Elsha Taya Travis
Artist-Poet-Creativity Coach
Elsha Taya Travis, How I Raised Myself, collage and acrylics on cork board
Elsha Taya Travis is an award-winning poet and artist, lucky to live in Hawai`i. Her poems have been published in various Hawai`i literary journals and anthologies, and her art has been exhibited worldwide.
Born on the island of Java and growing up through World War II, Elsha decided one day to gather the childhood stories of her artist friends who survived the war in different parts of the world (Algeria, Lithuania, England, Japan and Germany). Their stories became “War Child,” an art exhibit and reading. “War Child” was broadcast on Hawai`i Public Radio and published in the Spring 2005 edition of Bamboo Ridge Journal of Hawai`i Literature and Arts.
Three years later, Elsha heeded the call to move to Bali, where she opened a luxury guesthouse and was blessed with the opportunity to meet and experience some of Bali’s extraordinary indigenous healers. Bali’s vibrant culture of magic became a rich source of inspiration.
Back in Hawai`i, her life took a dramatic turn when oops!… she fell in love with her longtime friend and writing teacher, Mark Travis. How did that happen? She moved to Los Angeles and crash-coursed Mark’s breathtaking Travis Technique for Writing and Directing. Learning by doing, she traveled the world with him, teaching at film schools and Directors Guilds. After three wedding proposals by Mark (apparently one enthusiastic yes was not enough for him), they married just in time before Covid stopped the world and Zoom became a verb.
Elsha now offers provocative online courses on Writing and Artmaking. Scroll down to learn more about her newest offering, “Remember You Are Dreaming.”.
Coming up in September
A Yearlong ART & WRITING Online Webinar
BENDING YOUR REALITY TO THE MIRACULOUS
With ELSHA TAYA TRAVIS
“Make your mind so big, an airplane can fly around inside.”
-Soke Kiyohisa Hirano
Did you know…
- that every time you do something that excites you, you enter into a different reality where time stops and you get younger…
- that whenever you act on your joy without any expectation or insistence on the outcome, you raise your light frequency…
- that the smallest change you make, changes the whole entangled universe…
- that every second of your life you go through billions of realities…
- that you can choose to shift to another, more preferred reality…
- and that experiencing ecstasy is your birthright!
“Write, make art and dream as if your life depends on it!”
First Sunday of Each Month for 12 Months
Starting Sunday, September 1, 2024
Ending Sunday, August 3, 2025
10:00 – 11:30 AM Hawaii Time (1:00 – 2:30 PM Pacific Time)
Replays will be available.
Fee: $333 USD
MATERIALS NEEDED
Writing & artmaking materials, smart phone
EACH SESSION
Offers tantalizing prompts and erogenous exercises for writing and artmaking to rocket your senses and raise the frequency of your imagination. Failing and cracking up is par for the course.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
- Sep 1 – The Quadrant of Perception
- Oct 6 – Not This, Not That
- Nov 3 – The Joy of Wheels & U-Turns
- Dec 1 – The Wildness of Stones
- Jan 5 – Sound Scaping the New Year
- Feb 2 – The Red, Yellow and White Onions of Love
- Mar 2 – Mouths
- Apr 6 – Lost, Found & Stolen Stories
- May 4 – Mother Ships
- Jun 1 – Fireflies Rise from the Rotten Grass
- Jul 6 – The Center of the Lemniscate
- Aug 3 – The Goddess Never Not Broken
“I just can’t say enough about how friggin awesome Elsha is as a mentor. She is so willing to be wild and vulnerable that she emboldens me to aspire to do the same. Within the safe, humorous and welcoming space she creates and fosters, I can set myself free.”
—Heidi W., Colorado
“I never thought that something like this is possible online.”
—Rena R., Austria
“Elsha, being with you allows me to explore corners within where I don’t often go, even when “working” with art! It is breathgiving, and worth every penny and every nano second.”
—Christian T., Sweden
“I’m on fire and more inspired than ever before!”
