Our third wonderful Wild at Art Awakenings Retreat took place last month in the amazing grounds of the Tao Fong Shan Retreat Centre in Tai Wai, Hong Kong. Fourteen trusting souls joined Claire and I, to become immersed in an intense creative adventure of self discovery, and gave themselves willingly, to their own artistic journey! How brave !!
Perched on a mountain side overlooking the 10,000 Buddha Temple, this wonderfully secret location became our home for two and a half days.
An Artful, Playful, Mindful Journey
I always start our Wild at Weekends by suggesting to people that they have given themselves a gift....a fabulous gift of time, of space and place, a rare opportunity to be fully present and to allow themselves to become absorbed, a gift of surrender and a time to be not just arty and creative, but to be playful in the process.
Our weekend centres on leaving behind the everyday and connecting to the here and now, the present moment and the gentle art of Paying Mindful Attention to the world around us, the messages in the universe and to the whispers contained in the our very own head and heart.
Over the weekend we created our very own handmade book, using a whole a range of techniques and methods, enabling people to sample a variety of Mixed Media experiences, using failsafe methods that Claire and I have developed over the years......so everyone can be successful and feel fabulous !
In gentle incremental steps, we created poetry, we sketched, sprayed and stencilled, we sewed, doodled, and collaged! We also drunk a lot tea and ate scrumptious cakes and other delicious delights to fortify the creative body!
The weather was lovely and rising at dawn we sketched, walked the labyrinth and became acquainted with the lively and amazing local residents, the monkeys !
Our handmade books become a record of the weekend itself and of Tao Fong Shan but it was also a diary of process, people brought personal items to include in the book and each page depicted a specific theme reflecting some of the small and yet precious moments of a day to day life.
As always by Sunday at 4.00pm, no one wanted to stop creating and there was fever of sticking ,embellishing, folding, sketching and more!! I am delighted to report that since the weekend, lots of people have come and shown me their books and how they have continued working on them after the retreat at home, which is a great joy of course!
The whole Wild at Art retreat weekend is more than anything an amazing gift to Claire and I who get to bear witness to a very beautiful emergence and metamorphosis ......from people who arrived trepidacious and a little nervous.... to those who have an artistic practice and want to extend that and try other ways. Very excited for our next Retreats which will take place this October and again in March next year!!
Till then.....my friends
Yours in Artful, Playful and Mindful creativity
Katie xxxxx
A snippet of our very kind and rather delightful feedback .......
An amazing weekend! it was fantastic to leave the world behind and immerse myself in that abundance of unbridled creativity, positive energy, and unconditional love. you orchestrated it beautifully (just like a symphony of colors, sounds, and flavors) and i enjoyed every minute of every hour and would do it again in a heartbeat. October seems so far away!!!
I went into the Wild at Art Retreat with some trepidation and fear that I wouldn't be able to find any creative "juices" in me but, to my surprise, found out that, truly, I am creative. I am inspired to start a practice of creating and am already planning my next journal.
If you read about a workshop and think, "I am not an artist," or "I wouldn't fit in, even though I might love it," or "I don't have time for this!" or any other second thought - SIGN UP!! These 2 master teachers and creative beings will shine a light on the corners of your soul and lead you gently to the path to your creative core. If the hands-on, step-by-step components don't do the trick, their humor, affirmations, and attention to simple pleasures will woo the artist in you to emerge.
