Warning: This is another long one…. so much happens here in a few days.
I smiled when I received the artist Flora Bowley‘s e-newsletter this week, with a theme of breakdowns leading to breakthroughs. Appropriate. My struggles earlier this week led not only to reminding me that I need to practice both self-love and drawing more, but also helped remind me of my true goals. Because of the nature of my school and our exercises, I had set “drawing real 3-D” looking figures as my goal when indeed, my real goal is to eventually insert stylized drawing elements into my art. Somehow, simply changing that verbalized and visualized goal during my paraliminal sessions has been of great value. This doesn’t mean that I don’t need to learn to draw realistically first, but that I can let go of the need to do that perfectly or even really really well in order to achieve my goal. My art is not meant to be like that of many visionary artists – and that’s OK. Sure, I still have to work hard so that I can sketch a happy baby in a crib if I want to instead of a crushed baby in a cage, but that will come. I don’t feel as much pressure (self-imposed) or discouragement as I did earlier this week – instead, I feel that the disheartening that led to questioning that led to clarifying has been very valuable. Indeed, I feel quite fulfilled and relieved (yes, I’ve been known to live life on an emotional roller coaster at times).
“In Quest of the Inner Image” with Vera and Kuba (continued):
This has been an amazing week and the last two days of our intensive workshop with Vera and Kuba did a lot to bond us as a group and to bring me back to a very welcomed way of living / being that I had been blessed to experience on a regular basis back in Canada. From opening chanting circles (that grew intuitively from our previously simple OM sessions), to creative visualization sessions (that brought each of us unique visions and experiences which we later shared in a circle), to lectures on higher consciousness, dreams, individual artists’ spiritual journeys (that facilitated making new connections between my spirituality, my art, and to visionary art in general), to entering an image through meditation and movement (that led to experiencing what it’s like to be the sun and the ocean, opening my heart and soul to their expansiveness and love)- what a week! I’m sure I’m forgetting some of the highlights, and I didn’t take many pictures, but it’s very telling that by Friday’s art-making time, I voluntarily pulled out my sketch for my trimester painting, which I had worked on for weeks, and changed my approach to the two human figures in it. I’ve let go of the need to include facial features (that may change again, but the letting go was freeing) and stylized their hair in a way that felt fun and much natural. I enjoyed going back to my sketch and playing with the possibilities. Yay! We finished the week with a last sharing circle and group hug – nice!
Two More Museums:
I really took advantage of our longer lunch hours this week – after finishing my packed lunches on Thursday and Friday, I headed out to visit some of the smaller neighbouring museums which are included on our annual membership card for the Arts History museum. I didn’t spend much time in either the Treasury or Theater Museum, but I’m glad to know what’s there and a few pieces fit in with what I’m working on in class, so that’s always nice.
Treasury:
Theater Museum:
A Tribute to Vienna:
My tourism highlight of the week, however, was definitely the world premier of A Tribute to Vienna, a 70-minute show in the Spanish Riding School with musical performances by the Vienna Boys’ Choir (the most renowned boys’ choir in the world) and with highlights of the Ballet of the White Stallions (featuring the world famous Lipizzaner horses). I remember the Lipizanner horses from a childhood trip here with my family and longed to see them dance again. My original idea was to stand in line several Saturdays in a row to see if I could get a reduced priced last-minute seat to one of their regular shows. They usually sell-out though and the throngs of tourists in town don’t seem to be diminishing at all with the colder weather, so when I saw this special event performance advertised with standing room tickets at 23 Euros (about $33 Cdn … some of the seats go for up to 171 Euros), I jumped on the occasion (their next Tribute to Vienna performance isn’t until December). What a treat! Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I’ve just found this excellent 2-part documentary on these regal horses and the Spanish Riding School in Vienna (12 minutes each).
By the way, we didn’t have a dark stallion in our show and yes, I got quite nervous when the rider actually led the horse from the ground, standing immediately behind it – I wondered if any rider survived the many years of training bruise-free.
I respected the fact that we were asked twice before the show not to take pictures as the sound/flashes irritates the horses, but I do wish they would have also asked the audience not to clap as some horses reacted each time to the echoing fire-cracker sound of clapping in that big hall, taking away from the overall graceful effect of the ballet. Still, it was well worth it – yay! one more thing off my Vienna bucket-list.
P.S. I walk between the school and the stables daily as they’re right beside the Palais Palffy where I have my classes. What a gift!
