Rackmaninov concert, pianist Lorenzo di Bella

Our paintings from the exhibition Isola dei Morti were projected onto a huge screen behind the pianist.
Here is mine, looks ominous on that scale which I think is nice.

Michael,
Starstone

Bocklin

This is a continuation of the exhibition at the Permariemonti Gallery where 14 artists, myself included have contributed work towards a 'Homage to Bocklin' the famous Swiss painter.
This concert is a recital of the music of Rachmaninoff by three pianists where our work will be projected during the performance. Nice idea, meet for a pizza beforehand?
And this is the painting I contributed

Refreshed Starstone site up soon.

Michael

Our programme of retreats for 2014

Am busy putting together our programme for 2014 and what an assortment of treats we have in store dear reader. Our year begins in February and ends in November, longer because we are planning retreats in Venice now and the UK too.
Our retreats will feature BIG painting, Word and Image, 'Hunting the Heart of the Blue Deer', Energetics and Music and Voice amongst other tasty items.
Running in conjunction with these we offer our One2one service for those folks who prefer individual attention in their creative pursuits.
And that of course is what Starstone is all about, creativity.
That God given Gift which you simply must not ignore in your life.

Michael
Details on our website www.starstone.org

above BIG Painting by Michelle Rumney who co-leads Big Painting workshop

BIG PAINTING Workshop

Where you paint BIG and become yourselves Big again by doing so (these things go together you see)

Painting BIG with Michelle Rumney and Michael Eldridge; May 8-11 2014 in Italy

Big brushes, big colour and big canvas

BIG YOU!

So many people try to paint without letting themselves really get into the physicality of the materials - the session includes painting with your non-dominant hand and painting on BIG surfaces with long handled brushes to help get over the tidiness and get into the fun of it'.

It's very powerful and once you've painted out the dark cobwebs in your brain, you really begin to realise how cramped your life has become, you come to realise that you can begin to paint your every day, paint your life. It's when your creativity becomes one with you and you with it.

http://www.starstone.org/calendar/big-painting

And take a peep at our video

Jamna's questions

Jamna: How can I motivate myself to be creative when I've been away from it for a while?

Michael: An easy one to answer but a possible struggle to perform.

So, imagine I'm a dentist and you email me telling me you haven't cleaned your teeth for a while and how can you get back to doing so. Uhm! I would say, best thing to do would be to start cleaning your teeth; the proper way, up and down and twice a day. Problem solved. Then, being a dentist I would probably send you a bill for £300.

So, doing by doing, making by making. If you do, it's done (and the world is a brighter place). If you don't, it's not (and the world is a little duller)

And just as not cleaning your teeth makes you feel lousy, so does not creating beyond yourself.

Got it?

And remember how painting makes you feel good, even though there are initial struggles and mental knots to untie.

Well, you may ask, what's stopping the action?

Answer; the day to day mind, that's what.

It hates anything new and just wants you to chug along on two cylinders, always pulling you back to your default state because that's where it can control you.

But you know from your Italian venture that the you it assumes is you is merely a construct which wants you to listen repeatedly to its dull monotony.

The creative Jamna whom you were thrilled to meet and who pulled aside the veils of your hidden self, that's the real, everlastingly there Jamna. Don't be hoodwinked.

Wake up.

And clean your teeth!

Creativity and the business mind

What our creativity and business workshops are about

They are essentially about reopening the channels of creativity in peoples' minds. Art types, poetic types, business folk, academics; to us they are all one of the same, simply because most human minds are the same at birth. What we do is bring folks back to their innate creativity through games, strategies and labyrinthal journeys, to a spot where they are able to choose to access either the rational part of the mind or the poetic, at need and when the circumstances demand. And to do this we take folks back to the point in their lives where the divergence first takes place, i.e. the advent of the educational process and the confounding pressure of social conditioning. And from here we build.

