Circles of Creation

Second only to the wonderful joy and relaxation I enjoy when creating my own artworks ...is the fun and rich weft of making art with other people. Over the years I have found many ways to do that, and just about everyone I meet is eager to make and create something, I always have people to work with !!! Creating in a group or Circle provides a place where creative ideas and energy can grow as people sharing methods, ideas and conversation. Wonderful community building takes place as people share ideas, stories and fun and start to take greater risks with their creativity.

"What women need is permission to go into the wilderness of their internal world. To explore and embrace everything that they find there. " Chris Zydel

Here's a few lovely Creative Circles that I have gathered with over the last year.

Helena's FanClub

Creating our own personalised collaged and doodles fans in celebration of Helena's special birthday this year , in Pak Kok Tsuen, HK! 

You are Glorious !!

Celebrating our glorious selves in cousin Berni's Hampshire garden, in England with delicious food and lovely neighbours.

Mandalas with the Family 

Obsessively drawing rotational Mandalas with super artistic nieces  !!! People of any age will get hooked on this technique !

Meet Up Sketchwalk

Early Morning sketching along Aberdeen Praya, Hong Kong Island, always many amazing subjects.....so much going on its a rich seam for sketching if you ever fancy a sketch-stroll yourself.

The Gin and Tonic Art club 

Four fabulous Artistes who have been meeting at Flowers Towers for several years now, creating all kinds of projects and particularly enjoying Botanicals in the garden.

Wild at Art Weekends

....and last but most wonderfully the Fabulous Wild at Art Retreats which I run alongside Claire, twice a year here in Hong Kong......a whole weekend to incubate ideas, surrender to the process and be lavishly looked after ......

Coming soon........

Retreat number Four!! October 2014! 

If you feel like joining our Creative Circle this autumn: 

Mandala Journey

at Kadoorie Research Centre, sign up now!

contact me

Katie Flowers

wildatartweekly@gmail.com

Lighting the Fuse!!!!

Wouldn't you like to be able to discover your wonderful creative self whilst beavering away at your daily duties in the workplace !

Well 20 lucky souls at  Red Fuse Communications in Hong Kong, got to do just that recently. Thanks to the inspiration of their energetic and inspired operations manager, Marianne Gable. Of course one can imagine that an advertising agency is bound to be full of creative types, inventing, designing, imagining and envisioning all kinds of new ideas !!! But as I soon learned, to keep an agency up, running and ticking like clockwork there are a plethora of essential people in the team, who keep the whole ship afloat !!

So Marianne thought it was time that everyone got a crack at the creative game and so she booked an Art workshop with me, for members of the Red Fuse team who are involved in finance, human resources, client management, strategy, digital and more. " Its a great opportunity for people to actually use their hands to create rather than focus on emails and speadsheets " she stated!

So 20 very nervous and practically silent people arrived to find out what lay in store.....they were quick to tell me " We are not the creatives.... " clearly cautioning us all against any high expectations !!!

Katie's Secret Mandala Recipe

So I suggested we start the workshop assuming that everyone in the room IS " creative" and if they would trust me, we could tackle a failsafe way to relax and surrender into some gentle doodling, well doodling in a circle ! People generally felt able to say that yes they doodle and that its not quite such a threatening concept as perhaps drawing or designing might be...

We began with a  warm up game,  sharing doodling with a a friend.

People loosened up and felt good about what they had produced and relaxed into it all...
I absolutely know that starting an artwork on a surface which is not white and blank helps everyone, so then using the  wonderful tried and tested 8 x point Mandala recipe, people set off to design and doodle their own circular doodle or Mandala on pre textured and stencilled boards.

Aha Moments !!!

Creating an 8 point Mandala can be as freeform or as structured as you wish to make it, totally depending upon the individual approach. The delight rests in the open structure of the four directions, interpretations are completely personal..............

However,  the Mandala making process can be an interesting mirror as to how we all strategise and people had fun observing themselves as they worked, some got lost in the moment, some flowed and chattered, one or two confessed to feeling under pressure to be accurate, others marvelled at how pleasant it felt to just relax, others felt mesmerised by the repetitive process, others found it hard to make decisions about next steps.....

But everyone was delighted with the results,  and many just couldn't stop, judgements were released and imperfections embraced when people finally held their own completed piece !!

What an inspired idea by Marianne Gable to provide Red Fuse team members an opportunity to step outside the box and realise they too are the Creatives ! 

and of course circles and circular patterns are evident everywhere all around us every day, some were spotted on jewellery and clothes !!

I am looking forwards to the next exciting workshop, perhaps you'll join me !!

Why not doodle in a circle yourself people !

Till next time

Katie xxx

Utterly lost in surprises, fun and colour!

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.

Magic in the Mundane!

If there's one thing that can make a day seem humdrum, its a daily commute, taking the same route and transport day in day out whatever the season, don't you think?

I have a particularly punishing commute as we get up and out to catch a 6.20am ferry from my small island over to Hong Kong and I am in my artroom at 7.00am! Yes and it is dark at the moment !!!

Recently I decided to spice up the mundane routine by taking a few photos along the way either in the morning or on the way home, I posted these daily on Facebook for a month. To my surprise I got all sorts of feedback,  I realised I was giving people overseas a small window into my world and local friends started to comment upon how my photos were helping them to stop and stare too..........................

It's so easy to rush along the same old trek, our attention settling upon what's to be done that day, without particularly noticing the world out there, isn't it !! 

Somehow the taking of these photos and thus focusing upon the world around me, offers me two rather lovely gifts...........one is the ability to collect magical moments, like these fabulous drying fish......and the other is that I feel I am creating a conscious connection to the wider world, which is a great way to keep a handle on perspective!!

