NOTES TO MYSELF: VISUAL ART JOURNALING

"The artist is a receptable for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web."
Pablo Picasso

An art journal can be a space for questions that may not have answers, a place for thoughts that may otherwise not have a home and a safe container for emotions so that they do not have to be loose in the world.  It can also be a place to play and experiment with art materials.

In this retreat you will spend two full days in my studio making visual art journals.  You will learn lots of new techniques that will help you create interesting backgrounds, add text and images.  The journal you make will also allow you to hide journal entries you don't want anyone to see. This is a weekend of play, but the pages you make may also have something to share with you.  The journal you create will serve as an ongoing "portal of inspiration" and a place to record what you want to express in your life and your art.

The cost is $175 for both days including all art supplies and lunch on both days. 

Email me to register.  Class is limited to 6 participants.

We don’t just use our cameras to make an image; we use every part of ourselves to envision and create it. Our “vision” is both literal and metaphorical, encompassing not only our eyes but also our intellect, our emotions, and our other senses as well as our passions, our likes and dislikes. We put all these things into each moment of observation. The photographer Dorothea Lange said: “In a sense, your photographs are your autobiography.” Our images show how we see the world and what is important to us. To express ourselves in a powerful and meaningful way we need to know the language of vision to understand what makes an image come alive.

So we will spend the first part of the morning exploring the language of vision which will guide us to become more soulful photographers. We will talk about composition, how to experiment with different perspectives, and most important how to open our eyes to see the world in a whole new way. With this new knowledge we will then take our cameras on a scavenger hunt to gather images to play with once we return home.
After lunch, using photographs of doors we have brought with us (or those provided by the instructor) we will create one or more symbolic Doorways of Insight. Doorways have a symbolic significance in our lives. They are thresholds to our inner and outer realities. Your camera is a tool for rediscovering the world outside – and inside – your door. We will learn a number of different ways to add meaningful words to the image hidden behind the door. We will mount these doors on canvas panels, but you can also bring your journals and create Doorways of Insight directly on to your journal pages.

Using old photo prints we will create journal background pages of depth and interest. We will add color to these photo backgrounds and then using our photographs we will cut and collage these onto our backgrounds and add meaning with words and embellishments. We will learn to draw on our images to add our own “mark” and style to our photographs. You can even use transparencies of your photographs to add mystery to the pages. We will learn how to use old film negatives to add interest and framing to a series of images and how to create a foil background to our images. The pages we create can then be used individually in our personal journals or can be joined together with lace and fabric to create an individual one-of-a-kind book. We will be working on 5”x7” old photo prints which the instructor will provide (the instructor will also have 8”x10” and 3”x5” sizes available if you would prefer to work on this size). A sewing machine will be available so you can machine sew your books pages together.

Between now and March is a perfect time to think about the images you want to collect for your creation, and go on an artist’s date with your camera to find them. It might be statues in an old cemetery, some close-up flower images, photos of your collection of frogs or owls. Use the time before Art and Soul to start looking around you for inspiration. You’ll find when you focus on finding something you want to photograph you start seeing more of them.

The expressions used in photography tend to be somewhat militant: “shooting a picture”; “aiming your camera”; “capturing an image” and so on.  Catherine sees it differently.  To her, in photography, we “receive an image”, seeing deeply into it.  When we make a picture, we can then express not only how we see the world, but how the world makes us feel.  We connect with the essence of things.  In this retreat we will be guided through a series of exercises that hone our ability to use a camera as an extension of our deepest feelings about the object we are observing.  Participants will also be shown how to create a simple handmade book to house their “Mindful Moments” of photography created during the weekend.

Living Prayer: Bringing the Sacred to Life through Creativity and Action

Creativity and spirituality are two flowers from the same root. They originate in the depths of silence. They exude beauty and evoke awe. Entering into our creativity is like entering into prayer---it is mysterious, emotional, hope-filled and humbling. When we create, we connect with Source to conjure up a gift that will bring light to the world. We allow ourselves to be a vessel that the Divine Itself can flow through. This workshop is a chance to steep yourself in the sacred and open yourself to its guidance. In these days together, you will

 • tap into your spiritual consciousness and cellular wisdom

• discover how to jump start your creative energy

• find ways to expand your intuitive bandwidth

• connect the dots between your creativity, your spirituality and your soul's mission

• create work that is soulful, beautiful and authentic

We will turn your visual intentions into a creative piece of art that you can frame and hang where it will be a constant reminder of how you want you life to look.  We will also create an Intention Prayer to be recited daily while looking at your Intention Mandala.