MIXED-MEDIA

In this hands-on workshop participants will explore in depth the inspirational, aesthetic and symbolic potentials of art materials, textures, images, objects and composition of all kinds. they will uncover the metaphorical language of artistic attractors, personal iconography, imagination and aesthetic sensitivity. They will experience how the creative process reveals itself through unconscious connections and unexpected synchronicities.

The workshop combines scrapbooking, collage, assemblage and mixed techniques on paper, on hard surface and on canvas with guided creation exercises, embodied explorations, creative writing and group sharing to inspire personal studio time. You will create 4 to 5 artworks during the workshop.

It is ideal for students who wish to explore their personal iconography and symbolic language as a starting point for imagination and inspiration in art making.

In this process you will learn or improve your existing skills to:

• Observe the inherent qualities of art materials and use them most creatively
• Explore conscious and unconscious symbolic language, dream images and imagination
• Embrace chance and randomness to tap into unexpected sources of inspiration and develop a new visual language
• Build up and shape layers with collage, assemblages, painting and other mixed techniques on paper, canvas and hard surface using a selection of tools and techniques
• Explore the aesthetic of composition, metaphors and symbolic language
• Learn to work with the complementary creative forces of chaos and order, masculine and feminine, Eros and the creative impulses, de-constructing and re-constructing
• Surrender to the shaping process of your creation, dialogue with your emerging work and experience creative synchronicity
• Turn your inner critic and other inner voices into constructive support
• Deepen your phenomenological observation of art materials, of the surface of your artworks and your experiential process 
• Use creative writing, poetry and the awareness/phenomenology of your experience  to reflect on your artistic process
• Present your artworks in an aesthetic  interdisciplinary way using installation, writing and/or performance
• Harvest meaningful insights from your journey and transfer them into the context of your life
• Benefit from the creative dynamic of the group

This workshop takes place in my art studio with a  group of 5 participants only. Each participant has a working area with easel, table and floor space to create inside the studio plus outdoor space if weather permit. The program is aimed for adults interested in expressive and symbolic contemporary art making and is designed to be inspiring for skilled and aspiring artists. Through this journey you will receive my personal support to extend your creative/artistic potentials.
All basic art materials are provided, if possible bring a selection of your own images, photos, postcards ... to weave your personal history/inspiration into your creation.