How To Begin Workshop FAQs
How will I receive my daily task? - You will receive your task via email every day at 7am. If you haven’t please check your junk mail folder, or contact producer@louiseorwin.com
How long should I spend on my task? This is up to you, but I recommend putting aside 1 hour every day minimum to watch/read the workshop material and respond to it. The idea behind this workshop is to create a gentle invitation to reconnect to or reignite your artist practice, and I wanted this invitation to arrive in such a way that it would be flexible enough for you to fit it into your life however you see fit. As with most processes of this kind, I would suggest that the more you put into the workshop, the more you will get back, but I also want to be sensitive to the fact that we all lead incredibly busy and stressful lives (and possibly more so in the wake of 2020!), which is why I have left this open and up to you. As outlined in the TIPS page, I also suggest you read the email in the morning, so that you can plan your day around your task. We’ve included a rough idea of how long each task takes in the emails every day (please note this is a minimum time guide- in many cases, you will probably be able to spend a lot longer on the tasks if you want to/have time!).
What if I miss a task/day? If you miss a day or task for personal reasons that is totally fine and won’t prohibit you from carrying on with subsequent days of the workshop (ie you won’t miss anything essential). However, the arc of the workshop has been designed in a specific order, so if you can catch up on the task (eg by doing 2 in one day) then I would suggest that would create the best workshop experience. You can also come back to it later/after the workshop has finished! In short, don’t sweat it- just do your best.
What if I have a question or don’t understand the task? The best way is to ask a question via the How To Begin community page, where we or other workshop participants can help you. You can also email us: hellohowtobegin@gmail.com
How can I find additional support from Louise? Louise will be active in the Mighty Network all week, so you’ll be able to interact with her or ask questions or advice there. If you want to, you can also email her at louise@louiseorwin.com
What do you mean when you say ‘create an art project’ in the creative task? I’m using the term ‘art project’ as a way to encompass as many different artistic forms as possible, in order to reflect the diversity of artists on this journey. You can take this term to mean anything within your artistic form/practice: it could be a piece of writing, a short performance, some movement, an idea for a film, a piece of music or a song etc. Please also don’t be intimidated by the term- when I say ‘art project’ I don’t mean you have to create a finished, polished product. In fact, what you create can be as rough and ready as you like. The idea is that you simply keep creating every day, to keep you flexing your artist muscle :)
Do I have to be there for the Sunday live group session? Yes, attendance to this session is an essential part of the workshop.
What happens at the Sunday live group session? This will be a chance for us to debrief, share, and reflect together. You can think of it as a closing ceremony for the workshop! It will happen 2-5pm on Sunday, and we will send through a zoom link for it during the week.
How can I prepare for the workshop, or find tips to have the best workshop experience ever? You can find that here :)
Where is the invitation to join the How To Begin Community Space? You’ll find the link in the Welcome email sent out before the workshop began.
I don’t understand how to use the How To Begin Community Space - Head to the Start Here page on the Mighty Network for more tips!
Do I need to use the How To Begin Community Space if I don’t want to? - It is compulsory for the workshop to sign up to the space, create a profile and introduce yourself on the INTRO YOURSELF page as your first task. I would also like you to commit to posting once a day, and supporting others by cheering/commenting on their posts. After this though, how you use the space is up to you! As mentioned in several places, I wanted to create somewhere where the workshop group could find a sense of community and there are a variety of ways to connect as a community on this space: from introducing yourself, to uploading your creative tasks, to sharing your experiences, encouraging others, asking questions… it’s up to you! I would heavily recommend uploading at least some documentation, or evidence of your creative task/endeavour each day, both as a way of staying accountable to the workshop and also as a way of creating a healthy ecosystem for the artist community undergoing this workshop. You can upload anything you’d like- from an excerpt of a piece of work, to an image of it, a short clip or a full on masterpiece! If you feel too shy to upload your work for the day, then please consider uploading something about your experiences for the day.