Jun 2-4, 2006
The artistic, creative process has the capacity to draw us closer to the natural world and to our own authentic nature simultaneously. In this way, our selves and our world can both be restored. The surrounding countryside will be our primary studio: a woodland brook, a meadow, an old apple orchard, by a pond, deep in the woods, and — hopefully — star-spangled nights. We will invigorate the natural artist within each of us.
Our weekend together will be about Drawing Closer to Nature, to her familiarities, mysteries, and wisdom. Working with simple art media that can be used without prior experience – drawing, painting, and composing with found materials — we’ll explore that common source of springtime that revitalizes all nature, including our own. In a supportive, judgment-free setting, we will draw, paint, collage, shape, see, listen, and speak.
The vibrancy of life in this awe-inspiring world is the true cosmic dance. We will seek patterns, rhythms, and harmonies found in the world around us and within us to create works that explore and celebrate this great communion.
This retreat is for all who wish to reawaken their creative juices. Peter creates a safe and enabling space where all feel welcome, every effort is affirmed, and the mind, body, and spirit are nurtured. Artists, teachers, those who have never drawn or painted, those seeking to create more meaningful, natural expression in their art and their life, and those who suspect that an artist waits within will love this retreat.
Peter London’s wonderful book, No More Second Hand Art: Awakening the Artist Within, shows the creative process to be a series of natural, organic, gentle stages. Drawing Closer to Nature carries his thesis further, as he shares his life’s work — making the creative process accessible to everyone and recasting the purposes of art from being mainly decorative and entertaining to including personal and societal transformation. An exceptional artist himself, he is a distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association, recipient of the Viktor Lowenfeld Award, and a frequent keynote speaker. He has taught for over 40 years in universities, museums, schools, and art institutes in over thirty states and half a dozen countries. As a teacher, Dr. London’s enthusiasm for the transformation possible through the creative process is contagious, and we delight in his return. You will too.
”You know that you have been in the presence of a master teacher and that teaching is a part of a worldview that is well articulated and well lived.”
—Dr. Kit Grauer, past president, International Society for Art through Education, British Columbia
”Peter London’s books and workshops cut to the core of what it means to reveal our best human attributes through our innate voices. He speaks to everyone — not just those who identify themselves as ‘artists.’”
—Dr. Jane Bates, Art Education Director , Towson State University of Maryland