This beautiful piece of art was created by Jojo, aged 11. Just allowing her creative energy to play itself out, not feeling constricted by a conventional sense of what drawing is, this is what she produced. An outstanding piece.
Courses for schools, groups and colleges
Creativity and intuition
Creativity is the critical ingredient required in the cocktail of ‘abilities’ necessary for readying a pupil for the outside world. Sadly our education system considers creativity the least important requirement whilst maths, sciences, languages and the humanities take priority. Yet it is the blending of creativity with all the other abilities that enable a person to become an original thinker, to express themselves intuitively, allowing a blend of all these abilities to work together.
At some level, everyone is creative. I know of extraordinary interior decorators and musicians who cannot draw in the 'conventional' way, yet their work is inspirational. I even know some people who draw remarkably well but think that they don't. Why? Fear seems to have an extraordinary hand in so much of what we do. But what causes the fear in the first place?
My aim is to help people reduce these fears a little by showing them how they originate and that by moving away from the standard methods of drawing, they discover creative abilities that they hadn't realised they had before. It is in noticing these and surprising themselves that we encourage them to recognise their own creativity and to suggest they spend more time exploring it themselves.
Another point I convey to my students is that practising and gaining confidence in their own creative abilities and their willingness to make mistakes along the way will, more than anything else, give them the strength to be original - and in a world of extraordinary technological growth and strength, being confident enough to be an 'original thinker' is so important. We need original thinkers now more than we ever have before.
Programmes on offer
Half day programme
1) Introductory talk, with video and sound presentations to awaken new ideas.
2)Feather drawing on the floor- using twigs, leaves, feathers, stones and plasticine. The aim is to encourage students to 'draw' on a large sheet of white paper in ways they have never done before. Each item already has a shape and as a result, creative impulses encourage the student to place them together in all sorts of creative ways.
3) Same materials as above and/or black and white paint, but responding intuitively to the sound of music.
4) Round up discussion on what has been learnt.
This half day programme will encourage students to shift into a ‘new’ space using ‘new’ methods of drawing. They will surprise themselves with their abilities to make beautiful art. Left with images of what they can achieve, they will be encouraged to explore their creativity further and apply what they have learnt to what they are currently doing at school or college.
Full day programme
1) Introductory talk, with video and sound presentations to awaken new ideas.
2) Feather drawing on the floor- using twigs, leaves, feathers, stones and plasticine. The aim is to encourage students to 'draw' on a large sheet of white paper in ways they have never done before. Each item already has a shape and as a result, creative impulses encourage the student to place them together in all sorts of creative ways.
3) Same materials as above and/or black and white paint, but responding intuitively to the sound of music. Trying variations, using black and white paint.
4)Draw/paint impressions of a tree– a photo of a weather-beaten tree will be shown and discussed – then hidden – and they respond on paper with their feelings about the tree as a drawing. Selected music in the background.
5) Round up discussion on what has been learnt.
This full day programme, an expanded version of the half-day programme will encourage students to shift into a ‘new’ space using ‘new’ methods of drawing. They will surprise themselves with their abilities to make beautiful art. Left with images of what they can achieve, they will be encouraged to explore their creativity further and apply what they have learnt to what they are currently doing at school or college.
General
Using references to the work of other creative and intuitive artists such as Agnes Cecile and musician Francois Le Roux from South Africa, I show pupils how to shake off the constraints of old habits and find other exciting and inspiring sides of themselves.
What both of these short programmes will do is to help pupils discover and explore that part of themselves which perhaps they have not done until now – and if they have, then to encourage them to remember how important it is to allow their intuition and creativity to come forward and to feel confident about using it. So much of our educational system encourages us not to do this – we need to encourage our children to remember who they are and to ‘remind’ them that their natural creativity is a critical part of their many strengths and abilities.
The programmes are for anyone - not just the arty ones
Everyone is intuitively creative at some level. Many may think that they are not but they are and these programmes will help them re-connect with this forgotten side of themselves. As Pablo Picasso once said ‘All children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up....
All courses will be attuned to the levels and ages of the students.
Half day programme
1) Introductory talk, with video and sound presentations to awaken new ideas.
2)Feather drawing on the floor- using twigs, leaves, feathers, stones and plasticine. The aim is to encourage students to 'draw' on a large sheet of white paper in ways they have never done before. Each item already has a shape and as a result, creative impulses encourage the student to place them together in all sorts of creative ways.
3) Same materials as above and/or black and white paint, but responding intuitively to the sound of music.
4) Round up discussion on what has been learnt.
This half day programme will encourage students to shift into a ‘new’ space using ‘new’ methods of drawing. They will surprise themselves with their abilities to make beautiful art. Left with images of what they can achieve, they will be encouraged to explore their creativity further and apply what they have learnt to what they are currently doing at school or college.
Full day programme
1) Introductory talk, with video and sound presentations to awaken new ideas.
2) Feather drawing on the floor- using twigs, leaves, feathers, stones and plasticine. The aim is to encourage students to 'draw' on a large sheet of white paper in ways they have never done before. Each item already has a shape and as a result, creative impulses encourage the student to place them together in all sorts of creative ways.
3) Same materials as above and/or black and white paint, but responding intuitively to the sound of music. Trying variations, using black and white paint.
4)Draw/paint impressions of a tree– a photo of a weather-beaten tree will be shown and discussed – then hidden – and they respond on paper with their feelings about the tree as a drawing. Selected music in the background.
5) Round up discussion on what has been learnt.
This full day programme, an expanded version of the half-day programme will encourage students to shift into a ‘new’ space using ‘new’ methods of drawing. They will surprise themselves with their abilities to make beautiful art. Left with images of what they can achieve, they will be encouraged to explore their creativity further and apply what they have learnt to what they are currently doing at school or college.
General
Using references to the work of other creative and intuitive artists such as Agnes Cecile and musician Francois Le Roux from South Africa, I show pupils how to shake off the constraints of old habits and find other exciting and inspiring sides of themselves.
What both of these short programmes will do is to help pupils discover and explore that part of themselves which perhaps they have not done until now – and if they have, then to encourage them to remember how important it is to allow their intuition and creativity to come forward and to feel confident about using it. So much of our educational system encourages us not to do this – we need to encourage our children to remember who they are and to ‘remind’ them that their natural creativity is a critical part of their many strengths and abilities.
The programmes are for anyone - not just the arty ones
Everyone is intuitively creative at some level. Many may think that they are not but they are and these programmes will help them re-connect with this forgotten side of themselves. As Pablo Picasso once said ‘All children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up....
All courses will be attuned to the levels and ages of the students.