Saturday Morning Shopping
Today, after doing my laundry (never thought I’d meet another student at 7am in the laundry room on a Saturday, but I met 2!), I headed out to the Nach Markt for the first time, a famous 1.5 km outdoor farmer’s market 6 days a week that expands to include a flee market 4 rows deep on Saturdays. Wow! What crowds and so much to look at that I didn’t see much in the flea market part. I thought I was safe in that part until I hit the many stands of 5 Euro cashmere silk scarves – I found a nice green one that called to me. As for the rest, you really have to like this kind of thing to find what you’re looking for or never knew you needed until you saw it. The food section, which some of my classmates go to regularly, even at lunch time on school days, is huge and includes many permanent stands and mini-shops (cheese, meat, organic goods, etc.) and rows of temporary stalls. There’s also an alley full of restaurants with outdoor seating (blankets provided). I can see why this place is such a tourist draw. I came home with falaffel (15 for 3 Euros), 2 kinds of cheeses, a few vegetables, a mango (2 Euros instead of the 8 Euros I saw at the organic store next door – that’s $11.25 Cdn!) and a small piece of a 100% fruit/nut loaf (you’ll see a picture of it – gorgeous before you cut into it). Also, make sure to notice the architecture in the background (grateful for my iPhone – with all the groceries, I left my real camera at home).
On the Way:
On my way to the Nach Markt, I found a Vegan grocery store that was quite impressive. I found a few more healthy goodies there to add to my cupboards. I’m really quite impressed with the number or organic and vegan stores (not only food) around here. I’m no longer vegan, but I don’t eat a lot of meat and having a variety of healthy foods to choose from is such a gift! It’s not cheap though – I’m sure that if I calculated what I actually spend on my packed lunches, I probably spend more or the same than if I bought my lunches at the healthy take-out places near my school, including the all you can eat pay what you can Pakistani buffet. Hmmm….
I also found a hair studio on the way that won some European Masters award in 2012 and that advertised organic / natural products – Happy Hair. The place gave off a good vibe, so on my way back, feeling courageous, I stopped in for a delightful hair-cutting session. I had gone a month longer than usual, and it was time. I enjoyed my time in Anita’s chair – she speaks less English than my German, but body language is effective too. She’s also a painter. If I wasn’t on a student budget, I would have considered her suggestion of adding colour to some of those back layers and perhaps some blonde highlights (I miss being blond, even if I feel like a dumb blond in class sometimes – sorry, couldn’t resist that one…).
Last, but not least, I’m so grateful to the tailor I found on the way to the market who gave me a needle and a few meters of thread for free – the washing machines and in-class yoga has been tough on my clothes, it seems.
A Night Out (Avaloka – Let’s Dance For the Good of All):
Now it’s time for another bite to eat before I head out to an all-night meditation / dance event (I don’t know if I’ll last all night) on the outskirts of town. Most of my class (and a segment of Vienna’s spiritual/artistic/new age crowd) will be there. It starts at 9pm, so that in itself is a stretch of my comfort zones – but I’ve been psychologically preparing myself for it all week – getting there, late hour, hundreds of people, etc. When we stretch our comfort zones, we grow. Stay tuned for the next blog post…
Personal Mythologies
/in Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsSacred Codes
This week, I remembered that our director Laurence Caruna, had given us a pdf of a draft of his latest book (as yet unpublished), Sacred Codes, a Treatise on Visionary Painting (which will consist of 3 volumes – drawing (376pp), underpainting, painting). I’ve been reading that in the mornings instead of practicing drawing with youtube. What I’m reading right now goes very well with what we’re doing in class. For instance, his chapter on Egyptian art and his experience exploring the temples there brought back memories of a vivid Egyptian past life vision I received during an Inca Whistle Vessel blowing ceremony I was fortunate to attend in Saskatoon years back. That had led to my creating a clay set of scarab-shaped divination runes and connecting to the team behind the book “Egyptian Scarab Oracle” who gifted me with a copy of their book so that I could complete my set of runes. It’s like pieces of a puzzle coming together – being here now in Vienna is part of all that – one more step in my personal and spiritual evolution. So much to be grateful for!
Personal Legend:
What a treat! In class yesterday, our teachers David Heskin and Aloria Weaver shared how their environment, experiences, travels, and beliefs have helped shape their art and how our unique legends and symbols can feed mythologies that extend far beyond the personal and into the universal. For example, although this collaborative work (see below) was created for a specific thematic exhibition, it includes imagery from their lives: statuary they encountered while traveling in Europe, scientific discoveries related to symbols that had emerged in their art, a crop circle that they visited in England, the Japanese earthquake disaster, planetary movement, etc. In a way, this is very personal work for them, but those viewing it don’t need to be familiar with the specifics to tap into the universal meaning of the piece. I don’t do their presentation justice, but if you’re interested in learning more about them directly, their presentation at the 2013 Electric Universe Conference on the meeting of Art & Science can be found at: http://www.davidheskin.com/electric-universe
On what may appear to be a completely separate note (although who knows – it may infiltrate the imagery in my art some day), I’m really grateful that our school is in the First District – so rich in history, architecture, and visual stimulus. It’s easy to vary my route slightly and discover completely new worlds. Plus now that it’s dark when I leave class at 6pm, I’m also noticing window displays more – check out these 1,500 Euro shoes and yet another desert-focused installation – this model is a lot slimmer, maybe because she’s balanced her diet of sweets with roasted chestnuts (I keep picking up chestnuts off the street, but just because I like to hold them).
