these workshops were a way to bring West Coast Art and Indigenous teachings to the MarpoleOakridge community!
we started first inside the community center - for the initial design process and some painting - and then went outside to Oak Park for casual painting workshops under the trees.
sometimes we would have chance meetings with families already there to use the park and other times we had folks who followed the schedule and showed up semi- regularly. most participants found it to be a calming and meditative activity, to sit quietly and paint on Jimmy's beautiful designs. it was a way to slow down, appreciate line and colour and form and hear and share stories.
Jimmy was very generous to tell stories about Alert Bay and his life and Kwagiulth culture. he also shared stories about his designs, how he got into carving and his viewpoints on living your best life. every afternoon was a joy.
i documented every workshop with a blog post that had digital imagery and words, remembering who was there and what we talked about. i wanted a memory of what happened in diary form and i wanted it immediately available for the participants to reference. i often included links to videos and such.
as well , together as a community, we documented the process using an audio recording device and a super 8 camera. the nature of analog film harkens back to a time when you couldn't see the image that you recorded immediately and so, again, this act of slowing down, perhaps to observe and listen more carefully was an intentional part of the documentation process.
