I’ve been putting alot of thought into ways to communicate the possibilities for creating Peace Tiles – outside of the workshop environment. I’ve noticed that one of the challenges – both in communicating the essence of “collage” as well as the possibilities for creativity within that 8-inch square “sandbox” I like to call a Peace Tile – is moving participants away from what we learned as collage back in third grade: cutting out pictures we like and gluing them to a surface.So I’ve selected a few Peace Tiles I like, and tried to – very superficially – “dissect” them and distill some ways for participants to think about using the surface of the wood panel. The guide include:

• A brief but “in-depth” discussion of the basic composition an outstanding Peace Tile from India
• A brief discussion of the relationship between foreground-background elements and materials selection in an outstanding Peace Tile from South Africa
• A page of “patterns” and accompanying discussion of each
• Two brief exercises to get participants thinking and sketching

Anyway, here’s the design guide – I’d really be very interested in your feedback. For example, do you think it needs a glossary, or can I leave some of the “conceptual work” to teachers…?