Today at Hogwarts
/in Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsWhat fun! This is the second week of our special intensive “In Quest of the Inner Image” workshop and it’s off to a great start. We often joke that our school, the Vienna Academy of Visionary Arts is a lot like Hogwarts. We’ve even figured out which character from the Harry Potter books most of us are – I’m still unsure for myself though…. hard to label as usual. Going from memory, I thought I was a bit like Luna Lovegood – a bit socially isolated, but not caring / very perceptive – an observer / strong faith in what she wants to believe in / loyal friend. I just read her description on Wiki, however, and I’m not sure if she’s the best fit. Those of you who know me and remember Harry Potter characters better than I do, who do you think I’m most like?
Ah, but I digress. Forgive me. What I wanted to say is that today’s class was a lot like one that might have been taught in an art class at this famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry (yes, yes, I know it’s fictional). After our opening meditation and chanting, we delved into the world of sigils (sign or images considered magical / secret alphabet with personal manifestation powers). It’s like infusing an image with personal meaning and manifestation (yes, like casting a spell) – something I did once in a painting with powerful effect, so I was definitely interested in learning more about it. We looked at hieroglyphic alphabets throughout history and in the work of modern visionary artists (like Allyson Grey) before working on developing four of our own personal symbols based on one of many possible creative processes.
As I said, fun! I won’t tell you what my symbols mean, however, as they wouldn’t be secret anymore 🙂 I do know my soul sings when I see them.
What a Party!
/in Vienna - Life and Tourism, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsI surprised myself last night (or should I say this morning) by coming home at 6:30am from a great night at a sacred dance gathering by Avaloka. I don’t even think I snoozed during any of the meditation sessions, but I did get a wonderful vision of a multicoloured square spiral all lit up and floating in space feeding the roots of an equally tubular/lit up tree – all that with a rolling ocean floating far underneath in space (can you believe I’ve never even tried drugs?!). It’s hard to describe, and I guess that’s one reason why visionary artists paint what they see (I’d have to learn more about perspective and 3D shaping before I could manage this one, but at least there would be no human figures to draw). I was still energized when I got home, but fell asleep relatively quickly and got a short 5 hours in before waking up to noise in the apartment. What a role reversal – I’m usually the one making noise in the kitchen after my young university student roommates come home at 4-5am as I’m waking up for my day. Now I know how it feels.
Recap:
We just had time to say hi to all our classmates before the opening meditation started, and I’m amazed I understood a lot of it, mostly because the leader used a lot of body language and talked about stuff I was familiar with. I had also used Google Translate to read the schedule ahead of time and knew he would be addressing inter-religious perspective and a Tibetan meditation that opens the brain and body to cosmic rays. This was followed by a solo dance performance that led to great dancing to an ethnic and tribal DJ music mix. It felt so good to just close my eyes and move to the music, focused on my own internal experience, just as everyone else was. Being a barefoot event, however, my knees could only take so much, so I had to take frequent breaks.
I liked the fact that there was a quiet meditation room I could go to when the noise and crowds were too much. We could still hear and feel the vibrations of the music through the walls and floors, but it was still a very serene room. I returned there at midnight for some Tibetan and Sanskrit chanting and when we came out, I could see that the crowd in the main room had doubled and that there was an awesome band, Airrapide (drummer and didgeridoo player) that really got the crowd going. I’ve never seen a didgeridoo player go for so long – amazing! At 2:30, I and most of my classmates returned to the meditation room for a session led by one of our Academy friends and models, Alexandra. It was beautiful, accompanied by hoop drumming and chanting. This was definitely my kind of party.
More dancing, a plateful of roasted vegetables with couscous & hummus, more chatting, and just hanging around and then it was time to leave. Renate & Bernhard were going to drop me off at the U6 end stop, which is in direct line to my place, but they accurately sensed that I was nervous about riding it alone at that late hour (although the world was waking up for Sunday in Vienna), so they kindly insisted on driving me all the way home. They reassured me that Vienna is an extremely safe place, as I had heard before, but I’m just not used to being out at night anymore so I truly appreciated it – comfort zones stretch and shrink and stretch and shrink – such is life.
I took it easy today and tomorrow starts the last week of our Intensive “In Quest of the Inner Image” workshop. I’m looking forward to it.
So Many Gifts
/in My Travels, Vienna - Life and Tourism, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsWarning: This is another long one…. so much happens here in a few days.