—Mary O., Portugal/Hawaii
“Elsha’s exercises sparked my imagination and shattered walls, walls I didn’t even know I had, allowing me to find new ways to play with words and images about life’s important questions.”
—Sabra F., Hawaii
“We crossed over our own boundaries, we laughed and cried, we flew into another dimension. Thank you, Elsha.”
—Tess B., California
ELSHA TAYA TRAVIS is an award-winning poet and trash artist. Her art has been exhibited in the US and Europe, her poems and stories have been published in literary journals and anthologies, and her poetry book Don’t Trip over the Garden Hose is part memoir, part dream with the occasional crack and zing of a bullet gone astray. From her perch between the palms and monkeypod trees at Diamond Head in Waikiki, she leads a series of Wild Your Life writing groups with her crazy-joy-smitten-love Mark Travis, living the life of her dreams.
“I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.”
~ T-shirt sign
Elsha Taya Travis, Annunciation, acrylics on canvas
Every time I write, my massive family tree trembles.
If I’m lucky, a lie may shake loose, a secret may drop
to the ground like rotted fruit. When I write about
my mother never crying until she gets pregnant with me,
splat!… fruit of shame falls at my feet, bastard pregnancy
in need of safe haven of paternity. Who is my father?
—Elsha Taya Travis, from Family Tree & Other Poems
A 4-week webinar on WRITING and DRAWING your FAMILY TREE
With ELSHA TAYA TRAVIS
Details TBA
3rd Sunday of the Month
Starting January 19, 2025
Generate a story from a prompt
or work on your current story
$99 for the year
Time TBA
“To draw, you must close your eyes and sing”
– Pablo Picasso
4-Week Webinar by ELSHA TAYA TRAVIS
Details TBA
Elsha Taya Travis, Kali, collage and acrylics on canvas.
An Online Self-paced Course on
Designing Your Own 21 MAJOR ARCANA
With ELSHA TAYA TRAVIS
Details TBA
ONLINE WRITING GROUPS
Led by ELSHA and MARK TRAVIS
Each month, small groups of writers, directors and other creatives meet online with Elsha and Mark to share their autobiographical stories and learn more about the craft and magic of writing.
- If you have a project, like a memoir or a solo show
- Or if you just like to write and wish to take your writing to the next level
- And share your stories with a small group of friendly creatives who know how to listen deeply for the stories running underneath your story…
FORMAT
- WILD YOUR LIFE writing groups meet once a month (date and time set by members of each group)
- Groups are limited to 3 members each and meetings last 1½ – 2 hours on Zoom
FEE
- Annual fee is $240 USD, due the month you join a group
- Pay by PayPal: BoydenRoadProductions@gmail.com (please add 3% processing fee)
PREPARATION
- Write a short (5-8 minutes to read) autobiographical story about a specific event in your life
- Write it in first person/present tense
- Include a dialogue (2-3 characters max)
- Bring your story to the meeting to read and get feedback. Everyone has 25-30 minutes for reading and feedback. The shorter your story, the more time you have for feedback and questions.
- If you have a long story, break it up in scenes that can each stand alone.
To join a WILD YOUR LIFE writing group
“My experience of the writing group that I’m currently taking with Elsha and Mark is proving once again what I have found with every experience I’ve had with programs with Mark and/or Elsha; they both come prepared and use their innate gifts and years of experience to zero in on whatever the piece is I am working on to find the dramatic truth that makes the writing worth reading. As a team or individually they are the best!”
—STEVEN KATZ, Hawaii
“Spending time each month with Elsha & Mark’s writing group is a joy! Everyone involved is so terrifically supportive. Plus, Elsha and Mark’s individual and combined insight and laser feedback is always incredibly right-on. I highly recommend it.”
—MARCIA ZINA MAGER, Hawaii
“I joined Mark and Elsha’s writing group not really knowing what to expect. I’m blown away by the writing, the critiques, the completely refreshing and insightful feedback. I’m so very grateful to be part of this group.”
