School of Intuitive Painting
American
& International Art Safaris
I am pleased to announce two new avenues of art study that keep Art Trek in step with the times and new ways of learning. I am developing classes for The School of Intuitive Painting that will launch at Studio on the Mesa in Bolinas with single and multi-day intensive mixed-media classes. Here we will explore art making as process; creativity and consciousness; and the spiritual in art. Nurturing the inner artist in all of us is our way of contributing to a better world. I am also developing art practice courses for teachers, caregivers and parents that will empower them to pass these new skills along to students, patients and children. We offer a warm and supportive retreat environment in which to explore art making as a vital means of personal and communitiy expression. At times we will combine movement with art making in order to calm the nervous system and prepare the ground for our inner work as artists. An art retreat of this nature offers the opportunity to focus without interruption on the cultivation of art skills and the individual artist voice. It also offers the camaradarie of like-minded people and a safe container in which to explore art making and creativity.
For years we have taken groups of American painters abroad to find inspiration in unique off-the-beaten path cultural settings full of visual delight. With the creation of American Art Safaris, we will be inviting our friends from abroad to join us here in California, New Mexico and Hawaii to experience American art practice, culture and visual delight. The international flavor of these programs is sure to enchant and inspire. As with our current programs to France, Italy and French Polynesia, our US classes will focus on technical skill, creativity and the nurture of the individiual artist's voice. Please see our Destinations Schedule for details.
At the School for Intuitive Painting and on our American Art Safaris, we will explore the mediums of watercolor, fluid acrylic and collage techniques. Class demonstrations and discussion will include wetting the paper or canvas, color, brushwork, compositional energy, atmospheric effects, textual elegance, and the use of watercolor crayon, acrylic inks and polymer mediums for collage. We will also experiment with the beauty of accidents, back-up puddles, color saturation, assemblage and sculptural collage. One of our goals as painters will be to discover the personal palette of colors and shapes unique to each of us and to make use of their full expressive power. Wet-into-wet painting techniques will be emphasized.
During some multi-day classes, artist instructor Carol Duchamp will present an image and process slide show focused on a brief history of the spiritual, psychological and expressive in art. Participants in all programs will receive a solid foundation in water media painting (watercolor and fluid acrylic) and collage techniques. Our process oriented approach will enhance creativity and nourish the artist in one and all. We make the invisible visible (Paul Klee) through an art practice that combines skill building with the nurture of the intuitive power of self-expression. Subjective as well as objective reality will be part of our painting practice. We will attempt to waken our inner muse to the psychological and spiritual aspects of our visual journey. Art as play, rhythm as composition, spontaneity as presence, essence as manifest – these intentions reveal our art making as integral to the human spirit and exemplary of our common humanity.
All classes and retreats are an excellent venue for anyone seeking enhanced creativity, self-expression through the visual arts or an infusion of vitality into their current art practice.
Our
location at Studio on the Mesa in West Marin County,
California is a destination in itself. A ten minute stroll across the Mesa
grasslands and you are gazing out over the Pacific Ocean. A twenty minute
stroll and you arrive in a small fishing village as quaint as any you've ever
seen. Along this section of the California coast there are exquiste beaches,
mountain trails and a unique progressive culture that advocates for sustainability,
organic farming and the strength of local communities.
Art Trek 2010 classes to southwestern France are scheduled for June 21-28 Collioure and June 28-July 6 Languedoc/Roussillon. Participants may enroll in one or both art journeys. A return to French Polynesia on board the luxury cruise ship the Paul Gauguin is scheduled for July 24-31, 2010.
Art Trek 2011 classes are scheduled for late June/early July to Umbria, Italy, for September to Santa Fe, New Mexico and for December to Tahiti & Huahine, French, Polynesia.
Unique Features: The atmosphere of camaraderie we provide is unsurpassable. Painting and traveling with other artists is a learning process in itself. Because our focus is art, be it painting, museum visits or interaction with guest artists, our creative energies take off in a manner often difficult to realize at home. Classes and itineraries are well paced and reflect years of experience in organizing art classes both here and abroad. California as a new destination offers artist the same degree of hands-on focus and opportunities to enjoy the San Francisco Bay Area, Sausalito, Stinson Beach and Pt. Reyes National Seashore.