I smiled when I received the artist Flora Bowley‘s e-newsletter this week, with a theme of breakdowns leading to breakthroughs. Appropriate. My struggles earlier this week led not only to reminding me that I need to practice both self-love and drawing more, but also helped remind me of my true goals. Because of the nature of my school and our exercises, I had set “drawing real 3-D” looking figures as my goal when indeed, my real goal is to eventually insert stylized drawing elements into my art. Somehow, simply changing that verbalized and visualized goal during my paraliminal sessions has been of great value. This doesn’t mean that I don’t need to learn to draw realistically first, but that I can let go of the need to do that perfectly or even really really well in order to achieve my goal. My art is not meant to be like that of many visionary artists – and that’s OK. Sure, I still have to work hard so that I can sketch a happy baby in a crib if I want to instead of a crushed baby in a cage, but that will come. I don’t feel as much pressure (self-imposed) or discouragement as I did earlier this week – instead, I feel that the disheartening that led to questioning that led to clarifying has been very valuable. Indeed, I feel quite fulfilled and relieved (yes, I’ve been known to live life on an emotional roller coaster at times).
“In Quest of the Inner Image” with Vera and Kuba (continued):
This has been an amazing week and the last two days of our intensive workshop with Vera and Kuba did a lot to bond us as a group and to bring me back to a very welcomed way of living / being that I had been blessed to experience on a regular basis back in Canada. From opening chanting circles (that grew intuitively from our previously simple OM sessions), to creative visualization sessions (that brought each of us unique visions and experiences which we later shared in a circle), to lectures on higher consciousness, dreams, individual artists’ spiritual journeys (that facilitated making new connections between my spirituality, my art, and to visionary art in general), to entering an image through meditation and movement (that led to experiencing what it’s like to be the sun and the ocean, opening my heart and soul to their expansiveness and love)- what a week! I’m sure I’m forgetting some of the highlights, and I didn’t take many pictures, but it’s very telling that by Friday’s art-making time, I voluntarily pulled out my sketch for my trimester painting, which I had worked on for weeks, and changed my approach to the two human figures in it. I’ve let go of the need to include facial features (that may change again, but the letting go was freeing) and stylized their hair in a way that felt fun and much natural. I enjoyed going back to my sketch and playing with the possibilities. Yay! We finished the week with a last sharing circle and group hug – nice!
Two More Museums:
I really took advantage of our longer lunch hours this week – after finishing my packed lunches on Thursday and Friday, I headed out to visit some of the smaller neighbouring museums which are included on our annual membership card for the Arts History museum. I didn’t spend much time in either the Treasury or Theater Museum, but I’m glad to know what’s there and a few pieces fit in with what I’m working on in class, so that’s always nice.
Treasury:
Theater Museum:
A Tribute to Vienna:
My tourism highlight of the week, however, was definitely the world premier of A Tribute to Vienna, a 70-minute show in the Spanish Riding School with musical performances by the Vienna Boys’ Choir (the most renowned boys’ choir in the world) and with highlights of the Ballet of the White Stallions (featuring the world famous Lipizzaner horses). I remember the Lipizanner horses from a childhood trip here with my family and longed to see them dance again. My original idea was to stand in line several Saturdays in a row to see if I could get a reduced priced last-minute seat to one of their regular shows. They usually sell-out though and the throngs of tourists in town don’t seem to be diminishing at all with the colder weather, so when I saw this special event performance advertised with standing room tickets at 23 Euros (about $33 Cdn … some of the seats go for up to 171 Euros), I jumped on the occasion (their next Tribute to Vienna performance isn’t until December). What a treat! Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I’ve just found this excellent 2-part documentary on these regal horses and the Spanish Riding School in Vienna (12 minutes each).
By the way, we didn’t have a dark stallion in our show and yes, I got quite nervous when the rider actually led the horse from the ground, standing immediately behind it – I wondered if any rider survived the many years of training bruise-free.
I respected the fact that we were asked twice before the show not to take pictures as the sound/flashes irritates the horses, but I do wish they would have also asked the audience not to clap as some horses reacted each time to the echoing fire-cracker sound of clapping in that big hall, taking away from the overall graceful effect of the ballet. Still, it was well worth it – yay! one more thing off my Vienna bucket-list.
P.S. I walk between the school and the stables daily as they’re right beside the Palais Palffy where I have my classes. What a gift!
Saturday Morning Shopping
Today, after doing my laundry (never thought I’d meet another student at 7am in the laundry room on a Saturday, but I met 2!), I headed out to the Nach Markt for the first time, a famous 1.5 km outdoor farmer’s market 6 days a week that expands to include a flee market 4 rows deep on Saturdays. Wow! What crowds and so much to look at that I didn’t see much in the flea market part. I thought I was safe in that part until I hit the many stands of 5 Euro cashmere silk scarves – I found a nice green one that called to me. As for the rest, you really have to like this kind of thing to find what you’re looking for or never knew you needed until you saw it. The food section, which some of my classmates go to regularly, even at lunch time on school days, is huge and includes many permanent stands and mini-shops (cheese, meat, organic goods, etc.) and rows of temporary stalls. There’s also an alley full of restaurants with outdoor seating (blankets provided). I can see why this place is such a tourist draw. I came home with falaffel (15 for 3 Euros), 2 kinds of cheeses, a few vegetables, a mango (2 Euros instead of the 8 Euros I saw at the organic store next door – that’s $11.25 Cdn!) and a small piece of a 100% fruit/nut loaf (you’ll see a picture of it – gorgeous before you cut into it). Also, make sure to notice the architecture in the background (grateful for my iPhone – with all the groceries, I left my real camera at home).