—VIK SHELDON, British Columbia
“This is the second year that I have been a lucky participant in Elsha’s monthly writing group, and I just can’t say enough about how friggin awesome Elsha is as a writing mentor and Goddess extraordinaire. Perhaps because she is so willing to be wild and vulnerable, she emboldens me to aspire to do the same. Elsha’s creativity and supportive feedback allow me to feel so deeply heard. Thanks to Elsha, I feel inspired to – within a safe, humorous and welcoming space that she has lovingly created and fostered – set myself free.”
—HEIDI WONG, Colorado
“This writing group with Elsha and Mark is forcing me out of my academic way of thinking. It is making me dig deeper for the underlying emotions. I feel in a safe haven and can let my real self out to play.”
—SUSANNE LINDBERG, Portugal
“Speaking my stories out loud and receiving feedback from Mark and Elsha, I find priceless, beyond valuable!”
—SABRA FELDSTEIN, Hawaii
“Now that I have found Elsha and Mark, I plan to never let them go! I have wanted to learn writing for such a long time, so this is just what ‘the doctor ordered.’ I’m learning to get in touch with my feelings, express them, listen well, as well as writing. Besides this we have a dynamic and fun group. I don’t think it gets any better than this!”
—JENNIFER MINCKS, California
“Wonderfully talented group who are thoroughly engaged. Interesting and unique instruction by Elsha and Mark. They both kinda blow my mind. I’m loving it!”
—ANYA SPIELBERG, Panama and Ecuador
“Elsha and Mark will surely take your writing to a new level. I am ever amazed at what they mine from each story – always a surprise!”
—SUSAN KILLEEN, Hawaii
“Elsha and Mark not only have a critical eye and steer a session with a steady hand, this magic pair listens with four ears and two hearts. At no time did I ever feel vulnerable during my confessionals as I was guided toward self-interrogation, and I believe that thanks to them I became in a relatively short time much better at writing. In fact, I’ve now written my first screenplay, something that one year ago I could never have envisioned, but again Elsha and Mark made it happen with the right amount of gentle critique and blunt encouragement. If you too have the opportunity to work with them, it will not be time wasted, and the value derived from their expertise, insights, and deep humanity, combined with their love for storytelling will not only last a lifetime, but will carry you forward to possibilities as yet unimagined.”
—RAOUL CLAIRE, Hawaii
“Super profound and transformative. I’m on fire and more inspired than ever before!”
—MARY OM, Hawaii
Bad Art Monday
I came to the arts late, ignorant, and bonkers about using found objects to make art: rags, junk mail, grocery lists, bottle caps, kitchen tools, dolls, machine parts, old keys, shoes… whatever I found in the street and on the beach.
One Monday, I invited some friends to come over to have fun and make “bad art.” I had no idea what that would open up in me.
“Bad Art Monday” became about a lot of things, like dropping the need for control and for making “good” art that is marketable and will be accepted in juried art shows, etc. It’s about going into unfamiliar and awkward places, about putting paint on paper and letting it rip, destroying what could be considered “precious.” And it’s a lot about being with friends, responding to each other’s work, eating “Bad Lunch,” and becoming fearless.
It’s what I still draw on in life and in making art.
Elsha Taya Travis, “I can fly” (2024)
(01) MONKEY BIRDS
Elsha Taya Travis, mixed media on wood panel
(02) ALL THAT JAZZ
Elsha Taya Travis, mixed media on wood panel
(03) FISH BELLY
Elsha Taya Travis, mixed media on wood panel
(04) TRUE LIES
Elsha Taya Travis, mixed media on wood panel
(05) HEART NEST
Elsha Taya Travis, acrylics on wood
(06) BLUE TARA
Elsha Taya Travis, acrylics on wood panel
(07) FRUIT STORIES
Elsha Taya Travis, acrylics on canvas diptych
(08) EPITHET (6-Word Memoir)
Elsha Taya Travis, mixed media & found objects on cardboard box
Testimonials
“Do you believe in magic? It is in this webinar. We went deep; we were on fire; we emptied out our heads and opened our hearts. It was safe, healing, and good. Astonishing, really. We crossed over our own boundaries, we laughed and cried, we flew into another dimension. Thank you, Elsha.”
