empty canvas : wondering mind
empty canvas : wondering mind is a series of 9 workbooks, including over 200 visual language activities, object-art (craft) activities and projects.
The series is an ideal resource for teachers and students at all levels of practice.
The content is founded on the curriculum I developed during decades of teaching art and design within a variety of educational contexts.
As an art educator I was more concerned with encouraging students to find and express their own unique creative voice, rather than turn out a certain type of art product.
Continue reading, and download these free e-books
the awakened eye
What is the awakened eye?
Many artists and artisans have found that the practice of drawing and / or engagement in creative encounters in the visual arts can open the mind to another way of seeing, a way that trashes habitual dualistic assumptions.
They may use different words to describe this view, but all infer a relationship with something inconceivably larger than their everyday experience, something referred to here as ‘the intimate unknowable’.
This site was created as a Temenos of sorts – a sanctuary where the oft-overlooked relationship between creative expression and the unknown / unknowable can be openly explored and celebrated.
It’s an ongoing project. I do hope you’ll visit!
the art of learning
Co-authored with teacher and musician Paul Herder, this educational paper explores a holistic curriculum approached from three perspectives: inquiry, thought and creativity.
Download the art of learning e-book
quotes about creativity
What is creativity? What does it mean to be original and creative?
What fosters creativity, and what hinders it? Can it be cultivated?
What is the relationship between creativity and consciousness?
Between the creative state and the sacred?
Click here to explore these quotes
FREDERICK FRANCK’S TO-DO LIST
Frederick Franck’s to-do list (he called it his “10 Commandments”) is a wondrous source of both aspiration and inspiration.
Even if you aren’t someone who draws, you can be hugely enriched by considering the ways his instructions apply to the big artwork we’re all busy at – creating a life.
Inspiration from one of my most important teachers.
Click here … then start drawing …
inspirations | aspirations
Links galore. Your coffee will get cold, your head will spin, and your heart will smile.
miriam louisa simons 