On the Way:
Last, but not least, I’m so grateful to the tailor I found on the way to the market who gave me a needle and a few meters of thread for free – the washing machines and in-class yoga has been tough on my clothes, it seems.
A Night Out (Avaloka – Let’s Dance For the Good of All):
Now it’s time for another bite to eat before I head out to an all-night meditation / dance event (I don’t know if I’ll last all night) on the outskirts of town. Most of my class (and a segment of Vienna’s spiritual/artistic/new age crowd) will be there. It starts at 9pm, so that in itself is a stretch of my comfort zones – but I’ve been psychologically preparing myself for it all week – getting there, late hour, hundreds of people, etc. When we stretch our comfort zones, we grow. Stay tuned for the next blog post…
Not again…
/in Vienna Academy of Visionary Arts.
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AND more fun abstract painting with ink and salt on on wet watercolour paper,…
CAME the drawing part of the day … and the tears. I was able to keep the judgement and frustration at bay during the stream of consciousness drawing time (20 minutes of quickly sketching our first childhood memories on several sheets of paper), but when I looked at my collection and realized that after a month of intensive drawing lessons, my pictures still looked like they would have 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years ago, I was rather disappointed. Still, I accepted the fact that this was a quick exercise and let go of those non-productive feelings.
Our next task was to take one of those images and transfer it to our abstract ink background. I instantly felt the stress when Kuba basically said “Once you get the forms down on paper, then decide where the light is coming from and you can do ink crosshatching for the shadows and this white egg tempura to bring out the highlights.” His demonstration was great, but as expected, I got stuck at the very first step – “put the forms down on paper” (yes, I know, I fulfilled my expectations – I get the theory!). I so wanted to represent a beautiful childhood memory of lying in my crib in my room looking at the sun streaming in and being in the company of angels. My mother told me that I would often wake up singing and sing until they came to get me (I never minded alone time as I believe I knew that I was never really alone…). Instead of a baby in a crib, however, I drew a baby being crushed by a very small cage. I smile at that now – and even did yesterday for a while as I asked for drawing guidance, but by the last hour of class, when my attempts to correct what I had drawn in ink led nowhere but the garbage, the emotions came welling up as I was sharing my frustration with Vera. Luckily, we’re in a very safe and accepting environment and my being off to the side processing my feelings with her didn’t interfere with the class at all. The thing is, I totally get the theory. I know that I need to be patient with myself, love myself, and be gentle with myself through the whole learning process. I even spent part of my lunchtime being the wise and loving one for one of my classmates who had had a rough morning. But still, not being able to draw basic forms after a month of intensive drawing lessons left me totally discouraged. We’re basically finished the drawing part of the curriculum and heading into the underpainting/painting phases – how will I cope? What if I can’t come back after Christmas because of the visa issue and leave here unable to do what I had set out to do when I came here? Again, I know, I know… those are just the fears and frustrations that came welling up.
It’s not that I want to draw realistic human figures (although that would be great, seeing what my classmates can do) – my goal is to understand the realism to then be able to stylize forms that will emerge and reveal themselves in my more intuitive style. First, however, I need to be able to translate what I see, either in front of me or in my imagination onto paper. I receive a lot of visions during my painting process, but have been frustrated for years at not being able to do anything with them. That’s why I’m here! After 2.5 days of being back into the bliss of free abstract expression, however, I realized that I’m still sooooo far from being capable of doing that and I struggled with that realization. (Here’s where I would insert a swear word if that were my style – but since I even thought of that, I guess I’m not far off).
This experience reminded me of when I was about 8 years old and quit ballet class after only 2-3 sessions because they weren’t teaching us to fly. I got bored and frustrated with just changing foot positions on the floor without even moving the rest of my body to the music. It’s certainly not that I’m lazy – anyone who knows me will attest to that – but I’m not very patient, it’s true. I want to be a natural at what I want to do. The fact that I struggle so much with drawing is making me question again if I’m even meant to draw. Self-doubt and feelings of “not being good enough” are creeping back up. If you’ve read my other posts this week, you’ll know we used PEAT to deal with that. This is a good example of when I could have gone back to that energy psychology technique. I did do one of my paraliminal CDs this morning and will go to class early to get my PEAT instruction sheet to go through another few rounds on my own. Indeed! I’ll choose to be grateful for this lesson on self-love and for the opportunity to put PEAT into practice again. That’s certainly much better than continuing to beat myself up for either not being able to draw a scene from my head or for the feelings and tears that materialized from there.
