“Message in a Bottle” is an interactive writing/visual arts workshop delivered collaboratively by Inkflow’s David Jacobson and visual artist Ellen Brook, where many participants experience public or private moments of catharsis through the wonders of self expression.
Event attendees write a letter or other message based on David’s instruction and prompts, then join Ellen, who guides them in creating artistically decorated bottles before they insert the written message to complete the proverbial message in a bottle.
Message in a Bottle events occur at host organizations serving a range of ages, from Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula to Pal Center to Senior Coastsiders. Many of the events are free thanks to generous support from Dragonfly Community Arts.
Latest Workshop: Pal Center Middle School Students
Previous Workshops at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula
Message in a Bottle Origin Story
Ellen Brook is a mixed media artist and fabric and fashion designer, who creates abstract mixed media paintings and silk hangings and designs and creates women’s apparel and accessories. Her current mixed media “Message in a Bottle” series explores themes drawn from discovering 100 letters written by her grandfather — whom she never met — as a young soldier in World War I. (See one of the letters at left).
A decades-long friendship between Ellen and Writer/Educator/Consultant David Jacobson led the two of them to create the Message in a Bottle series of interactive writing/visual arts events.
Ellen’s work has appeared in solo and group art and fashion shows, such as “ARTWEAR” at San Francisco’s de Young Museum, and as album cover art for musicians. She is on the Advisory Board of the Fashion and Design Department at Cañada College in Redwood City and is a juror for Art Bias Studios and leads their curation team. A self-taught artist, Ellen holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a master’s degree from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (now part of Middlebury).
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