Tending The Creative Spirit
Depth-Oriented Art, Writing, and Creative Processing Workshops
in the Greater Sacramento Area
“Taking a workshop or class from Dawn Blunk lets me simultaneously get in touch with my creativity and reset my life energy. She is knowledgeable, empathetic, and passionate, and she helps her students find those things in themselves.”
— Ginny M., Writer and Retirement Coach
When Life Shifts, Your Soul Longs for Creative Expression
If you’re seeking a meaningful creative outlet, authentic community, and practices that honor both your wisdom and your growth, you’ve found your sanctuary.
Through mindful movement and breath work, depth art processes, and playful thought explorations, our workshops offer space to notice and reflect as well as tools to creatively integrate inner knowledge for more resilience and vitality in our daily lives.
Led by Dawn Blunk—a creative writing and process coach with specialized training in applied somatic depth psychology and decades of experience as a writing professor—our workshops honor your journey while nurturing the creative spirit that’s wanting to emerge.
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Upcoming Workshops
My Story: Memoir Writing Workshop Series
Sierra 2 Center, Sacramento, CA
Saturday,
7/18
from 1 to 3 p.m
Reading the multi-faceted and emotional personal journeys of others can breathe inspiration and a sense of knowing and connection into the fabric of our own lives. What personal experiences of yours are waiting to be expressed and shared as brave declarations of existence, learning, and evolution?
In this workshop participants will learn a variety of creative writing and thinking processes that may be applied to any personal memoir writing project. By combining playful thought explorations with basic embodiment and breath practices, you'll learn to create uniquely meaningful and informative artistic expressions in the genre of memoir writing, bringing to the surface deeply held knowing and awareness.
No prior writing experience needed. Each workshop contains new material and activities. All materials are included although students are encouraged to bring their own notebook, sketchbook, or laptop.
Layers of Experience: A Palimpsest Workshop for Revealing Hidden Narratives
Sierra 2 Center, Sacramento, CA
Saturday, 7/25
from 1 to 4 p.m.
Inspired by the ancient practice of reusing materials, this workshop introduces the art technique of Palimpsest - a layered approach that reveals traces of what came before.
Through intuitive exploration and shifting perspectives, participants will be guided through a reflective, hands-on process to uncover and express inner narratives. Students will learn to blend diverse elements like paint, paper, fabric, and found objects to create a unique mixed-media visual artifact representing your inner experience, intuition and personal narratives.
Supplies: A variety of material, paper and art supplies will be provided. Students may bring personal cards, letters, clips for books or magazines, and any ephemera or written mementos that you wish to incorporate into your artwork, and should wear an apron or clothes that can get paint on them. Participants may also bring their own journals and sketchbooks if they wish.
Rattles & Wants: Clay and Depth Process Workshop
Alpha Fired Arts, Sacramento, CA
Saturday, 8/8
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Costa Rican Pottery Rattle c. 800 to 1525 ©️ https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Heightening rhythmic beats and stimulating the senses, rattles have been used throughout the centuries in sacred ceremonies with many cultures believing this ancient instrument bridges the spiritual and earthly realms.
In this workshop, ceramic artist Linda Gelfman and creative writing and process coach Dawn Blunk combine the powerful medium of clay with a guided self-inquiry process intended to open channels to deeper knowing and inspiration. Connect personal wishes and creativity in this unique clay-making class to ignite playful exploration and insight as you construct your own rattles and craft a powerful, audible representation of your intentions.
No previous art experience required; all materials provided and includes a bisque firing of personal artifacts created during our exploration.
Light snacks provided, students are encouraged to bring water or non-alcoholic beverages.
"Tending the Creative Spirit” 6-Week Online Workshop Series
Sundays,
8/30, 9/6, 9/13, 9/20, 9/27 & 10/4
1 to 3 p.m
via Zoom
With all the demands on our time and attention, intentionally carving out a space for exploring our own creative expression can be challenging. The more we nurture our spirit of imagination and engage a sense of curiosity about our own inner worlds of thought and inspiration, the more we can bring that magic into our daily lives to share with others.
Our weekly pocket of time will be used to enrich personal resources, manage resistance around desired-but-stalled projects, collaborate with well-intentioned but outdated, critical inner voices, and nurture creative habits with useful project-tending strategies.
Participants will engage in a variety of creative practices including nervous system regulation through embodiment and breathwork, playful thought explorations with guided active imagination as well as journaling and mark-making—all intended to cultivate inner awareness and enliven our creative spirit.
No prior art or writing experience necessary. We will be working in a small group, creating a safe, supportive container for our explorations, so finding a private, quiet space where you won’t be interrupted will help us achieve this. Wear comfortable clothing for movement, which may happen off camera, but generally we want to keep video on during meetings to encourage presence and connection.
Cost is $210 for the entire 6-week series. Register by 8/2 for a $60 discount. Registration also includes an optional one-on-one, follow-up session (to be scheduled after the series ends) to discuss your personal creative projects and aspirations in more detail.
Please email me if you’re interested in registering for the next series, and I’ll send you more details.
Check back for times and locations of upcoming workshops
or click the links below to receive updates and read about more workshops.
Meet Dawn Blunk
Dawn brings together decades of creative expertise with deep psychological insight to guide transformative creative experiences. With 25 years teaching literature, composition, creative writing, journalism, and film studies at American River and Sierra Community Colleges, she understands how stories shape us—and how we can reshape our stories.
Her journey through producing and directing local film projects, combined with nearly a decade covering Sacramento's vibrant arts scene for Sacramento Magazine, gave her an intimate understanding of how creativity moves through community.
These experiences revealed the profound connection between artistic expression and personal transformation, leading her to specialized studies in depth psychology.
Today, Dawn weaves together her literary background, somatic movement practices, and depth psychology training to create workshops that go beyond traditional creative writing. Her approach honors the body's wisdom alongside the mind's creativity, offering mature learners a path to authentic self-expression through embodied creative practice.
Whether guiding participants through embodiment/breath work, depth art exploration, or transformative writing exercises, Dawn creates safe, nurturing spaces where creativity becomes a doorway to healing, growth, and genuine connection—both to Self and community.
Dawn holds specialized training in applied somatic depth psychology and continues her own journey of creative exploration and embodied learning through professional trainings and workshops.
Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
~ Socrates