As an aside, here are some photos of the 2 churches I visited with a classmate at lunchtime – the Augustinian Church in Josefplatz across from our school and next to the Hofburg Palace (with a sculpture by Antonio Canova – I’ve loved one of his sculptures, “Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss” since I was a child and returned to see it at The Louvres in Paris as a teen and hunted it down again at a temporary exhibition in either Rome or Florence as an adult in 1993 after discovering it had been removed from The Louvres. If you recall my general lack of enthusiasm for museums and ignorance of other artists’ work, this is significant.)
And Saint Michael’s Church across the square from the palace. This one included a large bronze relief (too dark to photograph with my iPhone) of the crucifixion scene with the founding couple of the church kneeling in front of the cross. We learned in class that this was a common practice in paintings too at the time.
So Much to Share
/in My Travels, Vienna - Life and Tourism, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsI’m not sure if you’re keeping up with my blog … there’s so much I want to share that I hardly have the time to do so. Yesterday was another fantastic day for at least 4 reasons.
1- Walk to School
Do you walk to work/school? Do you take a different route each time? I recommend it! I usually arrange to live 30-60 minutes from where I need to go on a daily basis as I love walking – I avoid the crowds, nausea, and expense of public transport, plus there’s always so much to see. Plus varying my route awakens the senses! Since yesterday was surprisingly sunny and warm, I extended my walk past the Parliament and into the Volksgarten, and with my iPhone, I don’t need to lug my big/real camera when I’m not on a dedicated photo trip. Nice!
2- Mana Prima
OK, this was totally cool and fun! One of our teachers, David Heskin, has developed this technique of using powdered pigment and water to create abstract designs. It has since been taught to thousands. It’s a lot like what I was doing with airbrush colours, liquid acrylics and water, but with much more control and playing time. So I guess what I’m saying is that it’s totally different, but similar in its intuitive creative play qualities and hand application as well as in its freeing spirit – anyone can do this.
Here are some pictures from today – we started with white pigment on black with a drop of blue/magenta (collaborative boards, and then individual black gesso-covered papers) and then colour on white. Then we went outside in the courtyard to spray them with acrylic varnish as there are no binders in this technique, so water re-activates the pigment. I’m so enjoying this intensive – I feel like Me again. David then taught the class how to mirror images in Photoshop to create cool worlds – something I enjoy doing with my photography, but I’ve never done with my paintings. The two mirrored images are of 2 of my pieces (not the best quality as shot on iPhone) – if you can see them close up, you’ll find lots of faces and creatures.
3- Pay What You Can Restaurant – Really?!
I love to eat – you probably already know that. I enjoy delicious food about as much as I don’t enjoy cooking. So an all-you-can-eat Pakistani buffet at whatever price you feel like paying sounded too good to be true. But it was absolutely awesome! Since our lunches this week are half an hour longer than usual, I initiated a group trek to Deewan to partake in an experience that some of the students had told me about. Wow! First, the food was absolutely delicious. I had two plate-fulls and desert – healthy ingredients and lots of flavour and variety. Second, the atmosphere was unique. Yes, the place was absolutely packed – all three levels – mostly with young people. All the tables were full, so we sat on a raised platform with cushions and low tables at the back of the 3rd level down. There was a definitely a higher consciousness feel to the place, yet I could see or sense no religious affiliation or agenda. It simply seemed to be what it was – I’m definitely curious in learning more about it all as, after 7 years, they must be making a profit to survive while providing such a wonderful service. Third, the price is right. Drinks and take-out have set prices, but the buffet is truly a pay-what-you-can/want. I even had to figure out where to pay on my way out, handing my money to a man on the phone who just dropped it in his cash without really looking/counting. Interestingly, I chose to pay 4 Euros ( about $5.50 Cdn – more than some and less than I’ve ever paid for a meal out here). I chose to do so because I could – a mix of both abundance and scarcity motives it seems…. very interesting. I chose to do so, however, knowing that next time I will pay more, also simply because I can. This payment system very much reminded me of how I run garage sales – I ask people to pay me whatever they want / can over $1 – some pay $1 and some ask me how much I originally paid for something and pay me that. Very interesting indeed! Again, I’ll have to go back and chat with them when they’re less busy or read up more online – I’m very curious –
4- German Conversation Meeting
This week, I returned to the Tunnel Club for the Couchsurfing German Conversation Meeting. If you’ll remember, I went 2 weeks ago, but no one showed up for the first half hour, so I left. This time, I went with Lizzy, one of my classmates, and we were soon joined by a man from Poland, 2 Austrians, another from Poland, one from Turkey, and so on. By the time we left at 8:30pm, there were about 20 people around the table and I’m sure more showed up later as it goes until 11pm. It was great! We got to practice and to learn even if we were the most beginner students there. It was a very welcoming atmosphere. We’re going back next week. Couchsurfing events in town (there are lots) are free, so that’s even better! They’re everywhere around the world, so you might want to check it out for yourself. A truly wonderful organization.
