Secrets of Soulful Art (2 part series)

Live from Afidnes, Greece

Join art educator and photomontage/collage artist Annette, for a special 2 part series. 

You will learn how to use a technique called "active imagination" to make your art vibrant, deep and personally meaningful. This session will show you how working with the rich world of soulful imagination can inspire the depth of our artwork exponentially. We will use guided imagery exercises that will assist us to wander through the unknown corners of our imagination and learn the tools and techniques for an alchemical quantum jump in our artistic expression.

Session 1: Sunday September 12th 11AM - 1PM EDT
Essential Art: Artistic Archetypes in the Collective Unconscious of World Culture

In this introduction of the collective unconscious of humanity, we will look at the archetypal common gods, mythologies and metaphorical stories of growth and decay, bliss and sin that are present in the art history of the world. We will use this inspiration to find the connection to personal archetypes that are valid and meaningful right now in our own life's experience using "active imagination" exercises. 

Session 2: Sunday September 19 11AM - 1PM EDT
Self-exploration and Artistic Individuation

In this session, we will learn how Carl Jung's Red Book can inspire us to mine ideas for our art from the personal unconscious. We will explore unknown parts of your soul using active imagination, a technique that combines daydreaming and meditation, in order to imagine the "Wished-for" and to open up to intuïtive hunches that will give you wonderful ideas for your art and expand your artistic expression. 

If you are not in EDT time zone, be sure to convert the time.

What you'll need

Pen, paper/notebook, pencil, charcoal, paints, magazine cut outs, scissors, UHU stick glue paper and cardboard to use as background for collage — whichever medium you feel comfortable with or wish to explore!

How to join

We'll be hosting this VAWAA Online on Zoom. We'll send the link and details to join via email 1 day and again 1 hour before it begins.

About Annette

Annette is a collage and photomontage artist based in Athens' beautiful countryside. Trained in prestigious art schools in United States, France, Austria, and Greece, she has been focusing on collage, photomontage, and mixed media for three decades. Led by a passion for theatre and the human soul, her photo montages look like "film stills" of human relationships and are made with scissors, glue, found photographs, or photographs taken by her. She creates collage portraits that are deconstructions of familiar everyday faces to shed light into the sinews of their being. She strives to merge fantasy and reality in each composition to lead us to the dreamland of human emotions. Dostoyevsky, Ibsen, Bergman, and Hitchcock inspire her, as well as collage artists like Hannah Hoch, Max Ernst, Martha Rosler, and John Stezaker.

Visit her artist page to learn more about her in-person VAWAA.

Reviews

"I enjoyed the format very much. Seeing examples by artists, followed by the guided fantasy and then time given to create our self portrait triggered ideas and images. I needed more time though I appreciate how limited time and materials can also serve to enhance the creative process. I am sorry I could not stay to see all the works of other participants." - Anna Marina

"I’ll just say this- working with Annette left me hungry to know more." - Colleen

"Annette's guided meditation was one of the most useful creative triggers for conceptualising an inner landscape that could actually inspire imagery I could create in the moment. Just wish there was a way for more interaction during the process of creation. Ah well, lockdown eh!" - Lyn

"I loved the meditation into yourself and the quote. everything was very well planned for the class. I would love to take another with her. I also enjoyed the music while we were all working. I also overall love learning where everyone is from around the world." - Elfe

"This was a delightful hands-on experience which allows us to tap into our inner selves and try to express what we find. Annette is an excellent teacher and clearly knows what she’s doing." - T.

"It was a well paced course integrated with a great introduction by Annette (of her practice and art), a solid foundational review of diverse portraiture by other artists, impactful, guided exercises that led to discovery and creation." - Carol

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