Play Full Ground

Play Full Ground Dream Lab at Play Full Ground is a creative learning studio for curious teens in Monterey, California.

Through independent projects, collaborative experiences, and open studio practice, we cultivate creativity, confidence, and meaningful connections.

This week, Emily and I met to talk about what might come next for Coastal Conversations.And... we have some pretty excit...
09/19/2026

This week, Emily and I met to talk about what might come next for Coastal Conversations.

And... we have some pretty exciting ideas. 🌊

There’s a field workshop taking shape, but I’m going to let it stay a little mysterious for now.

I’ve also given Coastal Conversations a home on the Play Full Ground website, where you can see how this started and where it might go from here.

→ Link in bio

More to come.
…

One thing led to another.During our Coastal Conversations gatherings, someone mentioned being curious about encaustic pa...
09/18/2026

One thing led to another.

During our Coastal Conversations gatherings, someone mentioned being curious about encaustic painting.

That stayed with me.

I started wondering about seaweed and materials that could hold it, preserve it, make something of its delicate forms. That wondering eventually led me to resin.

These little seaweed resin coasters were one of the experiments that came out of it.

And then they became a small thank-you gift for Emily, for the conversations and collaboration that started all of this.

One curiosity leads to another. 🌿
…

Some things happened because we met.A collaborative drawing continued after the gathering ended.One of the young artists...
09/17/2026

Some things happened because we met.

A collaborative drawing continued after the gathering ended.

One of the young artists who joined us left a tiny painting at the studio as a gift.

And Aga wrote about the gathering for Monterey County Weekly, carrying the conversation a little further.

The gathering was over, but somehow it wasn’t really over...

Two gatherings around seaweed, paper, ecology, curiosity, and conversation.The first was small and intimate. The second ...
09/16/2026

Two gatherings around seaweed, paper, ecology, curiosity, and conversation.

The first was small and intimate. The second brought a larger group together.

Same invitation. Different people. Different energy. Different ways of being together.

I enjoyed letting each one become what it needed to be...

A small gathering can leave the studio in many ways.During Coastal Conversations: Between Tide and Paper, while particip...
09/15/2026

A small gathering can leave the studio in many ways.

During Coastal Conversations: Between Tide and Paper, while participants were making their seaweed pressings, I was making these little packages for them to take their work home.

Different kinds of making, happening around the same table.

A small piece of the gathering, wrapped up and sent out into the world...

08/30/2026

Curiosity $3.

Cold Topics, by Co-Creation Studio.

Long Legs (ALE #-0) has left the studio. 👽📬
…

08/26/2026

Seaweed, paper, water, stories, conversation.🌿🌊

A few moments from our first Coastal Conversations: Between Tide and Paper.

And this Sunday, we gather again.
…

08/26/2026

Sometimes the environment is part of the learning.

A table, some materials, an unfinished idea, a question that keeps moving.

A glimpse inside Co-Creation Studio at Dream Lab.
…

What happens when an artist and an ocean nerd hang out? 🌿🌊A conversation can become an experiment.An experiment can beco...
08/20/2026

What happens when an artist and an ocean nerd hang out? 🌿🌊

A conversation can become an experiment.

An experiment can become seaweed on paper.

And suddenly we’re talking about art, ecology, color, algae, AI, education, ecosystem engineers, and everything in between.

This is where Coastal Conversations began.

We’ve been experimenting with seaweed, paper, water, color, and pressure. The pieces are still under pressure, and we don’t know exactly what they’ll look like when we take them out.

Tomorrow, Emily and I will continue the experiment together with Between Tide and Paper.

Come curious.

Stop by, chat, make something, or just see what happens.

Thursday, August 20
at Play Full Ground
All ages welcome...

Collaboration has layers.This summer, I’ve been making participatory work with two different community partners, and eac...
08/19/2026

Collaboration has layers.

This summer, I’ve been making participatory work with two different community partners, and each collaboration has opened into many more.

With the Wahine Project ( thewahineproject ), a wave painting became something unexpected when the ocean participated. Then the participants traced their bodies onto the back of the painting. One shy participant wasn’t ready to lie down, so we traced his shadow instead.

In Painting Without Paint, I created a framework, but participants decided what a painting could be, how to make it, and what instructions to leave behind.

And within both projects, collaboration kept happening:

with community partners
with young participants
with each other
with the body
with the shadow

between adults and children
between an idea and an unexpected outcome

I’m interested in what happens when collaboration isn’t just something we organize, but something that keeps multiplying once people enter the work.

On Thursday, another collaboration begins.

Between Tide and Paper 🌿🌊

Come curious...

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550 Lighthouse Avenue Suite E
Monterey, CA
93940

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