LINDA GRIFFITH, B.F.A., M.S.W., D.C.S.W.
Photography • Creative Process • Women Trusting the Spirit
at Magic Pond in Aroostook County, Maine
or at your preferred location
Nine is the maximum number of participants. Workshops ideally run from a Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon at Magic Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, the well known Maine artist's retreat and guest house owned by Linda Griffith in the northern wilderness. Designed to create the kind of gathering experience conducive to ecopsychological inspiration and stress-free interaction, Magic Pond is open to both vacationing individuals and to groups. Most workshop guests plan and prepare cooperative meals in one of the guest suite kitchens throughout the weekend, although there exists the option of having meals catered at substantially higher cost. Workshop bookings at Magic Pond are $1200. plus tax and include up to 3 nights exclusive use of all three guest suites, for a total of 3 full or queen beds, 2 futons and 4 inflatable beds with a private kitchen and bath in each suite.
The workshop instructional fee is $1200. for the typical Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon gathering and includes all instructional materials (except those outlined in the Photography Workshop secription). Travel to Magic Pond is at the participants' own expense with flights into Portland, Maine, from which the 4.5 hour drive to Magic Pond is customarily made by participants via shared car rentals.
Workshops at your location are suggested to be of the same Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon structure with the host responsible for providing appropropaite gathering facilities within an ecologically natural setting and a plan for group meals. Instructional fees are the same ($1200.) but with the additional actual cost of air fare and transfers (or I.R.S. mileage rate if traveling exclusively by car), lodging plus $60. per dium. In rare extenuating circumstances, the host may be requested to provide loving dog sitting services for Linda's companions throughout the weekend if suitable care cannot otherwise be found.
QUESTIONS? NEED A CUSTOM FOCUS FOR A WORKSHOP? Brainstorming is welcomed!. Text "workshop question" to Linda directly at 215-287-4174 for a callback as soon as possible. (She is usually in Arizona's Mountain Time zone).
Particpants in this workshop customarily are gathered to experience intensely personal interactions with the natural world, with each other and with Linda as she guides the group on a journey deep into the supra- and sub-conscious worlds of Spirit. Drawing from the teachings of her Lenni Lenape Turtle Clan Grandmother with whom she studied for 15 years, Linda structures experiential adventures for the group that lead beyond the realm of rational comprehension and afford an opportunity to explore energtic dimensions of knowing that have been largely forgotten by Western culture. Participants in this workshop need to be prepared to unconditionally trust themselves, one another, Linda and the universe as the knowledge offered by the workshop cannot be acquired without a willingness to suspend many common comforting beliefs. Not for the faint-of-heart and offered rarely due to the intensity of the sharing.
Ideal for corporate training and organizations seeking to develop more cohesiveness among members dedicated to common outcomes. Totally customized to the context in which participarts have gathered, the arts of play, invention and inspired departures are developed and integrated into the customary routines of the contextual organization or mission. The mitigation and necessity of risk-taking are broadly explored on both the personal and professional levels as participants rediscover inherent order in the less-controlled. As this workshop is fully customized, the degree of self-disclosure required of participants will vary dependent upon the group's agreed upon objectives and readiness for interpersonal exploration as part of the experience.
Ideal for photography clubs, a combination of group critique and individaul instruction makes this workshop not only an artistic learning experience, but a team-building experience as participants share in offering and receiving feed back about the impact of images previously and currently created. Drawing from both Creative Process and Trusting the Spirit techniques, Linda steadfastly encourages each participant to transcend the constraints of self-consciousness so that by the conclusion of the experience, photographs begin to reflect the deeper truth and vision of each artist. Participants need to have on hand their own image-generation equipment and offline laptop editing capability, along with a thumb drive of sufficient size to easily transfer files from laptop to digital projector. (There are no darkroom facilites at Magic Pond). Since some prints will be required for critque, participants need to be prepared to interface with and pay for retail printing of 8x10's at the local Walmart (sorry, it's the only nearby option) unless the group, itself, brings (or ships ahead of time) printing equipment capable of accurately reproducing color, intonation and detail for all of the participants at their own expense (recommended).