There is something rather Magical, about getting on a bus and surrendering all ones needs to someone else for a whole 2 1/2 days !!! That is exactly what our 14 Wild at Art Artistes did 2 weeks ago when they boarded the Wild at Art bus in Central and came up the mountain for the Mandala Journey weekend with Claire and myself.
Our location was the lovely Kadoorie Research Centre, which lies under the Kwan Yim Peak and overlooks the Kam Tin Valley. This place truly is a Getaway, there is nowhere to pop out to, the only sounds at night is the local wildlife, it is truly peaceful and a whole world away !
We started the weekend by reflecting on our day with a 6 word novel....
Sasha: Line Circle Dot, birth of Mandala
Nicole: Exercise website updates packing cuddles in between
Marianne: Emails avalanche, over the edge madness
Shelly : Out of my comfort, laughing begins
Sarah: Artists explore new territory together creativity
Kerry : Decision made, life is too short
Cara: Eyes open, eyes close, I’m enough
Sue: Freedom, developing magic wings to fly
Wardy: I am here, relax and create
Roz: 16 giddy gals create a circle
Jen : Listen and the music speaks, stillness
Deidre: Womens circles drive stories and picture
Laura : Marshmallow discovered missing, who ate it?
Lisa: Bubbles rising, feminine, polish is pink
The Circle
We spent our evening contemplating the "circle" as a "container "and people set about creating a variety of backgrounds upon which to doodle and play with circular designs, allowing free flow of ideas and the gentle sensation of play...............
Then we started our "Works of Art"......using collage, stencils and layers of paint....all totally unique as you can see...........
and then given a variety of strategic starting points, people took the plunge and jumped right on to begin their circular design, sometimes the background suggested the design, like this Umbrella Revolution !
Some began delicately and grew slowly....the focus levels were high as people melted into the meditative rhythm of repetition and design...........
A more relaxed evening took place punctuated by Roz's birthday !! Creating fabulous artworks can be exhausting, we do take great care to make sure that all our Artistes and fed scrumptious food and have plenty of treats to keep them going !! We have our very own resident Wild at Art Caterer, the culinary legend Billy Francisco.
We were right back at it on Sunday Morning sharp!! Looking at our "Thorns and Roses", reflecting and suggesting ideas and strategies to continue forth!
And the day continued, further creative beavering took place, people were taking bold new steps, and making new design decisions about their work...........
by lunchtime it all looked like this!
and soon it all looked like this!!
People left with all sorts of ideas and plans to continue, and most artworks so far have made it onto the wall at home, hurray! A testament to the process and great creative leaps that everyone made!
I can't wait until March and our next Wild at Art Mandala Getaway weekend !
for now though
seize creative moments my friends!!
from
Katie
