Healing through Art Advanced Course

Course Facilitator: Karin Werner

Date: Please contact us for details of the next course.

While the Foundation Course helps to re-connect us with the artist we are through exercises in drawing, painting and clay sculpture, the emphasis in the Advanced Course is on relevant themes in the context of self-awareness and personal development, and on art work with groups.

Working with art is an exceptional opportunity, not only to accept but also to enjoy what life shows us to be our picture in each moment. Our hand is guided by an inner stream of consciousness. Can we follow it outwardly in freedom with colour, movement and form to its completion?

For this course it is helpful if you have some working experience in the visual arts so that each medium can fully contribute to your exploration. We recommend that you take part in the Foundation Course first. Through personal and group projects we develop the tools to experience art quite naturally as a balancing and healing agent.

Apart from realising personal intentions, the course work allows for study and reflective time, and small group work incorparating different aspects of art for professional use.

What participants of previous courses have said about Healing through Art:

“Life Changing!! Many thanks.” K.T. “A very beneficial and special course.” N.C.

“ It was excellent and such a treat to be able to focus on personal creativity through art for two full weeks.” P.A.

“A great opportunity to go through your own transformational process using a range of art techniques in a supportive group.” L.W.

“Do it! It is fun and great learning.” T.B.

“It is a beautiful way to experience healing by making and being absorbed in colours and art, and the togetherness of a group, without working together all the time.” E.V.

“Unique blend of practical and emotional support facilitates profound personal development.” C.B.

“I have never found a course so relevant to my chosen path. Everyone can gain a huge amount of personal insights to guide them and skills to apply to working with others.” L.N.

“Thank you for excellent facilitation with openness, acceptance and support and the range of materials for our use. You will come out of it knowing that you’re an artist and how the process of doing art can be therapeutic.” L.W.

In 2009 the venue is at the new Moray Art Centre at the Park, Findhorn. This course is CPD approved.

Price:
£ 675 for those with low income
£ 790 for those with medium income
£ 890 for those with high income
Tuition, venue, art materials, lunches and dinners are included in the price.

You can apply online

For further information email us or visit Karin's website

For advice on accommodation please apply to the Findhorn College as early as possible. (Also see the list of private accommodation

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why different themes in the Advanced Course?

In each course we present a theme or lens through which the practice can be focussed and intensified. It highlights a more complex and rewarding relationship between art making and life.

Past themes were:
Inner and Outer Perception through Light,
Dark and Colour.
The Consciousness of the Imagination.
Creating with Spirit and Space.

In 2009 the focus is on developing and working with a personal motif which presents itself through life, and which is made visible through the natural world, through inner promptings, or through existing pictures, but always as an expression of what is present and relevant in the moment. We learn about patience to wait, patience to see more and more clearly, and we develop the courage to express the emerging motif artistically in many different and stimulating ways. Lastly we learn to complete with a motif, to acknowledge and appreciate a presence which is no longer entirely our own.

Group support, meditation and reflection are an important part of the process.

What is the difference between the Foundation Course and the Advanced Course?

In the Foundation Course we have established an understanding, grounded in artistic practice, of this particular approach of HEALING THROUGH ART. It incorporates spiritual developmental aspects as they are practised in the Findhorn Foundation Community. But it mainly lays the foundation for a joyful exploration of everything that art has to offer.

In the Advanced Course the possibilities for a deeper connection are wide open:
- through the relationship to different art materials,
- more skillful practice in drawing, painting and sculpting,
- a prolonged commitment to art making as a path for healing and health,
- integration into professional application.

When Healing through Art is taken on as a path then the question arises how to work with other people to widen the personal scope. Most of the learning in these courses is passed on through practice. Without personal practice, art becomes an academic subject, possibly devoid of aliveness in the moment. Working with and in groups is an important step. Groups have an invaluable part to play in that they mirror and support the individual and put their learning into a living context of appreciation, feedback and celebration. In groups art becomes a relevant tool for communicating, empowering and inspiring each other.

Therefore the Advanced Course is an opportunity to strengthen ongoing practice with many of the above mentioned aspects.