Ancient Echoes: Gel Printing/Book Workshop in Morocco

Visual Anthropology in a Lush Book Journal, Layered with Incredible Gel Prints and Ephemera!

In this special four day artist workshop in the Sahara, we will explore Morocco through the lens of visual anthropology, becoming artists who collect, interpret, and transform the signs and textures of a place into living works of art. Our vessel for this journey is the Gelli-dori, a unique book structure I have developed that is at once a junk journal, a travel journal, and a serious book as art form.

The Gelli-dori is intentionally designed to be lush and expandable, a book you can stuff with layers of imagery, textiles, ephemera, photographs, and fragments of the world you encounter, and it still flexes beautifully to hold it all. It is a structure that accommodates abundance.

To prepare, participants will receive a pre recorded video tutorial before departure, showing how to build the Gelli-dori. This way, you will arrive in Morocco with a primed book, ready to receive the treasures of our journey.

Once in Morocco, we will spend four immersive workshop days filling this structure with:

• Gel prints inspired by Moroccan motifs and colors

• Collage and mixed media techniques

• Textiles, fibers, and fragments gathered from our travels

• Photography, drawing, and watercolor studies

• Symbolic imagery that connects us to the visual history of Morocco and beyond

Together, we will explore how the act of gathering and layering as visual anthropologists helps refine your unique artistic eye, personal color palette, and expressive language across mediums.

Why Morocco?

Morocco has long been a crossroads of cultural exchange. Marrakesh itself is a place where North Africa, Europe, and the East meet, its markets, textiles, ceramics, and architecture bearing the imprint of centuries of travel and trade.

When I think of the Silk Road, I see its connective tissue reaching not only into Central Asia, but westward into the Mediterranean, where Morocco, Portugal, and Venice became key nodes of exchange. Venetian silks, glass, and gold all tell stories of traders moving across these routes, stories mirrored in Morocco’s own rich traditions of pattern, dye, and ornament.

In Marrakesh, we will step into this living history. We will visit markets and ateliers, gathering images and inspirations, then return to our journals to transform them into a personal archive of our journey, a Silk Road of the self.

Evening Journaling Circles

In addition to our daily excursions and workshops, we will gather in the evenings for Silk Road Journaling Circles, informal communal sessions over dinner where participants can share pages in progress, exchange ideas, and dive deeper into the meanings of symbols and iconography in our work.

What You Will Experience

Alongside the four day immersive workshop, the full fourteen day journey gives us time to:

• Collect imagery, textiles, and objects from souks and artisan studios

• Participate in photo walks through Marrakesh’s streets, gardens, and historic quarters

• Document architectural patterns, tilework, and textures that inspire journal entries

• Share inspiration and techniques in community with fellow artists

What You Will Leave With

By the end of our time together, you will take home:

• A richly layered Gelli-dori journal, brimming with the colors, textures, and spirit of Morocco

• A deeper understanding of how to use travel as fuel for your studio practice

• A fresh well of imagery and ideas that can inform future paintings, prints, or mixed media works

• A sense of connection to Morocco’s history, to the Silk Road’s artistic echoes, and to a circle of fellow artists