Exhibition of new paintings

                                        
                         OMMAGIO ALLA SIBILLA

The exhibition opens July 6 and is at the Per Mari e Monti Gallery in Civitanova Marche.
The show is entitled 'Homage to the Sibilla', the local Goddess, and grew from my fascination with the Sibillini Mountains which was intensified when I moved away for there last year (although they can still be seen from the town I now live in) Was up there over Midsummer's night trekked up to her cave with some Shamanic folk. Cold up there and we found a meteorite (they seem to like landing there for some reason)
You are all invited of course

Creativity Retreats: Questions part three

Jamna: "You said that creativity can help solve all sorts of problems in peoples lives and you referred to the benefits it has in maintaining good mental health that is apparent in other cultures/countries.  So can it help with depression?"
Michael: I would separate the two simply because this is exactly what we have done as a civilisation. Of course we have developed art therapy as a sort of diversion from grave problems which exist. I know from real life experience that so called indigenous people think that westerners (and I mean here peoples who have adopted what we now call Globalisation which is a metaphor for greed and acquisition) .......that westerners are mad. Well, I guess you've heard all this before; that we have separated ourselves from Nature and see it only as exploitable resources which allow us to produce and consume more, etc etc. Currently India is a prime example. And as for our seas? Well, have we fallen asleep as a species? I reckon so.
A better way to understand this would be to join Eleanor Darley's creativity retreat in the Autumn, 'Hunting the heart of the Blue Deer'
She has worked with indigenous people in Mexico, with children especially, and has recounted to me some of her experiences. Much like the Native American Indians, they have a sort of inbuilt healing culture with ceremonies and rituals which address the fundamental issues of life, its twists and turns when they occur. I have witnessed Lakota healing ceremonies and have seen what we would call mental issues just, well, dissolved. I have also attended a beautiful coming to womanhood celebration where a young girl just danced in proud happiness for a hour inside a huge circle of people, in happiness for her first 'Moon'
So those are my thoughts. Just little examples of the enormous differences which exist, thank God, still on our planet.
Cultures we can refer to in search for meaningful solutions to our problems of collective madness.
There is a huge Aboriginal gathering at this moment in the Northern Territories of Australia. Those people are trying to remember;to bring back their cultural heritage, as are the Maoris of New Zealand and the NA Indian peoples, African peoples too. 
And the nearest we can get to it? I feel that it's only going to be possible to get back to those blue clear spaces as individuals now, because so called western culture has gone to far.
How do we do this? We must love and respect Nature, beauty,and search for the poetic within ourselves. And that creativity, to create beyond ourselves, is a path along which we might be able rediscover these treasures which are only hidden. They have not fully disappeared yet, but the western mechanistic drive towards domination would want to eradicate such heresy in the same way as they will destroy Gezi Park in Istanbul.
There's a great film about these issues I have just watched. I'll send you a link to it (when I can find it)

"To find out more about Starstone's creativity retreats, please visit starstone.org" or contact Michael at michael@starstone.org

Creativity Retreats in Italy. Jamna's questions (cont'd)

I quite like this conversation with Jamna.
It puts me on the spot and I learn about myself as I write....

She writes; MichaeI I have a question for you...
If I or someone else came to you and said. I don't paint, I'm not a photographer and I don't write, except for when communicating with people via email. but I need to come up with better more compelling ideas for growing my business and doing things differently and stand out from my competitors. I also need my staff to be more creative too. As an expert in creativity can you help me?
I'd be interested your thoughts around this.

Michael; This is a very easy question to answer. Imagine, if you will, a world without creativity. No art, music, poetry, literature, beautiful architecture or design. Such a place would be dark and sinister and we could not exist in it; wouldn't want to. We would quickly become mad. So it can be argued that without art in all its manifestations, we would not exist on this planet. We would have curled up and died off a couple of million years ago and disappeared like the dinosaurs.
But instead we have evolved with a desire and a compulsion to create beyond ourselves. For our species, this is a creative planet.
We all of us know too, that we are born with this creative drive. As adults we watch young children create and play furiously all of their waking hours if they are allowed to and then...and then? Well at a certain age we expect them to get serious, to become rational and we begin to test and judge them according to adult, worldly, constraints.
All this is common knowledge but my answer to you is simply this; that this creative part of us never disappears, just waits for us to return like an old faithful dog. And that's why I say it is easy once you know how to say hello once more to part of yourself you have become blind to.
As for business, (you mention your staff), this is easy too. Just assure them that it is OK to play, to laugh and to create a mess, and then do it with them. Assure them too that they are not sacrificing anything, that their rational part will not be destroyed. You see, both the rational parts and the poetic parts of our brains are necessary in our lives. We just have to
learn how to utilise either at need. We choose.
A lot of forward thinking companies are waking up to and giving credence to (and putting into practice) this fundamental truth and are finding that their employees are happier, feel valued as important subjects rather than objects in the workplace.
Workshops and retreats are useful in this regard to get these ideas across to management level. It is happening slowly.