I recommend it!

In the meantime I have also joined a month long photo challenge with 2 friends and that has continued to give me a lovely creative project each day, as well as the drive to try and perceive something "ordinary" with new eyes!

A utensil

Favourite drink

Seeing something Magical in the Mundane is a great way to pause and give our full attention to something, to actually take a moment to be "Mindful". Vietnamese monk Thic Nhat Hanh says that Mindfulness is a particular way of paying attention to whatever our experience is, in the present moment, without preference or judgment. It allows us to clearly perceive our own thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, sensory experiences and events as they occur, Mindfulness asks us to engage our full awareness and all our of our senses.


Water

Full awareness and engaging all of our senses means Paying Attention, which happens to be a key part of a Wild at Art Weekend Retreat, and I know how hard it is for people in a big city to shift gears and achieve that! 

Try it yourself :

Stop reading for a moment, sit back and look around you and see what can you see……notice the colour, shapes, textures, and detail. Let your eyes alight on what is all around you, play with your awareness by opening it to include as much as your eyes can take in, now isolate aspects…….what do you notice? Where do your eyes lead you …….Sometimes shifting our attention to images rather than our inner dialogue can be a means of achieving relaxation. It allows the mind to rest and replenish.

I bring you a lovely Mindfulness exercise from Thic Naht Hanh, on the delicious experience of eating an orange................... 

Meditation on an orange (click here)

                                      

    Orange

Till next time my friends, stop and take a look around you today, have a mindful moment, see where your attention takes you Have Fun
Katie xxx

The Love Scribe of Bamako

There are a thousand ways to say "I love you". ......and Alassane Maiga's job is to pick the right one for each customer. He is one of 10 public scribes that sit on benches outside La Grande Poste, the main post office in Bamako Mali, says Journalist Alex Duval.

In a country with 70% illiteracy, scribes are required to help the public fill in forms and send letters - but this week, they are focused on a different kind of communication.

Three Hearts on a Rock, by Jim Dine, Montreal

Half way around the world, listening to this story on the BBC World Service, it confirms to me how important it is to dedicate one day in the year that is completely given over to celebrating LOVE!

I teach art in a primary school and on Friday the 14th I observed many excited children, creating love messages and making cards for their teachers and parents and friends. Children show us the power of being authentic and the power of accessing genuine feelings. So to me, Valentines Day, has become a day to be mindful about all of our loved ones and to treasure the powerful presence of love in our lives.

Two Big Black Hearts by Jim Dine

"Valentine's Day is when all our work comes to fruition," Maiga says. Bamako is big enough and amorous enough to keep the scribes working until the early hours of the morning in the week before Valentine's Day - to the extent that they can be seen sleeping on the post office steps.

Imagine that, a town being described as AMOROUS enough!!!! And it seems that while other amorous romantics around the world are sending flowers or cards, whether or not you know how to write in Bamako, people still have a strong enough urge to send loved ones a Love Poem,  and the "urge to love" trumps the limitations of personal abilities!!!

A love letter is never a one-size-fits-all affair. Maiga has to analyse the nature and magnitude of each passion - "what kind of love are we talking about?" - and assess the situation. Does he need to woo, seduce or charm? Should the billet doux contain a note of contrition, following an argument? Is it intended for a colleague at work, or a lover?

This one is written by the scribe of Bamako himself :

A love poem by Alassane Maiga

You who know my best and worst points.

You who know my coolness and my warmth.

I dedicate this poem to you, Fatoumata.

You gave me the desire to live.

You reconciled me with my parents.

You reconciled me with the world.

Without you I don't know what to do. I need to see you. Even your clothing.

If I am walking in the street and I see a colour you wear, I think of you. That's real love. Thank you. I am thinking of you. I love you so much.

Written for his own girlfriend, whom he met in 2006

Well, in true annual fashion, the creation of an amorous artfact took place at Flowers Towers last week! In top secret operations, ( when his head was turned)  a little homemade delectation was created to Big UP my fab chap!!!

Yes it started out as a bit of old cardboard!!! But with a spot of tissue paper magic, elmers glue, fluids acrylics, and some old fridge magnet poetry, my message took flight!

I hope Alassane Maiga would appreciate the saucy sentiments!!!

You know, here in Hong Kong, Friday 14th was known as Double Valentine Day,  It wasn't just Valentines but also the 15th day of the Lunar New Year -- more commonly known as Yuan Xiao or the Chinese Valentine's Day. The last time the two days coincided was nearly 15 years ago. 

Double Valentines Full Moon

Nearly 500 couples tied the knot at marriage registries across the city while a hundred couples marked the occasion at the city's famous Wong Tai Sin temple. They made their love-wish before Yue Lao, the deity for love and marriage, by tying themselves to their significant other with a silk cord. It is believed that once this is tied under his watch, no one can break the union..........the Romance in all of us is inescapable!!!

I don't subscribe to cynical views that nail Valentines day as a Hallmark Festival, I think as humans, we each and every one of us have a drive to love, be loved, to express that love and live it in our most visceral being....................

Whether it be self love, agape love, eros love, puppy love, paternal love, soulmate love, patriotic love, brotherly love, maternal love, tough love! unconditional love, divine love......it goes on and we all have love as a presence in our lives in a variety of these shapes and forms.

So folks grab a piece of paper and tally up your love quotients including all the wondrous forms and shapes that love might take in your lovely lives...........

and for now, in loving friendship and in great love of art and poetry and of people !!!!
Have a great week

Katie 
xxxxx