Workshop Offerings

Winter  will travel for short workshops (weekend or week) in New Mexico or Colorado. Longer residencies can be anywhere and will include several of the workshops depending on the focus of the residency. Most of these workshops can be adjusted to your time restrictions. Please use the "contact" field in the menu for questions.

Shamanic Approach to Creativity

Designed for writers, artists, shamanic practitioners and anyone interested in these realms. Winter shares the technique of the classic drum journey (and other shamanic experiences) and explains how they inspire her writing and art. You will experience a personal journey and begin to apply it to your own medium. Text for the class is:
 4 Warnings: Shamanic Journeys. Please bring your chosen art or writing supplies to this class.

Ceremonial Induction into  “Cronehood”
Women 50 and over only. Circle limited to 13.  Length of time 2 hours more or less. We'll share our feelings about entering the third stage of life and hear a presentation on the mythology of the Crone before doing a ritual Crone-ing in the Wiccan tradition. Participants will receive their silver Baba Yaga kerchiefs and other sacred objects. You will also take your crone name. This being the age when a woman declares her own identity and freedom, you will choose your own name so please be thinking on this before the ceremony.

Textile Surface Design & Quilting

​Separate workshops are available in: Arashi Shibori, an elegant Japanese form of tie-dye in which participants create a silk scarf and learn the basics of fiber-reactive dyeing. Batik, an Indonesian wax resist method that involves both fabric painting and vat dyeing. The Art Quilt explores techniques such as applique', trapunto, embroidery, beadwork and photo printing along with a history of the movement and the difference between "art" and "craft". Traditional Quilting: Morning Star or Seminole Patchwork. Both workshops emphasize precise piecing and strip piecing techniques and Native American traditions. Projects will be completed. These are 12+ hr. workshops.


Street Medicine and First Aid

Winter studied with the Chicago Action Medics to be a trainer for the 20 hour course one needs to become a street medic. She maintains a page on Facebook called Mesa Medica if you'd like more information on this specialized field of emergency medicine. She has been a street medic and EMT since 2006 and served  at Burning Man, the Democratic National Convention, Mountaintop Removal training camps, Occupy, and many large protest demonstrations. She is also a member of the Red Cross trained in disaster relief. At least 6 people are needed to make this class happen.

​ Book Design & Illustration

You will write and design a  chapbook, journal or children's book with Winter's help. Traditional printmaking, drawing and painting mediums are encouraged. Design software and self-publishing resources are included.

Beating the Beast of Block

 A bootcamp for writers and artists experiencing blocks to creativity and production. We'll use many tools to get you going again, such as exercises from The Artists' Way and Wild Mind, and be inspired by studies on the creative process. We'll look into the whys of  procrastination, perfectionism and self sabotage. We'll go hiking, do homework and experience lots of support for dreams. You won't leave empty handed or headed! The group stays in touch afterwards via  an internet group to share victories and challenges. 

 
​Haiku & Flash Fiction

​Discover how to express the essence of life and memory in the ancient Japanese form of poetry called haiku and the contemporary prose poetry of flash fiction. Our time includes a walk in nature for inspiration as well as writing time and group critique. This is a weekend workshop. One day workshops in either genre are also available.


Dream Work and Interpretation​

Based on the techniques of Jungian psychologist, Robert Johnson, Gestalt and Tibetan lucid dreaming practice. Understand how to interpret and control your dreams, how to use insights to change your life and jumpstart your creativity. Are you forgetting your dreams? This class or series of classes will get you going again so you can experience that “other world” we spend so much of our lives in. We assist each other in group, explore ritual and ceremony connected to our dreams and practice Active Imagination. Text for the class is Johnson's Inner Work.


The Shamanic Journey

Utilizing the steady beat of the drum (sonic driving) participants enter a trance state in which they can receive information from the "other world"(or your subconscious imagination depending on your orientation). You don't need a drum. The  session includes ceremony and explanation of the shamanic paradigm.

From Tea Leaves to Tarot: Divination Skills

Human Beings have always longed to know the future. Some are gifted with prescience but all of us can learn to use our intuition to gain insight. Divination methods from many cultures will be explored in this workshop. Learn Rock Reading (Native American), Scrying (Celtic), Throwing the Bones (African), Runes (Scandinavian) Card and Cloud Reading to name a few. You'll discover which method works best for you.

​TEACHING  EXPERIENCE

Gunnison Valley Literary Festival, CO (2019) Beating the Beast of Block
Shamans Camp Festival, Hotchkiss, CO (2019) Divination; Shamanic Drum Journey
The Knowledge Exchange, Crestone, CO (2017) Various literary and art offerings
Crestone Charter School, Crestone, CO (2016) Mentor programs in Book Design and Shamanism.
West Virginia State College, Institute, WV (summers 2001-2) Charleston Stage Company Fine Arts Camp. Two week course in batik and shibori for junior and senior high age students. 
Capitol High School , Charleston , WV (spring 2002) Demonstration and lecture on Shibori, a traditional form of Japanese textile dyeing. 
ArtsBridge, Parkersburg , WV / Marietta , OH , Artist-in–the-Schools (1995-8) Workshops on the elementary level. Using the theme of quilting, I taught geometry and design basics by discussion and hands-on work, using basic shapes to create paper “quilts”. I also related history and social movements to this unique American art form. Lessons in cultural diversity were taught through the study of African American and Hawaiian quilts.    
Denver Free University, Denver, CO (fall 1982) Wilderness Survival and First Aid. Discussions on various subjects from orienteering to hypothermia were discussed with students while exploring the foothills of the Rockies on day hikes. 
Lundblade Glassart Studio. Klamath Falls , OR . (summer 1979) Taught stained glass classes and did wholesale purchasing and retail sales in trade for studio space and use of tools for private commissions.   
Oregon Institute of Technology. Klamath Falls , OR (1978) During my residency I lectured on “Design in Nature”. Shot original 35mm slides for this series.   
Educational Service Units 9 and 3,  Hastings and Omaha , NE (1975) Artist-in-the Schools. Federal grant program. Classes in design and geometry through the techniques of piecing and  quilting.   
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