“My heart’s so full. You, Elsha, continue to change my life.”
“Elsha has a rare gift in her ability to provide a safe space in which to open up and examine one’s greatest fears or losses and, while fostering acceptance, guides you towards transforming them into beautiful words, images and shapes. A healing and wonderful experience!!”
“Thank you, Elsha, for the wonderful experiences. I can honestly say I have been “Shaken” and mean that in the most wonderful of ways. I also want to thank the entire group for the ability to share so honestly and in such a trusting environment.”
“Aloha Elsha. Well, I’ve gotten my money’s worth! Seriously. I’m startled, shaken from my tracks, from what’s emerged from the first class. So I just wanted to say, again (and again and again) how deeply grateful I am for you being in my life – and how deeply moved I am by who you are and what you (magically) do. I came to this workshop innocently, thinking, oh, it will be JUST a fun drawing and writing class. But between all your deep questions, commentary, and poetry AND the blind contour drawing, something happened. To my utter shock and surprise, my portrait was incredibly beautiful to me (in a million years I never ever expected to feel that way) and its message was literally “there is a deep, hidden sacred beauty that is you, always there, emanating always.” It rocked me. All day I felt it, on the verge of tears…”
“Elsha, thank you for this very special, unusual and incredibly touching webinar. It still reverberates in my soul. I never thought that something like this is possible online.”
“If you want to enrich your creativity and open a new door, this webinar is a wonderful guide. Elsha magically holds the space and guides you through exercises that absolutely enhance creativity. I didn’t know how deeply this workshop would touch me; another layer of self-doubt flew away.”
“Powerful for the soul in search of unlocking buried creativity and unleashing self-healing.”
“Elsha, thank you for that wonderful experience. You create an atmosphere of safety that is essential for taking the kinds of artistic and personal risks involved. I’m delighted and inspired by how much you are obviously enjoying yourself!”
“You and Mark have given me so much love, courage and tenderness, I feel so spoiled. It is as if my reason of being is suddenly acknowledged…somehow, some way. The other students were also so dedicated and verbally developed, and I could see there is the sun in your part of the world. I did expect the course to be good, of course, but what I meant is that in these weeks it has really done a lot more to me… I cannot describe what it is yet. For now, it’s a recognition, an energy, an accepting all together, like being in a pressure cooker… something like that, and I hope it explodes and when it does… Oh-oh, who knows. Thank you!”
“Elsha’s exercises sparked my imagination and shattered walls, walls I didn’t know I had, allowing me to find new ways to play with words and images about life’s important questions.”
“The class has taken the lid off my self-containment and restraint. It opened up for me the terrain of possibilities and I found myself tiptoeing into the waters. Listening to the other members, their experiences, reflections in response to Elsha’s very provocative (!) prompts, their conversations with each other, has shaken me up to see how able/reluctant I am to be open and naked in my explorations in writing and sharing.”
“Elsha, I am so very grateful for you and your webinar! It has been the greatest gift of this year for me. It has given breath to my soul, truly! It has opened me up and awakened my heart and soul… which are still in major gratitude mode!”
“Elsha, being with you all in this has allowed me to explore corners within where I don’t often go, even when “working” with art! Yet even more rewarding than my own personal expression however has been to tune in to and listen to you and all the participants, the depths we share, the paradox of variety and sameness. It is breathgiving and worth every penny and every nano second. It has helped me open myself again to approaching art and self-expression in a way I haven’t really done since I was living in an ashram. You have all my gratitude and I look forward to interacting again!”
“Lord love us all! With all our fabulous imperfections!”
Locations
Honolulu, Hawaii
Los Angeles, California
Prague, Czech Republic
Cologne, Germany
Auckland, New Zealand