Join us for this very special workshop and meal in the home of Gayle Beyer, an event focused on exploring an organic creative process through plaster casting.
“Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.”
— Jean Cocteau
So much of the creative process is learning to draw from what lies beneath our conscious, thinking selves. To make the most of our creativity, we must learn to bring those subconscious parts of our experience close enough to the surface to have it enter our words, canvases, sculptures, pictures, whatever it may be.
This all sounds very serious but, really, this is what we all do at play. In fact, imagine the free-flow of children at play, the way emotion and idea, reality and imagination, words and songs and laughter become a seamless flow.
In this workshop, we will use the magic of collaborative community and experiential art as guides toward this kind creative inspiration. Even better, this workshop requires no previous artistic work. It's a fun and adventurous experiment that anyone can do!
“I dream a lot. I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious.”
—Andrew Wyeth
Workshop Details
— THE ARTIST AND THE SPACE—
This workshop will be held at the home of designer, artist and writer Gayle Beyer. Gayle began her creative journey as a clothing designer after attending Colorado State University as a Clothing & Textile Design major. Years later, after working as an editor in the publishing business in the Washington, D.C. metro area, she returned to school to study interior design, then started her own interior design business (also in the D.C. metro area). She retired to Colorado after closing her business of 30 years. During those years, she shared studio space in an historic old brick warehouse on the Potomac River exploring the world of and practicing clay sculpture with a talented group of fellow sculptors.
—WHEN YOU ARRIVE—
When you arrive, we will welcome you into the refuge we’ve provided far away from the demands of your daily life. We’ll begin with a few quiet moments together where we will make the space to shift ourselves away from the noise and distraction of the world outside and into the present moment with all the possibilities it will offer toward creative growth.
— THE WORKSHOP, PART 1—
After settling in, we’ll start the plaster casting. Working in pairs, we’ll create a plaster cast of our hands or faces, building layers of plaster-infused gauze, removing the form, and then coating and smoothing it with plaster of Paris. Rather than precision and perfection, the goals here will be opening ourselves to new approaches and skills. We also like to think of it as playtime!!
— THE MEAL —
While our castings are drying, we’ll share a delicious meal served in the dining room and have a thoughtful conversation about creating playful spaces where we can more fully inhabit ourselves and our creativity.
— THE WORKSHOP, PART 2—
When our appetites are sated and the plaster is dry, we will paint the forms we’ve created, allowing the colors, the lines, the shapes, the images, to surface.
—AT DAY’S END—
As our time draws to a close, we’ll move to the quiet courtyard to spend a few final moments reflecting on time together before you step back out into the word with your plaster casts in hand.
—THE LOGISTICS—
Saturday, August 1, 2026, 11:00 AM — approximately 5:30 PM
Colorado Springs, CO
—WHO CAN COME? —
Everyone is welcome in The Woodshop! No experience is necessary with casting, sculpting, or painting are necessary.
Space is limited.
Join us for this very special workshop and meal in the home of Gayle Beyer, an event focused on exploring an organic creative process through plaster casting.
— THE ARTIST AND THE SPACE—
This workshop will be held at the home of designer, artist and writer Gayle Beyer. Gayle began her creative journey as a clothing designer after attending Colorado State University as a Clothing & Textile Design major. Years later, after working as an editor in the publishing business in the Washington, D.C. metro area, she returned to school to study interior design, then started her own interior design business (also in the D.C. metro area). She retired to Colorado after closing her business of 30 years. During those years, she shared studio space in an historic old brick warehouse on the Potomac River exploring the world of and practicing clay sculpture with a talented group of fellow sculptors.
—WHEN YOU ARRIVE—
When you arrive, we will welcome you into the refuge we’ve provided far away from the demands of your daily life. We’ll begin with a few quiet moments together where we will make the space to shift ourselves away from the noise and distraction of the world outside and into the present moment with all the possibilities it will offer toward creative growth.
— THE WORKSHOP, PART 1—
After settling in, we’ll start the plaster casting. Working in pairs, we’ll create a plaster cast of our hands or faces, building layers of plaster-infused gauze, removing the form, and then coating and smoothing it with plaster of Paris. Rather than precision and perfection, the goals here will be opening ourselves new approaches and skills. We also like to think of it as playtime!!
— THE MEAL —
While our castings are drying, we’ll share a delicious meal served in the dining room and have a thoughtful conversation about creating playful spaces where we can more fully inhabit ourselves and our creativity.
— THE WORKSHOP, PART 2—
When our appetites are sated and the plaster is dry, we will paint the forms we’ve created, allowing the colors, the lines, the shapes, the images, to surface.
—AT DAY’S END—
As our time draws to a close, we’ll move to the quiet courtyard to spend a few final moments reflecting on time together before you step back out into the word with your plaster casts in hand.
—THE LOGISTICS—
Saturday, August 1, 2026, 11:00 AM — approximately 5:30 PM
Colorado Springs, CO
—WHO CAN COME? —
Everyone is welcome in The Woodshop! No experience is necessary with casting, sculpting, or painting are necessary.
Space is limited.
$250 for one person | $450 for two people
(discount applied at checkout)
“Artmaking is making the invisible visible” – Marcel Duchamp