"To find out more about Starstone's creativity retreats, please visit starstone.org" or contact Michael at michael@starstone.org

Jamna's One2One

This is a new painting by Jamna, created after her One2One
weekend in Italy with Michael.

She writes ......

'Feeling an excited tingle.  All done from my imagination. Thanks Michael would not have had the confidence to do it, if it wasn't for you.'

Makes me feel good does that.

One2ones in Italy, read more

"To find out more about Starstone's creativity retreats, please visit starstone.org" or contact Michael at michael@starstone.org

Creativity Retreat with Jamna

Jamna writes...

Dear Michael,

Having been back in normal life for a week after our amazing creative weekend together, I'm still feeling the buzz. I went through so many different emotions during those 4 days, some nice, some not so nice, but the end result has left me with a positive glow that others around me are noticing too.

After that first day of just having fun, talking, eating and painting, I felt completely relaxed. Day two was such an adventure, I've never seen so much beauty in one day; snow topped mountains, natural waterfalls, sparkly turquoise blue waters and lush green valleys. My heart sang all day!

Day three had a very different feel, I awoke feeling a little tired (too much excitement from the day before I think!) and I also noticed a bit of anxiety. I think this is because I knew what was coming; that 2m x 2m canvas (bigger than me) was awaiting me in the studio. As the morning went on, I could feel my anxiety growing and my head also started to get busy, but the Tai Chi lead by yourself helped calm me a little.

Then the really scary stuff happened, you placed that chair at the top of the canvas and asked me to sit on it. I’d been avoiding this canvas for the last day or so and now you were making me face it. The worst bit was when you announced that you were leaving me alone with it. At this point, I wasn't liking you very much (sorry), I felt like I was being abandoned; left alone with this scary task ahead of me. Scary because I had no idea where to start or what to paint and worst of all; I was worried about making a mistake.

The anxiety was growing again, but as I got started on this canvas and things started to develop, the anxiety slowly subsided and gave way to a feeling of excitement; now I was getting into the flow of things and something was being created. Despite this I wasn't convinced about my creation as a legitimate piece of art, and when you came back to have a look I remember feeling embarrassed. It seemed a little naïve and silly, I was annoyed because I was expecting something a bit more intelligent to come from me. Anyway, you were very positive about it and said it was “lovely” or “beautiful” of something like that. I remember thinking “he would say that”.

I then got to a point where I couldn't do anymore, it felt complete, but I was still struggling with the idea of this being a piece of art. I realised then that I was judging it against my ideals of what art “should” be and needed to accept it as it was.

The next morning when we returned to the studio, something unexpected happened. I saw something very different, I took one look and I fell in love with my creation. At this point my heart rate increased, my breath started to deepen and catch and I had to put both my hands over my heart; I felt like it was expanding with joy and might explode. To me my painting felt alive, it seemed to come off the page, it was three dimensional and there was movement. It felt like there was a powerful energy surrounding it that was communicating with me.

I continued to look at it and I felt a connection, I now understood how art could be so moving and that’s when the tears came.

Every time I think about this experience, I'm blown away. I came to Italy thinking I’d be painting landscapes and that you’d be on hand to show me how to improve on my technique. I never expected anything like this and since my return, lots of questions have been buzzing around in my head.

Jamna: Do you have a take on my experience? Can you tell me about it?

Michael: You travelled a great distance in a short time and were able to do so because the time was right for you. Your rational mind battled and resisted at times of course but your true self just kicked this aside because it knew what it wanted; has always known.

J: You seemed to know exactly what I needed, how did you know this?

M: Don't know really how this works for me with people. Best way to explain it is that I scan, just absorb in depth, messages that folks give out and ignore their left brain chatter and notice shifts. Sounds funny but it's as near as I can get to explaining.

J: I didn't realise it at the time, but I now see that you took me through a process. Can you tell me about this and your method of teaching?

