So summer is finally here and I’m delighted to be starting my summer round of writing for wellbeing workshops next month entitled Nourishments 3.

Running through July and August there are in-person workshops in Banchory and online workshops on the Zoom platform.

As it’s the summer I’m doing things a little differently this time around – you don’t need to book for a whole block of workshops.  I know that lots of you will be taking trips during the summer months and so all the workshops will act as stand-alone sessions meaning you can come to as many or as few as you like.

You do however have to book.  Spaces are limited to 7 for the in-person workshops and 8 for online and they are filling up steadily.

Dates are as follows:

On-Line:

Monday Afternoons 2 – 4.30pm               

July 4th, 11th & 18th, August 1st, 8th & 15th

In-Person:

Tuesday Mornings 10am – 12.30pm

July 5th, 12th & 19th, August 2nd, 9th & 16th

Cost: £30 per workshop

All workshops are aimed at enhancing your sense of wellbeing through writing exercises designed to help you experiment and play.  We will be writing in response to nature, memories, poetry, and photography amongst other things – and where possible, in-person workshops will incorporate writing outdoors.  No writing experience is necessary – all you need is a notebook and a pen to come along. 

Ok – so the content of my exhibition wasn’t lost (thank goodness), but the opportunity to show it was.  It was designed around the venue (Phoenix Hall in Newton Dee, Aberdeen) where it was to be shown and this then alters the possibilities of how it can be shown in an alternative venue. Essentially it has to become a different type of exhibition.  

Writing To The Self – Image Copyright Elaine Reid

My last blog entry in June 2020 (I know – it’s been quite some time!) talked about my exhibition Love Letters From The Labyrinth being postponed. I had hoped that it would happen this year but with the continuing issues of the pandemic and the complicated medical needs of the residents of Newton Dee they have quite rightly decided to keep their doors shut to the public.

There have been times when I’ve wondered if my exhibition would ever be shown and I was unsure as to where might be a suitable alternative venue.  Today I am glad to announce that a portion of it, the paintings that formed the newest part of my work, are going to be exhibited as part of NEOS:  the North East Open Studios event taking place from 11^th – 19^th September this year.  Previously I have taken part in NEOS with a group of artists at the same venue that my exhibition was due to be shown in.  But with this no longer an option I needed to find somewhere new.

So this year I will be exhibiting with my friend and fellow artist, Val Thomson from her home in Aberdeen city.  I am so grateful that Val was happy to open her home for this event and for inviting me in to take part with her.  It’s a nice creative challenge to work out how to exhibit in a new space and Val and I have lots of ideas on how to fill her home with our paintings.

The next five weeks are going to be very busy getting prepared and sending out info and tasters of what’s to come.  I’ll be blogging a bit more often, sharing sneak peaks on Facebook (elaine.reid.5011) and Instragram (@elainereidwriting) and providing lots of information about when we’re open and how to come and see us safely.

If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any of the NEOS exhibition info you can also sign up for my mailing list by sending an e-mail to: elainereidwriting@btinternet.com

Today was meant to be the opening day of my first solo exhibition at The Phoenix Hall in Newton Dee, Aberdeen.  It was a date written in red and underlined in my diary. It also had ridiculously happy smiley faces next to it.  But, as with so many events, this has had to be postponed and will most likely be held in 2021 now. However, I still wanted to mark the occasion so I’ve decided to offer a wee sneak-peak preview of some of my work.

The exhibition, ‘Love Letters From The Labyrinth‘ includes oil and cold wax paintings, erasure poems and papercuts but I’ve chosen to show a small sample of the paintings for now.

I have been working with the labyrinth for almost a decade now, deepening my understanding of how it can enhance our sense of wellbeing.  It complements the work I do as a therapeutic writing facilitator beautifully and I enjoy offering workshops that combine the two.

When I began painting, something I pursue intuitively, I imagined the symbol of the labyrinth would feature heavily, but that’s not what has happened.  What features most consistently is the writing I do to record and understand the lessons to be learnt from embarking on a journey with the labyrinth.

I have also used writing to symbolise the wisdom to be found when we walk to the centre of the labyrinth and take time to be still and listen to ourselves. I believe this wisdom exists deep within us and it’s the process of walking the labyrinth, slowing down and the stillness to be found at the centre that allows us to access what we actually already know but perhaps haven’t been paying attention to in our busy lives.  These pieces of wisdom I regard as love letters to ourselves.

During the process of ‘going with the flow’ of my painting, I also realised that I didn’t want the writing to be readable necessarily (although some portions are here and there).  This led to the discovery of asemic writing – literally writing with no meaning that leaves the viewer to interpret the meaning for themselves.  I also wanted my use of symbolic writing to signify the lost language and knowledge of the labyrinth.  Being over 4,000 years old, we do not know where or why the first labyrinths were built.  And so we have to guess at this and trust in the relationship we have with it now. 

These five paintings are also a broad representation of the different ways I have been using texture to provide a sense of history – something the addition of cold wax medium to oil paint enables.  The depth and texture of the layers of these paintings is somewhat lost in digital format but I hope that what is shown here is enough to peak your interest. 

And once I can write that new date for the exhibition in my diary, I hope this sneak-peak might have made you curious enough to come along and have a look for yourself.

If you would like to be added to my mailing list to be notified about the new date for the exhibition, please e-mail me at: elainereidwriting@btinternet.com

All images Copyright Elaine Reid 2020.

This poem follows on from the previous one I posted, Echoes which talks about the process of free writing in a group setting. This poem however is about my own personal experience of the process of free writing and my awareness of how deeply it reaches within me to allow me to process my thoughts and feelings.

I have been using this type of writing for over 10 years now and as a result it tends to dive down to the root of the issue I’m writing about very quickly. There are times however when I do not feel ready to confront the root cause of an issue – perhaps immediately after it has happened or if I’m aware it will involve an element of letting go which I’m not yet ready to do. On these occasions I find I don’t wish to use free writing because it will always tell me the truth. I find I cannot lie to myself in the midst of the flow! On these days it’s more important to be gentle with myself and to know that I will pick up the pen again when the time is right for me.

I found this a lot when I was in the initial stages of grieving for my mum. The pain was too raw to write about. And there are days now, during this pandemic, when my mood can be too low to want to confront, in black and white, the fear or the anxiety about what is happening and how events are impacting on others. On those occasions I use time in nature as my salve. But I know I will always come back to my writing again, when I am ready.

This poem is all about the process of expressive/free writing/stream of consciousness writing that I use in my workshops as the foundation for writing exercises.

It’s an ode to the bravery and courage of all who entrust themselves to the process of ‘adventuring into’ their thoughts and feelings through writing. And it’s about how we are all on this journey together and how the discoveries we make echo that of each other whilst also being unique and personal to each individual who comes to write around the table.

When a group has been writing together for awhile I have also found that an interesting pattern of echoes emerges in their writing from time to time. Some people have similar responses to a particular prompt or it takes them to very similar memories or issues. This leads to a response of recognition in each other and reinforces trust within the group. It is nourishing to be part of and one of my priviledges as a facilitator to witness.

It is also about the power of the acceptance of tears as a healthy response to joy and pain. Part of my work with every group is to help people unlearn the impulse to apologise for their tears within the safe environment of the group. To not be ashamed to cry when they become emotional because their writing has touched something that is difficult or painful or surprising. That tears are welcome and a healthy part of the process of learning to accept and grow as a result of these discoveries.

Image and poem Copyright Elaine Reid 2020