Your Artistry (term 2) – Semester 1

Description

Full Description: There is a concept of a zero-point – the heart of the person – and that everything else extends from there. All you do, your connection with other people, with the environment around you, and your agency in the world radiates from here. In here resides your intuition, your knowing, your truth, your strength, your power.
The thing is, for most of us, me included, this clear centre is obscured – by trauma (ancestral or otherwise), culture, gender, life experiences, confusion, guilt and shame … and so on. I am sure you can add many more to this list. This can lead to confusion about purpose, a sense of disconnection, aimlessness, a feeling of time running out, and powerlessness.
Within the safety of no-risk art, you have space to feel, and to contemplate at your own pace the where and what and why of what has arisen, and to perhaps be able to release things that have clouded your clear heart. And the great thing is, you can know what has happened, but the art speaks. You don’t have to find the right words to express what happened.
What we will NOT do:
We will not be exhibiting any of the things we produce. You do not have to share what you produce with anyone, not me, not others in the course with you.
I will not be expecting you to be an expert artist or creative in any way. If you can make a mark, pound a bit of clay with your fist, then you are more than qualified to attend.
What we WILL do:
Play, have fun, relax, make without a purpose (like children do all the time, just for the joy of it).
We will be using simple materials, found objects from nature, and perhaps a bit of glue.
Learn a boxful of things we can do in future when we are knocked off our centre – a toolbox of playful exercises. You will have your favourites.
Explore in various ways (writing, speaking, journalling, mark making) and with curiosity our feelings about the activity. What has arisen? Why did I feel this way?

Introducing the tutor, Helen Nandlal: I have completed a few courses. Some might say, “Make up your mind!”. Others might say, “How interesting!” I say, “It’s all connected!” I have always been curious about the world. As a child, as a teenager, as an adult, and now as an older adult. Finally, as an older adult, I can peer outside the box sometimes and what I see out there is that, truly, all fields are interconnected. What!?

Well, I began my working life as a Primary School Teacher, then a Childcare Worker. I completed a Science Degree and worked in mining and oil and gas for a bit as a Geologist, then as an advisor/analyst. As a stay-at-home Mum I completed a Permaculture Design Certificate, an Advanced Diploma in Building Biology, and a Certificate in Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy. I have worked in all these fields.

What I have noticed is people are key in every area I’ve worked in. They are the zero point from which all else flows. So then I realised that many people, myself included, are ‘cloudy’ from trauma, life events, ‘shoulds’, family history, societal expectations, and so on; and this prevents us from interacting with the world around us – work, family, other people, home, land, community, nature, all of it – in a way that is personally deeply satisfying.

I would love for everyone to be clear and living their life with clarity and honesty. I have some tools I’ve developed and exercises I’ve learnt that I am excited to share. These, coupled with my understandings of the world around us I hope to inspire, connect, and teach others how to live a creative, clear, healthy, wonderful life.

And let’s have some fun with it!