No, we’re not going to Iraq. In ancient Greece, Mesopotamia meant literally: between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. (from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία: “[land] between rivers”; Hebrew: ארם נהריים (aram naharayim)Metaphorically speaking, we travelled to Mesopotamia last weekend for our retreat to ‘meet in the middle’.
The focus of our retreat was twofold: to embrace the research aspect of presenting materials and to establish a new concept to us; co-teaching teams. And so, we were meeting in the middle. Cindy, Amy and I (Kris) met for a few weeks to set up the experience while Roleen travelled to a friend’s home in Los Olivos (Solvang area) to scout out a new retreat location.
The teachers were given an assignment to individually research an unknown material and bring techniques to share as well as supplies to work that material.
We were hosted by Ron and Pam Dohmeyer on their private working vineyard. You can just imagine our city girl exhale as we dipped and rolled through the lovely hills. Ron is an artist and has taken to making wood bowls. Pam is an interior designer who has created an embrace in every room. Ron gave us a demonstration of wood turning.
Starting with a stump ready for the hearth, Ron used a lathe to turn a bowl in front of our eyes.
A gift! Ron engraved the bowl for our 2012 retreat.
Roleen greets us with a reminder of our purpose.
On each wooden block, Roleen had gathered a quote and stone. The stone, Sodalite, brings balance and solidarity, perfect for group work. With this reminder, the teachers were suprised to be joined into co-teaching teams to combine the materials they researched.
Yoli and Silvana chose a seat in the vineyard
Yoli had researched clay and Silvana, storytelling. Together they created turtles to illustrated a story of teamwork, and while they talked (facilitated by Kris) they discovered their strengths and weaknesses as a team and how to support each other.
Sam and Jessica settled in near the house.
Sam had researched natural dyes for wood and Jessica brought sewing techniques. Together they framed sewn leaves in wood frames dyed from coffee, nutmeg, grass, blackberries and other foraged elements. While they talked, facilitated by Kris, they found many similarities in working styles.
Flora, Adriana and Cindy worked on a hillside in the vineyard.
Flora had brought embroidery and Adriana wire. With Cindy facilitating thier conversation, they addressed working challenges and came away feeling like sisters after sharing their upbringing.
Ivana and Katherine settled on the garden lawn.
Ivana brought felting and Katherine investigated flower arranging. Amy, Cindy and Kris joined them to create a bridge between Ivana, just back from maternity leave, and Katherine, who will share the job with Ivana.
Cynthia researched bookmaking and Paola discovered fabric manipulation. Together they created a book that is filled with our Los Olivos retreat photos and teacher reflections. This book and Ron’s bowl are on the entrance table of the school.
After reflection on the second day, we feel the importance of the give and take of relationships and the strength working together can provide. We’re excited to bring this approach back to school and to further investigate materials to share with the children.
Thank you for the time to connect together as a staff. – all of us at NSW
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