics listed below, there are a variety of other topics I have offered and enjoy leading.)
- Following are some brief descriptions of each workshop that can be used in your printed or online catalogue, brochure or other publicity materials, to help your potential participants know what they will gain from the experience.
List of Popular Workshops
Great Travels Writing Workshop
If you love to travel and would like to spend some time sharing and writing about your most interesting and memorable travel experiences, come join us and get inspired to get your own best travel stories down on paper.
Writing as a Gift
You will be encouraged to do short bits of writing in forms that can easily be shared with others in your life, as unique, memorable and most appreciated gifts, including Haiku poems, brief bits of memoir, and more. (This one is perfect for holidays, but also works well any other time of the year.)
How to Write Your “Mini-Memoir With a Message”
This workshop will get your creative juices flowing and encourage you to get started writing a 3-5 page short true-to-life story illuminating a memorable experience that opened you to a new life insight or perspective, that you may wish to share with others. (This workshop can also be called Memoir with a Message, or Writing Your Life’s Sacred Story: Meaningful Memoir, which works well when geared towards a more spiritually-oriented audience.)
Have Fun With Haiku
Come join us for a fun and relaxing time. Your creative writing energies will be ignited and you will make visual art at the same time. You will create and bring home some beautiful and elegant Haiku greeting cards, bookmark or journals, inscribed with your very own Haiku (that is, very short poems, of just three lines, or ten or twelve words, inspired by the Japanese poetic tradition). You will be delighted with these easy-to-complete creations, which also make wonderful gifts.
Introduction to Calligraphy
Now is the perfect time to learn the calming, creative art of calligraphy, or “beautiful handwriting.” Four different calligraphic styles will be introduced, including Bookhand; Uncial (the style used in the magnificent Book of Kells); Italic; and Blackletter. This way, you will get a sense of a variety of techniques and creative possibilities, and can then focus on the styles you most personally enjoy and resonate with. You will also spend time creating hand-crafted bookmarks, greeting cards, favorite quotes, journals, and other fun projects.
“To TEACH
is to LEARN twice…”
Joseph Joubert
“It is the SUPREME ART of the teacher to
AWAKEN JOY in CREATIVE expression…”
Albert Einstein
My Long-time love of teaching
I first discovered my great devotion to teaching at the young age of 24, when I was given the opportunity to teach classes on the art of calligraphy at Harvard University, in Cambridge MA, where I then taught for three years. There, I also ended up writing my first book, a textbook on the topic, called An Italic Calligraphy Handbook, which has ever since enjoyed success in its various editions in the US and in Great Britain. Since that time, I have taught English, Film Studies, Humanities and Communication courses at a number of colleges and universities, in New England, Arizona, and also in North Carolina.
Wherever I teach, I love being present in the classroom, and am deeply grateful for the opportunity I have had to inspire others — and to be inspired by my many wonderful, interesting students, at the same time.
Pictured here one of my very favorite classes ever, when I was teaching at Paradise Valley Community College, in Phoenix, AZ…. Bright, beautiful souls, every one of them…I always learn as much from my students, as they do from me…
“Education is not the filling of a pot,
But the LIGHTING of a FIRE…”
W.B. Yeats