Our Italian Playground

Breakfast time at I Cigni You can see and smell the sea from our table and the air just crackles with light, infused with the aroma of fresh Italian coffee and brioches. Mmmm!
Our playground!

More on www.starstone.org

Painting in Italy this Summer

Michael teams up with his painting buddy from the Red and Blue Art Factory, Lorenzi Viscidi (and have a peep at www,redandblue-artfactory.com www.redandblue-artfactory.com too). It's their collaboration.

Here we will whisk away all the 'can'ts' from your aching soul and make you realise how accessing your intuitive creativity is as easy as slipping into a Turkish Bath but not in Istanbul.

We play, we laugh, make a mess, but we never make mistakes, simply because they don't exist, do they? No they don't.

And you will come away from this retreat with something magical; something which will stay with you forever.

That you can, and will, paint.

June 20 to 23.

more on www.starstone.org

Dinner all'Italiana

I know what you're thinking.
'They're just eating crisps and drinking wine'
Partly true, but dinner at I Cigni is typically Marchigiana; fresh, simple and local, because vegetables are grown in the orto (vegetable garden) and eggs and wine and olive oil are their own. Just up the road is the town of Campofiloni, famous throughout Italy for its pasta and the fish is caught locally too, being, as we are, so close to the sea. So close in fact that it puts sparkle into the air and sends cool breezes up the valley during the heat of the day and cools the summer nights too. Delicious dreams guaranteed, fully deserved after a day of workshops and of course relaxation.

STARSTONE RETREATS
or email us for info re our 2013 calendar

Unlock your creativity

StarStone Creativity Retreats

Word and Image Weekends

7 - 10 March and 19 - 22 September 2013

Enjoy a weekend of discovery through word and image in the beautiful and relaxing Italian countryside.

Come away with fresh insights gained through unlocking your creative potential in a playful and supportive environment.

Michael Eldridge (painter and photographer) and Colin Pink (playwright and poet) are both trained coaches and together will create an exciting experience of mutual creative discovery.

Explore the magic of words and images.Investigate the experience of time through illustrated Haiku. Spontaneously learn the art of great storytelling. Explore the stories you tell yourself that hinder or help you move forward. Above all discover the joy of liberating words from their everyday use and opening up new possibilities.

At StarStone

Word and Image

Word and image; two dates, March 7 to 10, Sept 19 to 22, 2013

Secrets unlocked forever, and ever.

 

Michael joins Colin Pink (above) for another one of their famous Word and Image retreats which they have trawled around Europe for the past four years.

What can I say about these?

 I would talk about  the magic of words; that you can work with them as easily as you can with shapes and colours.

That it is essentially about playing with words, about exploring the joy of liberating words from their everyday use and also about storytelling and what expressing ourselves in language opens up within our minds. Where words and then images begin to take on lives of their own, part of and apart from ourselves.

You will amaze yourselves with the way you learn to open up an avalanche of creativity; so much magical stuff hidden inside.

.......more on starstone site

Almost Wild

You just must not miss our next photography workshop April 25 to 28.
We shall adventure once more to the mysterious Sibillini mountains and you will wonder at your own newly found excellence which we guarantee to prise our of you; or maybe even surprise out of you.
We venture out from dawn to dusk, get back muddy and weary, shower, down a few bottles of wine (whilst dining of course) and then snuggle up in the seminar room to mull over the deeds of the day on a huge flat screen
Great to be with other gregarious photographers and to tell stories about ourselves.
We also dance, eat pizzas and drink organic beer (in moderation).
'Cos this is Italy. That sunny, happy country where political correctness has yet to arrive and probably never will. Photo is of tutor Mauro Magrini, meditating or sulking, can't remember which.
Here are some pics of last bash 

More on Starstone site

Hunting the Heart of the Blue Deer

Hunting the Heart of The Blue Deer with Art 

...your question, your vision, your prayer, your art...

An artistic journey integrating anthroposophical art therapy and the traditional healing philosophies of Mexico

facilitated by Eleanor Darley, artist & art therapist

Inspired by an approach to knowledge from traditional mexican philosophies this workshop facilitates a journey, using art, to focus intent, the will to heal or understand something, and the imaginative vision that comes from communicating with nature. We will explore how we can create art that lives! That embodies both personal wisdom and the gift of this that we can offer back to the world in our work.

The art and spiritual practice in indigenous cultures often demonstrates a way to uniquely attune to the environment and cultivate a state of empathy with nature. The interactive relationship with nature was much more inherent and part of a direct communication to learn to ‘see’ and the art produced contains the forms, colours and essence of what lives. It was often the responsibility of the artist to create an imaginative interpretation of knowledge from the spiritual realm and an offering back to the world, in reverence for the gift of life, and the wisdom imparted.

It is called, Hunting the Heart of the Blue Deer, because inspired by the Huichol traditions, I have come to know the arrows of intent open your eyes, and how the wisdom of the heart helps you to see. We will explore this, and it’s process further over the workshop.


Dates (provisional) May 8-13

For Starstone's 2013 programme click here