current offerings

sanctuary: A FREE personal Monthly writing salon

with Dawn Thompson via Zoom The first Wednesday of the month from Noon-1:00pm January-June 2026 Sign up any month until June
"I have a sense of these buried lives striving to come out through me to express themselves." ~Marge Piercy
Reserve a free writing date with yourself each month...
There is always a reason not to write. Always 101 other things that need to be done. We think about that story we have wanted to complete for years, the novel we wish we could start, the poems we want to re-vision, the memoir we hope someday to pass on. And somehow everything else seems to come first. The truth is creatives need time, space and, yes, silence, which for many of us are in short supply. Sanctuary is meant as a monthly love offering from me to you, a writing date with the Self where you are given a window to focus on whatever writing project you are working on. You can also use this time simply to write. After a welcome centering poem we will have 45-50 minutes to write at our own pace on our own work in a structured and sacred container of community. We will gather back onto the screen at the end of each session to share a few lines we have written with the circle as a way to close our time together. While this space is meant as a room of our own, it is also an alchemical vessel of collective creativity. You will look up and see fellow women writers involved with their own craft, in their own spaces, and feel the solidarity and inspiration of a writing community. This circle offers space for creative expression for women of all ages and backgrounds. All women are welcome, including cisgender, transgender, and those whose gender identity aligns with womanhood. To sign up each month and receive our zoom link please contact Dawn prior to each session at: dawnrenethompson@gmail.com or 503.568.6145. Images: Feather - Melody Noraas Candle - Hans Vivek/Unsplash

heart of summer: Poetry & Art in the garden

Fiber Art Wall Hangings: June 8th, 6:30-9:00pm & Kinetic Poetry Sculptures: August 3rd, 6:30-9:00pm with Margaret Hartsook and Lisa Kagan
Location: Both retreats will be offered in Margaret’s garden and at her home studio, Studio of the Imagination, located in the Creston neighborhood in SE Portland. Upon sign-up, participants will receive more detailed location information. In the case of inclement weather, the program will be offered inside. For more information or to register for Fiber Art Wall Hangings on June 8th click here For more information or to register for Kinetic Poetry Sculptures on August 3rd click here This program offers space for creative expression for women of all ages and backgrounds. All women are welcome, including cisgender, transgender, and those whose gender identity aligns with womanhood. No writing or art experience is necessary. All art materials, as well as snacks and drinks, will be provided.
To find out more about Lisa & Margaret, click here Regeneration~Mixed Media by Lisa Kagan

Art in the garden: a celebration of creative community

Sunday, August 23rd 10:30am-5:00pm with Margaret Hartsook and Lisa Kagan
Location: This retreat will be held at Lisa’s garden and studio at her home in the Woodstock neighborhood in Southeast Portland. Weather permitting, this retreat will be held entirely outside. In the event of inclement weather, we will hold the retreat inside. For more information about this retreat or if you would like to register for this program, please click here This program offers space for creative expression for women of all ages and backgrounds. All women are welcome, including cisgender, transgender, and those whose gender identity aligns with womanhood. No writing or art experience is necessary. All art materials, as well as snacks and drinks, will be provided.
To find out more about Lisa & Margaret, click here In Truth ~ Mixed Media by Margaret Hartsook

VISION: A MONTHLY WEDNESDAY morning writing devotion

In-person this Fall with Dawn Thompson
Dates: 4 Wednesday Mornings: September 9, October 14, November 11 & December 9, 2026 Time: 10:00am-12:30pmCost: $190 Location: Kitty's in NE Portland
"...When women circle, they help heal each other through letting unspoken truths rise to the surface. When women circle, they heal the planet with their trust, truth, laughter, tears, and vulnerability..."
~Excerpt from "When Women Circle" Collective Poem from VISION, Spring 2025
As creatives living in an uncertain world, we all need space and time to gather in community to share our vision and our voice, to be heard and to listen.
In this monthly in-person four-part series, we will come together in sacred space to put our thoughts, feelings, stories, poems, imagination and wisdom onto the page. We will also have the opportunity to listen to other women's stories and to find ourselves in them. When we are deeply heard and honored, our writing and our unique voice become stronger, more honest. Our words become pathways to a better life and a better world.
No previous writing experience is necessary. This circle offers space for creative expression for women of all ages and backgrounds. All women are welcome, including cisgender, transgender, and those whose gender identity aligns with womanhood. For more information or to sign up please contact Dawn at: dawnrenethompson@gmail.com or 503.568.6145. Image: Photo by Trish Coffey

Writing from Center: A thursday morning writing devotion

with Dawn Thompson via Zoom
Dates: September 10-November 19, skipping October 15 (10 weeks) Time: 10:00am-12:15pmCost: $350 "Thank you for creating this sacred pathway for our sharing, as women, as glowing stars, as wild writers in the wilderness of hope." ~Lynn Sherman, Writing from Center Participant
“The magic of writing practice is you start where you are – observing, remembering, listening – and this simple act of being where you are leads, inevitably, to a place you didn’t know you needed to go to, but in following the thread you go a little deeper into understanding.”
~Erin Lee Gafill, “Drinking from a Cold Spring: A Little Book of Hope”
These days, we all long for connection. Connection with our deeper self and connection with one another. Devoting yourself to a writing practice is a powerful way to foster connection with the larger human story, with your personal stories and with your capacity for creation, vision and inner peace.
The page is a room of your own where you can listen for parts of yourself that are calling, where you have space to contemplate your lived experience and where you can access the compass of your poetic heart.
In this weekly on-line workshop, inspiring prompts are provided as doorways into the writing. These prompts invite your critical mind to step aside in order to allow the great wisdom of your authentic voice and your imagination to rise to the surface.
When you write in community and have the opportunity to listen to other women's stories, you enter the encouraging realm of our shared humanity. You gather essential tools as a writer and receive the medicine of being deeply heard. In community, your writing becomes stronger, more honest, full of vision and heart.
No previous writing experience is necessary. This circle offers space for creative expression for women of all ages and backgrounds. All women are welcome, including cisgender, transgender, and those whose gender identity aligns with womanhood. For more information or to sign up please contact Dawn at: dawnrenethompson@gmail.com or 503.568.6145. Image: mymind/Unsplash

Nourish ~ Inspiring Creativity & connection, FALL 2026

A weekly writing and art mini retreat series with Lisa Kagan
“There is a little plant called reverence in the corner of my soul's garden, which I love to have watered once a week.”~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Dates & Time: FALL DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON Location: Family Heirloom Arts Studio in SE Portland, the Woodstock neighborhood. This program offers space for creative expression for women of all ages and backgrounds. All women are welcome, including cisgender, transgender, and those whose gender identity aligns with womanhood. No writing or art experience is necessary. All art materials, as well as snacks and drinks, will be provided.
To find out more about Lisa, click here For more information about this retreat series or if you would like to register for this program, please check back soon. Against the Odds, Mixed Media by Lisa Kagan