Following the Wild Winds

The first class was by Carissa Paige and called following the Wild Winds. Her philosophy is to actively try to reconnect with our childhood sense of joy and spontanaiety. She creates her art in a very loose and intuitive way, never having a particular endpoint in mind. It has a very spiritual vibe with her talk of animal totems and original medicine and really made me think. The art methods took me out of my comfort zone as I'm usually very neat,precise and disatisfied with anything less than perfection. This way of working was good for me!


The back of this piece was collaged,acrylic paint added with fingers or printed and the figure added last. It represents a very young me lying in the grass reading, with my tipi (complete with healer symbols), a memory of feeling bliss as a child. I found the quote by Tagore, an Indian poet, which expressed my thoughts exactly.


The next piece was such fun! I took a photo of myself, outlined eyes, nose,mouth etc. with pencil and painted over them with gesso. Around this I created a fantasy girl, a Strictly neon beehive and frilly rumba frock that glitters. While I am not remotely this glamorous there is something eerily recognisable in the face,which
I think must be down to our familiarity with the way our features are spaced. Loved doing this.....