Make a collage from the images that call to you. Then write your way into what it’s trying to tell you.
An online workshop you do at your own kitchen table, at your own pace. No art or writing experience needed.
8 video lessonsPrintable workbookLifetime access7-day refund
This is a small way back in.
You begin with a stack of old magazines. You cut out whatever catches your eye, before you know why. You arrange the pieces until something feels right.
Then you sit down to write, and you already have something to say. It’s on the table in front of you.
“You think you’re describing the picture, but you’re actually describing yourself.”Ana Beij
A guided meditation to help you land at the table.
Cut out the images that catch your eye and glue them down.
Step back and see your collage the way a stranger would.
Simple prompts lead you from what you see to words of your own.
Each of these began as a collage. The poem came later, when I sat with it and wrote about what I saw. Yours will look nothing like mine, and that’s how it should be.
“This piece reflects my relationship with my shadow.”
I sow seeds in my shadowAnd watch what dares to grow.From that inhospitable dry soil,Blooms a harvest plentiful.I pick an apple of deception,Lure perfection into temptation,Knowing death as a transitionI escape my own damnation.
Standing on a pile of lessonsI look upThese experiences have made me whole.The masks I’ve had to wearShowed me who I’m notMy inner-most essenceis still intact.Standing on a pile of memoriesI remember who I lost,who I was,and who I’ll always be.This pile has broken me down,but has also brought me up high.The flower that grows from itMay sting sometimes,But it’s always in bloom.
I rest and trustIn the love from GodIn the wisdom of natureAnd in the knowingthat I’m a part of them too.I’m the lesson and the learner.I’m the observed and the observerBecause what I see in the skyIs being seen with my own eye.From the shooting star to the forest sounds.The healing that I look for is already found.All that I need is already mine.
From the Greek ἔκφρασις. Say it “EK-fruh-sis.”
It’s one of the oldest ideas in writing. Almost 3,000 years ago, the Greek poet Homer was telling the story of a war. In the middle of it, he stopped to describe one thing: a warrior’s shield.
He described it so closely, with its cities, weddings, farmers and dancers, that people could see it just from his words. Centuries later, an English artist used those words as instructions and actually made it. That’s the shield you see here.
Poets have done this ever since: look closely at a piece of art, then write what they see and feel. In this workshop you do the same. The only difference is that the art you write about is the one you just made.
The first video of the workshop, filmed in Bali, exactly as you’ll see it inside.
Pronounced like “beige”
Artist, retreat host & creative guide
I grew up in Brazil, watching my father draw portraits. I studied law, then left it for art. I designed art-based experiences for teams in Silicon Valley, traveled through more than 30 countries, and Bali changed everything. I held my solo exhibition, Within, in Ubud in 2023, and today I host creative retreats for women there. I live in Austin, Texas.
Collage and writing was my own practice long before I taught it. When I write about my own art, I find things I didn’t realize were there.
I first shared it at my women’s retreat in Bali, with a poet friend guiding the writing, and it became a lot of people’s favorite workshop of the week.
At those retreats and at my workshops, I kept seeing women who had lost touch with their inner artist. Collage and poetry brought her back faster than anything else I teach, so I recorded it for every woman who can’t fly to Bali right now.
Ana
Filmed at my women’s retreat in Bali, where this workshop began. Collage and poetry were part of each week. Tap a video to hear her.
“I learned to dig deep by using poetry and the steps, the small steps.”
“I realized I haven’t taken care of myself. So I just made the leap.”
“I have no artistic ability. But it’s all about expressing yourself.”
“Even if you don’t even know what that is.”
“The session was about noticing what was already inside me. I was still thinking about what I created and what I wrote after it was done.”
Manuela C., Texas · Ekphrasis online session
“I’ve watched women unexpectedly uncover grief, loneliness, longing, freedom, reinvention, aging, identity, or unresolved memories through images they felt instinctively drawn toward without fully knowing why.”
Some notice an image they keep choosing. Some find a want they’ve been ignoring. Some find out they were creative all along. Some cry. Some laugh at what they wrote. Most tell me it was easier than it sounds.
This is a creative practice, not therapy. When you slow down and look closely, feelings sometimes come up. You can pause anytime, and keep any part of it just for yourself.
In Bali, this practice is part of a week-long retreat. Here it’s filmed in Bali and Austin for you to do at your own table, as often as you like.
Secure checkout with Stripe. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. 7-day refund.
Try it for 7 days. If it isn’t for you, email me at ana@anabeij.com and I’ll refund you in full. You don’t have to explain.Ana
Yes. You cut out images that catch your eye and move them around until something feels right. Nothing is graded and nothing needs to look a certain way. The process matters more than the final piece.
The prompts start with small, concrete questions: what you see, what it might sound or smell like, what you noticed first. You answer one at a time, then gather your answers into a draft. Your first answers are usually the ones to trust.
Tap Join the workshop and pay securely with Stripe. You’ll get a receipt by email right away, then an email from me with how to reach your lessons and workbook.
There are eight lessons. Do it all in one sitting, or make your collage one day and write the next.
Old books, catalogs, calendars, brochures and free newspapers all work. The workbook has a page on where to find images for free.
You don’t need to like them. Choose the ones that pull your attention.
No. What you make is yours.
It can happen when you slow down and look closely. Meet whatever comes with gentleness. You can pause anytime. I’m not a therapist, just someone who has benefited from creativity my whole life.
For life. Many people come back to it when something in their life shifts. A new collage tells you something new.
Yes, it works well with a friend at the same table. Each person joins with their own access so you both get the workbook.
8 video lessons · Printable workbook · Lifetime access · 7-day refund
Ana Beij