Switching Gears, Switching Sides of the Brain
/in Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsAfter a challenging yet valuable month of mostly left brain learning about art history, sacred codes, sacred geometry, drawing the figure, perspective, etc., we’ve switched gears. Every trimester, there’s a 2-week intensive open to outside students, and this one is all about the right brain mode of creating – after only one day, I’m feeling much more comfortable and in the flow. I knew I would love this, and I already do.
• David Heskin & Aloria Weaver – ‘In Quest of the Inner Image’
– Evoking Subject Matter for Painting through Visualization, Active Imagination and Visionary Healing Modalities – to clear the path to creative freedom, inspiration and the emergence of inner visions. With special Workshops by Kuba Ambrose & Vera Aichinger.
Day 1:
After a 15-minute OM chanting circle and introductions, we followed the music into a collaborative drawing exercise that was very freeing. Once we had done 10 minutes of squiggles on a piece of paper with a large stick of granite, we switched papers to look into the other person’s squiggles in order to pull stuff out and draw stuff in. Fun! We each got to work on all 11 drawings while also keeping a check on our inner dialogue. It was actually quite freeing as there were no expectations for a complete piece and I could go from meditative detailed work on one and then try my hand at unifying another. I liked the variety. The interesting thing (interesting if you know my history with drawing and still very limited skill in that area) is that I sometimes found myself seeing and drawing human figures (or parts thereof), knowing that someone would refine them or transform them down the road – no stress, no attachment, no expectations. Indeed, I experienced being able to use some of what I’ve learned in the past month, but in a more intuitive fashion – perfect! I just followed the creative flow of my hand to the music and enjoyed seeing things emerge and evolve. Near the end of the exercise, however, I did have those little voices of “oh, no, it’s so beautiful, I don’t want to ruin it” and “what could I possibly contribute to this one?”. I would write those thoughts down, let them go and proceed. Here’s a sample of what we came up with.
After lunch, we were taught PEAT: Primordial Energy Activation and Transcendence, a form of energy psychology. Based on our morning’s notes, we chose the most common creative block in the group: the feeling of “not being good enough”, or self-doubt. This was an easy one for me to focus on when it comes to drawing and the method proved to be quite effective; after several rounds of the process, the intensity of charge around this went from a 7 to 0, leaving me feeling quite calm. I can see myself using this technique when specific blocks come up. There are lots of websites out there on the subject if you want to learn more.
The last exercise of the day was to repeat our first, but this time on our own. Once again, I had fun and was able to play without expectations or too much negative self-talk (except when I tried to draw a human face) – turning the paper around and around opened up new opportunities and space for creative play. This is what I came up with (click on slideshow to see all 4 directions). What a great 1st day!
The new curriculum:
Although the Academy’s original plan was to spend the first 3 months focused on drawing (which I could still use right now as one month made only a little difference in my skills) the new curriculum consists of 1 month drawing (which is now completed), 1 month underpainting, and 1 month painting. This pattern will be repeated each trimester, but for a different theme: this term for the The Humanist Style: The ‘Western’ Canon of Classical Greek & Renaissance Art followed by The Hieratic Style: The ‘Eastern’ Canon of Ancient, Islamic & Hindu-Buddhist Art and then, in the third trimester, Combining Humanist & Hieratic Styles in Contemporary Visionary Art. It’s still a mystery whether the school will get accredited and whether that will happen on time for me to get a visa to return after Christmas. I have, however, relaxed and surrendered, knowing that there’s nothing I can do about it now and that if I am meant to be here, I will. If I’m not, a different path will reveal itself. In this, I must trust. The good news is that the Ministry has contacted the school asking for a meeting this week to gather yet more information – so there’s progress.
Time to go to school – I wonder what kind of creative play we’ll do today.
Day Trip to Melk, Wachau Valley & Krems
/in My TravelsHappy Thanksgiving Canada! There is so much to be grateful for!
This year for Thanksgiving, I took a solo train trip to the neighbouring towns of Melk and Krems, with a river cruise through the Wachau valley on the Danube river from one to the other (a summer combination ticket available from the local railway company until the end of October for 57 Euros (about $80 Cdn) ). The ticket also includes entrance to the Melk Abbey.
I got the idea for a weekend day-trip on Thursday morning and headed to the nearest train station to ask where I could go. Unfortunately, even if Florence made me a student card on Friday, when I bought my ticket, I learned that “student” really means “young student” under 27. Oh well… This was my first time out of the big city in my month and a half in Austria, and it was definitely something to be grateful for.
Melk:
I was up bright and early and out the door before 7am to walk to Westbanhoff, about 20 minutes away to catch the 7:36am train. I’m glad I arrived early because as I asked passengers which direction the train was going to decide where to sit (seats are arranged face to face), they engaged me in conversation and I learned that this train didn’t go to Melk. Luckily, I had time to run back down to the ticket office to find out that I was on the right train, but needed to transfer in St. Polten… that would have been useful information to get when I bought my ticket. Lesson: allways ask if it’s a direct train as there may not be an agent around to answer that question (no one checked my ticket on the first 2 trains of the day). About 45 minutes later, I was in Melk, known for its baroque Benedictine monastery, a cultural and spiritual center for Austria.
