Creating Portals
a Writing and Assemblage Making Workshop
with writer and author Suze Allen
& artist Deborah Caperton
Sunday, May 21, 2023
11 – 3pm with a break for lunch
Yosemite Place
1790 Armstrong Ave
SF 94124
Deb’s light filled artist studio is a spacious workspace with an outside picnic area. ADA accessible
Limited to 8 participants. $185 includes a $10 materials fee and a light lunch of salad with a grilled chicken option and coffee, tea and mineral water.
“Salvation is a long road that leads through many gates. These gates are symbols. Each new gate is at first invisible; indeed it seems at first that it must be created, for it exists only if one has dug up the spring’s root, the symbol.”
(Carl Gustav Jung)
“…the living of life is a ritual act…” Joseph Campbell
Portals can open to transformational new worlds, thresholds between the visible and the invisible, known and unknown, seen and unseen worlds.
Like the wild California super blooms, is the verdant energy of spring calling you to open to your brightest and most vibrant self? Do you feel an internal pull to dig deeper into your creativity, your juiciness, your sense of purpose? Spend a day, just for yourself, with this inspirational and playful combination of writing prompts and exercises that illuminate your personal mythic journey and assemblage making with symbolic pieces imbued with meaning that you bring with you, enhanced by found items from Deb’s studio collection, including all materials, tools and expert instruction to guide you step by step in the writing and assemblage making process.
Creating Portals is a powerful workshop, which uses symbols, art and writing to mine for meaning, manifest dreams, next steps and access a deep remembering of who you really are beneath all the trappings.
You’ll create a beautiful handwritten memoir journal and a 3D assemblage art piece to take home with you. These keepsakes can transport you back through the portal to your true north, your authentic self.
Deborah Caperton
I studied at Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a major in jewelry and light metals and a minor in sculpture.
I moved to San Francisco “temporarily” over 3 decades ago where I live with my partner and favorite collaborator, John, our 2 daughters and dogs. I established Deborah Caperton Jewelry in 1997, making custom jewelry and limited production collections. I tend to think in 3 dimensions and fabrication is my most comfortable design avenue, I look to nature to study form and texture for inspiration as well as solace and fun. My daily dog walks, backpacking trips often result in new ideas to create a series of jewelry, a theme for artwork or a workshop.
I value all the different ways I have worked in a classroom setting. I have taught jewelry and metalsmithing classes at San Francisco State University, The Academy of Art University and The Richmond Art Center. In 2015 I co-founded Spark Ceramics which is a community-based ceramics education program. We work with all kinds of groups and organizations helping people connect with each other with their hands in clay, tapping into their own creativity and self-expression.
My art projects include assemblages, commission home decor and sculptural installation. My narrative mixed media series entitled, Lost & Found has been ongoing since 1999. Recently I have returned to putting more time into making one-of-a-kind jewelry with a new series entitled Small Comforts, where I explore where ornamentation and interactive objects overlap.
https://www.sparkceramicssf.com
https://deborahcapertonjewelry.com/collections/artwork
Suze Allen
I am an author, writer, conceptual editor, teacher and writing coach with 40 years of experience. I created my company Manuscript Mentor as a way to guide people to heart-full, soulful writing that jumps off the page with vibrancy and sinks into the artful depth of what needs to be said. My classes include Memoir – the Art of Legacy Writing, Writing through Grief and Sorrow, Deep Dive Saturdays, Mining the Depths – Memoir and Monologue – taught with Master teacher Roland Tec, Playwright’s Lab, Writing Critique Workshop and Mama-logues – Writing Workouts to Keep Mama Sane, Centered and Creative.
I co-lead Women in Transition – Climbing into Your Authentic Self with Jnana Gowan of Balance Point Shamanism at Esalen for 9 years and I was the Bay Area representative for the Dramatists Guild for 9 years. I am a playwright, director and dramaturg.
I am also a life coach through writing – LivingWriteNow and I offer daily free writing prompts on my website https://manuscriptmentor.com
On the first Sunday of every month, I host a zoom event I call Memoir Church, which features moving, funny and inspiring memoir stories by masterful writers. I am also the director of Roland Tec’s Some1Speaking – Hear Me Out Monologues on zoom on the first Monday of every month. You can visit the Memoir Church and Hear Me Out YouTube Channel to see past shows.
