This poem elicits exploration on the part of the art therapists and counselors taking the workshop. They question their need to “help” and ask themselves when it is best to let nature take its course. This year I added material about working in toxic environments. I feel compelled to bring up “environment” in a course called “The Ethics of Nature”. Toxicity can be within an agency, a disturbed family situation, or within the natural environment when we poison the oceans and the air and cut down the forests.

The creative process includes not wasting our resources, individual or otherwise, not trying to fix what is unfixable, knowing when to let go of material that is no longer vital, and also taking risks by actively trying out and pursuing new ideas.

I have recently returned to a large pastel I began a year and a half ago when I was painting outdoors at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, NM. I started it on the same day I had to leave the beautiful Ranch. I have been afraid to touch it in my studio, afraid to add to it, because what makes it work is so elusive. Today I approach this painting with respect, curiosity and . . . the freedom of the spontaneous mark or action, It is my intention to approach my teaching and students in the same way.

I will be teaching “The Ethics of Nature” again on July 21 and also on August 18.

The image that is featured on today’s blog comes out of a personal experience where I had expectations for how “nature” should look. I had travelled to Lubec, Maine which is the eastern most point in the United States. Donald and I had rented a cottage with an “ocean view.” I had spent time in Lubec a few years prior and was ready to work “en plain air.” I had already done a large body of work based on the curve of the earth where the stretched horizon and the ocean meet. This time my ocean view was a small segment of tidal waters framed by beautiful trees. I sketched everyday, looking at the portion of water allotted me (when you live in the Southwest, you become needy regarding large bodies of water). The tides in Lubec are extreme, so the land would disappear at high tide and reemerge when the tide went out. I felt there was some secret hidden there, a secret that was hidden behind the trees, a meaning waiting to be revealed through the hour glass view of water which I had been given.

When I came back to Santa Fe and began work in my studio.  I had photos, sketches, my imagination and my unconscious. I painted a viridian green layer of acrylic on my sanded pastel paper and then jumped into the tidal waters. The hour glass openings doubled so I had two views, not one. I had already spent a lot of time looking and making small sketches. When I began this larger studio piece, I preselected my palette using a set of relationships from the color wheel. With my colors chosen and a familiarity with the composition. I did not need to think at all . . . I love being in the ocean of the unconscious. My chunky Diane Townsend Terrage Pastels were perfect and the mark making took over. When I look at this piece (a slice of which you see here) I find that within the trees, secret creatures emerge.

This piece has been selected for the 2013 edition of the American Art Collector. Publication date is October 15.

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It has to be fun for me as a teacher or I won’t bring energy and a love of art to the class….and it was fun!, I experimented with new ways to get participants loosened up and connected to what they were seeing. We absorbed the wind into our art. Worked a lot with movement and also with fixed color relationships from the color wheel. Switching back and forth between learning by doing and learning by concepts. The concepts and skills are so ingrained in me that when I work in my studio I am able to give myself over to the wonderful (and sometimes very uneasy) place where I listen to what the picture needs, not what I think it should be.

Sometimes I feel as if I am going deeper into the jungle and where I’ll end up is getting lost with a big overworked mess on my hands but very often it’s thrilling to stay lost till what is new emerges. It’s never what I thought it would be. Conceptually, I’m in a thought process involving how to work larger within the pastel medium. There are issues with framing under glass that I am dealing with. I will give some updates on this soon.

Next weekend I will be teaching a workshop at Albuquerque Open Space called, “Taking the Inside Outside: Creating Images from Nature and the Unconscious.” It’s from 11 to 4 Pm on June 3rd. It is going to be both a creatively stimulating and a well-organized workshop. All materials will be supplied. If you are local, I hope you can attend. The New Mexico Art Therapy Association is the sponsor. This one day class is an opportunity for both non artists and artists – it’s a chance to find places (both internally and externally) where you resonate with nature and….make art that is both deeply personal and fun.

Choose among different types of individually designed art experiences.

All Fine Art classes and workshops focus on expressing your response to the landscape and architecture of New Mexico. Continuing Education classes focus on nature, the creative process, and art therapy.

• Sketching and Painting Santa Fe | Small, half-day classes are held year round. This three-hour class is an especially fun activity for friends and family members to share. We supply the materials and a jump start for first-timers, and added spark for those with previous art experience. Study individually or in a small group, in the studio or outdoors. We also offer day trips to Ghost Ranch. Bring a friend and both save 10%.
• Team Building and Workshops for Large Groups | This is a fun and creative event that can be held either as an outdoor adventure or an art studio event.
• Creativity Development Seminars and Art Workshop activities can be designed to meet the needs of your particular group. Art materials are supplied and no previous experience is required. Call or email for more information.
• Ghost Ranch Retreats and Intensives | One to four day intensive workshops are held at Ghost Ranch Retreat Center, north of Santa Fe in Abiquiu. Ghost Ranch is a very powerful and beautiful setting for connecting to nature, and your own creativity. Once the home of Georgia O’Keeffe, this country retains her spirit. Day trips available.
• CEUs THAT NOURISH/Approved Continuing Education Workshops | Jane is a Licensed, Professional Art Therapist in New Mexico. She is Board Certified by the American Art Therapy Association. Her Continuing Education workshops include: The Ethics of Nature, Resonating in the Presence of Nature, and Taking the Inside Outside, Creating Images of Nature and the Unconscious. You do not have to be an art therapist to attend these workshops.

NEED A BROCHURE?

Jane’s Continuing Education Workshops are approved by both the New Mexico Counseling and Therapy Practice Board and the New Mexico Social Work Examiners Board. All Continuing Education Workshops focus on nature and the creative process and are open to anyone who has been inspired by nature, whether CEU’s are needed or not! New Mexico Continuing Education units are generally transferable nationwide. Massage Therapy and Nursing Boards will accept these units if the practitioner feels they are applicable to his or her practice. Jane has been teaching on a post graduate level for 20 years. Her longer workshops have been called “life-changing” by participants. Her national workshops on the creative process have been so well attended, she has been asked to offer duplicate sessions.

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