One definite advantage of being an early bird is that I got there before the throngs of tourists/ tour buses. I wandered the historic streets for a while before going up to the monastery where I happily strolled through the gardens for over an hour before taking an English guided tour (2 Euros) through the courtyard, gallery/museum, and library (no photos allowed in that one). There are only 30 monks left now at the abbey (which still serves as a school), but only 5 came to the mid-day prayers (1 late), presided by 2 of them. I had read somewhere that these 15-minute daily prayers are chanted and had expectations for an uplifting concert by a church full of well-practiced monks (ah, those expectations). Still, I tried to join in the one and only song, following the German in the printed leaflet at my pew with little success. Nevertheless, it was nice to be in a church on this Thanksgiving weekend, knowing that my family in Ottawa would be doing the same at some point.
I then headed to town to look for a quick bite to eat before heading to the ship docks. I had a great pizza (surprise, surprise) and practiced my German with the Afghan cook (I seem to have a lot of German/English conversations with Afghan pizza chefs here in Austria – the most conversation I seem to have outside of class – nice ones too!)
Blue Danube River Cruise:
My wish to be on the water came true this weekend. I got to feast my eyes on the Fall colours as this cruise went through the beautiful Wachau valley, famous for its scattering historic towns/villages, castles (Richard the Lion Heart was held prisoner in one of them), vineyards and apricot farms. Beautiful! I didn’t partake in the alcohol soaked apricots that they were selling, but I did have an apricot gelato later in Krems.
Krems:
Krems is a beautiful historic town that has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. I didn’t learn much about its history or visit any of its buildings or museums, but I had a great time wandering the streets and taking pictures for several kilometers (zigzagging) and about 6 hours . It’s a good thing I enjoy my own company – I don’t mind traveling on my own, especially when I have my camera and tripod. It’s true, I wasn’t thrilled when the 0% chance of rain turned into getting soaked for half an hour, but I was grateful when the lights came on at nightfall and the reflections off the wet cobblestone enhanced the beauty of it all.
I took the 8:01pm train back to Vienna and was in bed by 9:30pm, exhausted, but happy. Today, I did laundry, cooked, edited photos, and blogged (you might think this is a lot of photos, but it’s less than a quarter of what I started out with…). I’m now off to get turkey schnitzel at a neighbourhood take-out joint if they’re open – I like turkey on Thanksgiving now that I’m no longer vegan. There’s so much I’m grateful for, and the plenitude of restaurants around here is one of them.
The Fuchs Villa
/in My Travels, Vienna - Life and Tourism, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsOn Thursday, my class went to the Fuchs Villa, a private museum which is also still the home of Ernst Fuchs, my teachers’ teacher and one of the founders of Fantastic Realism and Visionary Art.
These are two examples of his drawing from his time at in art academy, where he was accepted at the age of 15.
The villa itself was designed by famous Austrian architect Otto Wagner in 1888. When Fuchs was a young child, he told his mother he would buy it for her one day … and he did. She spent the last decades of her life there after Fuchs saved the building from disrepair in 1973 . The house itself is amazing to see – I’m not sure how many of the details are Wagner’s and how many are Fuchs’ as he pretty well designed everything in and around it, so I’ve simply created one large gallery of my visit there. As you’ll see, the artwork is certainly not limited to framed pieces on the walls. Enjoy your virtual visit of the Fuchs Villa. Click on the first image to see it large and to proceed through the whole gallery at that size if you prefer.
To find out more about Professor Ernst Fuchs, his foundation, or the museum, go to his website.
And My Soul Went Ah……
/in My Travels, Vienna - Life and TourismMy class had a field trip to the Fuchs Villa yesterday (I’ll blog about that in my next post), and when I looked up where it was, I saw that there was a big green space next to it, so I left a couple of hours early and went to explore. I took one of the metro lines to the very last stop at Huttledorf and followed my iPhone’s map app (so grateful for that!) for about 15 minutes to Huttelbergstrasse where both the museum and the park are located. Wow! The minute I opened the gate, my heart and soul breathed a breath of fresh air. Already, my walk there on the tree-lined streets was refreshing (my downtown district doesn’t have any trees, it seems), and once on the steep forest path, every cell in my body was singing. At the top of the path was a park where I brought my class back at lunch time for our picnic (a very long picnic table and benches carved out of big trees) and paths that circled up, around, and back down a hill with wildflowers still blooming. Bliss!
After the museum, Daniel (a local classmate/model/volunteer) invited us to his place 15 minutes away by bus. What a magical place – organic garden and bee hives, music room with djembe drums and other instruments, crystal haven, creek, forest, and an artistic natural oasis indoors where we relaxed for a couple of hours – it felt very familiar to me – part of the world/community I’ve called home around the world. Nice!
I love nature!!!