M: Well, the process comes pre-packed in you. You have, everybody has, all the ingredients within them and all I do is orchestrate, just like a conductor of a wonderful orchestra, waiting for pauses and nuances. The orchestra is of course you.

J: Do you do the same with everyone or is it different with different people?

M: As above but always varying in time and intensity. One2Ones are the most powerful because the desire and intensity is strong but group work can be effective too but needs re-enforcing.

J:  You talk about creativity being within everybody, but where does it come from?

M: Wish I knew, it just does. For convenience I call it the Creative Collective and I know that it just comes when clever resistance ends and innocent wonder returns.

J:  Is creativity just about making art?

M: No, it is a state of being which pervades our everyday existence once we have chosen to stay awake.

J:  You said that I’d experience a shift and that this would now show in all areas of my life, can you give me an   example of this?

M: No, except to say it is enough to stay awake and wait in wonder. You will see.

J:  Will this help in my job?

M: It will help you understand your real relationship with your job. Who you are, what it is and how to match the two creatively and effectively.

J asks again:  For clarity, are you saying here that this process will help me understand myself better and therefore my purpose and how I pursue this through my job?? 

Yes, it's throwing up conflicts already I can see by your email. If your nature is alien to your work, you will of course suffer. But you must, must, run parallel in this process by keeping alive your creativity. keeping it strong, as by this you will have the courage to jump clear when the time is right, which will not be far away.

J:  How do I sustain this now that I am back into everyday life?

M:  Colour your life, shape your shapes in life just as you did for your painting. And make imaging as much a daily habit as cleaning your teeth.  Make marks, memory marks continuously.

And I mean imaging as in painting, drawing, getting it out of your head: But this incorporates itself immediately into what you call your life, but of course there is no distinction between the two. Make marks, draw, paint, keep this process alive. Kick it off from the very moment you open your eyes in the morning

Jamna Owen joined Michael for a One2One Creativity Retreat here in Italy last weekend. These are her reflections and then her questions to me which she has kindly allowed me to post.

"To find out more about Starstone's creativity retreats, please visit starstone.org" or contact Michael at michael@starstone.org

Giotto RED

Forget about the content, it's only San Francesco showing off his stigmata. It's the colour that got me. I saw this painting at the Louvre restored and the red was mind smacking not dull as in this image. And it brought back memories (and this is how the mind deals with stuff we need to remember, n'est-ce pas?).
I was a '68 art student who like all us students in that heady year were on our way (almost, almost) to storm the Bastille. I was standing on a chair painting a large canvas in the art studio when my tutor came by and started mumbling something about my painting and I began haranguing him about his fascist attitudes and his utter uselessness in the grand scheme of our revolution (I did, poor chap, I did).
He calmly replied 'But Michael, that red you are painting just isn't right'. And I went on about setting fire to the College, or him, or something radical like that.
And he just as calmly repeated 'But Michael that red just is not right'
And I fell of the chair crash bang wallop.
A lightning strike!
On being present.
So thank you Giotto for that memory.
Memories are great when we store them in a treasure box in our minds to open when we choose.

London is exhausting

Nipped back to the smoke for a few days, arriving on the day of Thatcher's funeral and later finding ourselves in the middle of the Marathon, crushed by a million people. Had to escape to Paris for a couple of days to see the Giotto exhibition at the Louvres. Packed it was. Took an hour to find the show mainly because my French has deteriorated (can't they learn English for God's sake?) and also because the Gallery guides just say 'How should I know' when asked directions. No change there then. The French!
Did you know Giotto was a businessman and had a whole bunch of artists painting for him? More like a conductor than an artist. Somehow wish I hadn't come across that bit of information.
Loved his use of red though.
Inspiring

John Lennon

Just finished reading 'Wanting enlightenment is a big mistake', the teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn. The book brought back memories of my years of teaching at Bournemouth Art College where we were into all that mind emptying stuff. We were dubbed the Zen School of Photography; not a title we gave ourselves, I should add, but given by other colleges to label us as nuts I guess; not serious, don't go there. Of course it had the opposite effect and we were overwhelmed by applicants every year and made it policy to interview every one of them. Took ages.

