The Contemplary is proud to be hosting Alma Ayon to run a 3-week course in contemplative art. The program, which requires no previous artistic training and is suitable for people of all ages and abilities, combines instruction in meditation practices (drawing heavily from the Tibetan Buddhist and Zen traditions) with exercises in drawing, painting and sculpture, as well as providing an overview of the history of contemplative art in the West and the East.
The course allows participants to discover for themselves the relationship between contemplative practice, inspiration and creativity, and offers guidance in entering the creative process as a meditation practice that can be used to cultivate attentional relaxation, stability and vividness. Alma will also give instruction in how afflictive emotions that tend to come to the fore in meditation can be tended to and released through creative expression. Finally, the course also offers participants methods of seeking and expressing contemplative insight through the combination of meditation and artistic practice.
This course will teach a different way of observing and contemplating reality, transcending concepts and expressing the individual experience through art.
It will share tools for the cultivation of a contemplative mind through the artistic expression of emotions and mental states. – Alma Ayon
What will this program teach?
- It will teach a different way of observing/contemplating reality, transcending concepts and expressing the individual experience through art.
- It will share tools for the cultivation of a contemplative mind through the artistic expression of emotions and mental states.
What will participants learn?
- How to enter into a contemplative state, giving rise to inner creativity
- How to silence the mind and gain inspiration from contemplative practice
- How to breathe and focus, release creativity and transcend concepts.
- How to contemplate and let go of gasping on to thoughts, expectations and fears and express creativity and emotions, through artistic creation.
- How to find balance between technical skill and creative expression.
What are the goals of this program?
- To promote personal development through the provision of methods and tools for the integration of creativity with mental training and emotional balance.
- To give the student knowledge about the mind that will support a close and introspective observation of his or her own consciousness, motivations and emotional states and translate them into artistic expression.
- To give the student methods:
- To cultivate mindfulness and sustained attention by working on art projects.
- To canalize afflictive emotions into artistic expression instead of hurting themselves and others.
- For cultivating relaxation, stability and vividness while experiencing the creative process mindfully.
- For relaxing the mind while enhancing creativity.
- For cultivating insight into the nature of things by way of artistic creation.
- For contemplating their own mind and expressing their own vision of art
- To give beginners tools for developing a contemplative and artistic practice.
- To give artists and creators a new perspective in how to connect inner calm and self-awareness with their creative process.
- Finding mental and emotional balance in order to offer something meaningful to the world through their artwork.
To see our virtual gallery of Contemplative Art click here