Delve into the depths of your inner landscape and explore a variety of methods designed to help you more accurately align with your most essential core self, then practise maintaining pathways there to deepen your relationship with yourself, and create authentic and focused pieces in your practice.
This course is for writers, visual artists, performers, makers and poets. Some basic understanding of and experience in meditation is helpful, but not essential.
Firstly, you will explore, refine and strengthen your own inner dialogue, then make confident outward expressions to build on, going forwards.
You will explore new territories of process, be challenged with vital questions about who you are, what you are doing and how to bring a greater sense of purpose into your practice. Whether you are established in your creative career or just starting out, to succeed on this course, you will need to be open to possibility, willing to commit fully to the process and able to engage whole-heartedly. Full attendance is essential.
On the first evening, there will be an introduction to the course and orientation session.
Approximately sixty percent of this course is about finding or refining your ‘voice’ through personal process, self reflection and group engagement. Forty percent is about gathering the new information and exploring expressions in potenially new materials, such as clay, writing, drawing, movement and sound.
The emphasis is on gathering new information and self-awareness through self-reflection, not creating finished work. This is potentially deep and challenging inner work, done both privately and with the group, through meditation, visualisation and group process to deepen your self-awareness. Time spent in nature and body-work help locate, identify and ground what emerges through the inner processes. As you explore listening to your inner voice, you will also discover how you feel about it, and what response it gets when you express it in different ways. This is the sensitive part of the process, because the voice is likely to be very new. You will be supported to allow this voice to be heard, to evolve and to form.
By the end of the course, you will have reviewed your choices, gained a greater sense of purpose in your practice and strengthened the foundation from which you create. You will also have gained tools to support your focus, thinking and making in a more intuitive way, and gained clarity in your creative goals. You will leave the course with increased confidence, strengthened inner knowledge and a more intimate connection with your creative self. This course provides tools for going forwards with continuing alignment. It is not about creating finished pieces.
Previous experience is not necessary – the course is suitable for both beginners and those who are more experienced and are already familiar with some of the processes.
Arrival Day - this is the first date listed above
Courses start early evening. Residential students to arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm.
6.45pm: Welcome, followed by dinner (included).
8 - 9pm: First teaching session, attendance is essential.
Daily timetable
Classes 9.15 - 5pm, lunch is included.
From 6.30pm: Dinner (included for residential students).
Evening working - students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with their tutor's permission and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed.
Last day
Classes 9.15am - 3pm, lunch is included.
Residential students are to vacate their rooms by 10am please.
(This timetable is for courses of more than one day in length. The tutor may make slight variations)
Included
- The cost of providing some clay and A1 cartridge paper is included in the course fee. There will also be some basic drawing materials, ink and acrylic paints to get started with.
What students need to bring
- Sketchbook: In the weeks leading up to the course, pay attention to materials which attract you and that you enjoy using. Where possible, gather them up to bring to the course. These may include a special sketchbook, pens, pencils, pastels, chalks, crayons, etc. and may also include glues, scissors, string and found objects from nature.
- You may like to bring a camera or device to photograph your work as you go along.
- Please bring at least one object of deeply personal significance.
- Please bring any items you may have from the available to buy list.
Available to buy
- Available from shop:
- A good variety of art and craft materials, including sketchbooks, drawing equipment, paints, brushes, etc.
Additional information
It is a fundamental part of the work that there is full group participation. Each session builds on the previous one. It is therefore important that when you book this course, you ensure you can attend each and every session. Full participation with all exercises, group dialogue and experiential processes is vital for the course to be a success for everyone.
Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes covered footwear (no open toes or sandals).