So, mind stuff. Seung Sahn talked about the six doors through which we engage the sensory world of experience, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. And this I did with students on my classes, gradually weaning them away from ideas and projects and taking them into journeys within themselves and thus to the very source of their own creativity which in turn drew from the life spring of the universal creative collective, or whatever one wished to call that stuff which just arrives by magic when the mind is still.

One of the last interviews John Lennon gave illustrates this primal point. He was asked where does your genius come from and he replied 'Don't you guys ever listen? I keep on telling you it doesn't come from me, it comes to me. I just wake up in the night and there are words and music in my head and I have to crawl to the piano and play the sounds and write the words down'.

Nice that.

Michael at STARSTONE

206 creative bones

 I haven't got a creative bone in my body

Couldn't count the number of times I've heard this from folks.

My reply 'Yep, you're dead right', I say, 'You've got 206'

(that really is the number of bones we have in our bodies)

What happens to our creativity then?
 It gets hidden, in fact submerged in early childhood, but never lost, and on a Starstone Weekend Retreat we show you how to unearth this hidden treasure.

How? With tricks, Yes, tricks; tricks and games and a lot of fun too.

And then what?

In short, you're never the same again. To rediscover your creativity is to find your true self.

Whether you wish to paint,write, photograph, devote time and passion to a garden, it doesn't matter.

Every moment of every day becomes a creative opportunity.

Starstone
that creative shift

Facebook

I've finally understood Facebook!
No, just kidding!
I could lose sleep over it, I could.
The only strategy I have resorted to this morning is to click everything clickable.
And what a mess I've got into....and a warning from FB that it looks as if I'm doing things I shouldn't.
What?
I mean, how can you know if you are doing things you shouldn't if you don't know what you could.
Are there rules somewhere I can read up on?
I even tried to put up a new image of myself and was told it was too small. Too small?
Found another one and got an instant message from a friend telling me I look like a friendly ghost.
Does this look too small?
Maybe they mean too nervous.
It's my pensive look

Oh, so I now get why folks change their photos every two days, they get flagged up.
Sorry, just rambling here.
Rambling at starstone

Sacred Voice

SACRED SOUND AND VOICE;  OCTOBER 3 TO 6

                                           WITH JULES HEAVENS

I work with the voice as a metaphoric gateway to revelation… to remember and reveal ourselves.  This is not about singing, however you may actually discover (even those of us who were told not to sing as a child) that you have an amazing voice … AND that there are sounds you can make using ancient vocal maps, which help your energy and well being. These also provide keys to unlock your own inner music, to experience your own sound wisdom and soul-full symphony- what I call ‘Singing the Bones’.

By unleashing your voice on this path of revelation, and through exploration, discovery and opening, you liberate your creative expression, presence and being in and for the world….

An incredible voyage into sacred sound and voice with Jules Heavens. A delicious experience amongst olive groves seeped in the aromas of late summer at I Cigni.

Starstone

Paint BIG

Our Big Painting retreats are in May and October.

This is Michelle's and is entitled 'Transforming Light'

This is Michael's and is one of a series entitled 'Homage to La Sibilla'

They're quite BIG because we like to paint BIG and so will you when you 

join our retreat. It's about physicality and the sheer joy of working 

human size. Giants we are when we choose to be.

Is that your body?

Energetics

Have you ever peered down at your toes and thought 'These are not my feet!'?
Quite common apparently, although I'm sure mine are mine, I think.
When you spend a delightful weekend on our Energetics Retreat, with our Ace Instructors Liliana and Gianni, you will swim like a dolphin after your Watsu (shiatsu in water) experience and float lightly in the summer breeze after Longevity Exercises (bit like Qi Kung but more powerful) You'll learn how to breathe properly for the first time in your life and feel how good it is to have your mind and body in balance; that your body is yours.

June 8 and 9

more on www.starstone.org
that creative shift

First dish ever

This is a photo of the first meal we ever cooked on a retreat weekend.
I know what you're thinking....'Delicious!'
Things have moved on since those early days and Maria now runs her
Italian Cooking weekends where you savour the of her down to earth
culinary skills (a mixture of Napolitan and Marchigiana) followed by
mouth watering delights such as tiramisu or panna cotta con frutta dal
bosca

June 19 to 22 and December 5 to 8 (for Christmas special)
mmmm!

more on www.starstone.org

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