Art is Self Discovery

The Sedona Art Retreat offers a unique tour of self-discovery as you explore a world of creative possibilities. Sedona is known for three things; its beautiful and unique landscape, its art colony atmosphere and as a place for spiritual retreat. The Sedona Arts Center has wrapped these elements into a unique package where art and self-discovery fuse – creating a life changing experience.

The retreat starts with an orientation at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday followed by two three hour sessions per day for three days (9 a.m.–noon and then 1–4pm )exploring the various mediums. The final meeting takes place at 6:30pm on Wednesday. Some meetings will take place at artists home/studios and some will take place in the Sedona Arts Center classrooms. Detailed itinerary and maps will be made available to all registrants at orientation.

Retreat Dates:

March 11–13, 2013 Student Orientation Meeting 6:30 March 10, 2013
March 18–20, 2013 Student Orientation Meeting 6:30 March 17, 2013
May 13–15, 2013 Student Orientation Meeting 6:30 May 12, 2013

Tuition $650

Click the dates for more information

Orientation – Komala U. Rohde The Sedona Art Retreat begins with a Welcome evening session with your retreat coordinator Komala. We will meet as a group and begin to define what is important to us in our creative exploration. An orientation and outline of the retreat is given.

Photographing Essence – Rick Daley After a studio orientation we’ll venture into the landscape of Sedona exploring how to use your camera to capture the spirit of a place and how that deepens your self-discovery. You’ll find ways to find your still point so you can experience nature with new eyes and a new vision of the essence of subjects. You’ll learn how to go beyond the obvious and photograph feelings rather than mere scenes. Using your camera can help you to see and experience meaning in you and your environment.

The LifeMask – Liz Learmont ‘LifeMasking’ is a beautiful process of self discovery, acceptance and rebirth. Participants will have a demonstration/orientation and then facilitate each other in creating a real LifeMask with complete guidance from Liz. Everyone will emerge with a new liberating view of themselves. Options for hand casting rather than face-masks are offered.

Creative Journaling – Libby Caldwell Libby teaches us how to combine sketches, color, and words to make unique personal compositions that capture the heart of the moments and memories in your life. By engaging and using all the senses these techniques can be applied to recording everyday life, life changing events, travels and things remembered. Additionally you will learn how to use the process to identify a challenge creatively and through rearranging its form – dispel its energy.

The Collage – Vince Fazio This guided collage process starts with intuitively gathering imagery, then combines design principles with content to integrate images. Students learn to identify and balance the two sided aspects of connections – the narrative and the aesthetic. A ‘group wisdom’ is then explored to fine-tune the image and story that each collage presents.

Creativity through Zen Calligraphy – Alok Hsu Kwang-han Alok teaches Zen as art and art as Zen. During this painting workshop you will learn to hold your brushes as friends and use a guided meditation as a way to let go and embrace a new found creativity that is fresh, expansive and has always been there! Playful surprises are accompanied by a dignity of ceremony validating what is healthy and whole in each of us. Numerous calligraphic paintings will be made by each participant and some will announce themselves as profound expressions.

Completing the Circle – Weaving a Mandala – Wendy the Weaver During our time together we will walk a labyrinth, an excellent archetypal tool to connect to one’s inner self, and then create a personal fiber art piece full of luscious colors and textures. Weaving is a wonderful metaphor for life. Each strand of thread symbolically represents your experiences weaving your Sedona Arts Retreat discoveries and insights together into one fabric mandala. The result will be a treasured symbol, an embodiment of the magical time you spent in Sedona.

Integration – Komala U. Rohde

This session with the retreat coordinator rounds off the Sedona Art Retreat. In this meeting we share results and insights gathered throughout the process.

Komala will teach this session as a substitute as needed….
Creating a talisman – Komala U. Rohde

Using texture and color, this workshop explores decorative finishing techniques in jewelry making to create a talisman. A reading of the moment begins the designing process for this piece of jewelry. Participants can choose between making a pendant or a small domed plate while applying Patina or enamel to a previously hammered piece of Metal. Letting the talisman reflect inner qualities and beauty, this workshop will deepen the recognition of your own beauty.

Call 928-282-3809 for more information
email: [email protected]

Pop Up Sedona Gallery Announces Holiday Art Extravaganza

Sedona AZ (November 16, 2012) – To put the joy back into holiday shopping, Pop-Up Sedona Gallery in Hillside Sedona Center has announced its first “Holiday Art Extravaganza”, to be held the entire Black Friday weekend (November 23-25).

The event features many unique gift ideas that will fit any budget, all of them crafted locally by Sedona artists and none of them available anywhere else. And as always, a portion of each sale is donated to the Verde Valley Sanctuary, a charitable organization offering a safe haven for victims of domestic abuse. Verde Valley Sanctuary provides shelter, community outreach, and legal advocacy services for women and children in their time of greatest need.

The event also features seasonal refreshments plus a free raffle of three unique art works. No purchase is necessary to enter the raffle, and the winner does not need to be present for the drawing, to be held on Sunday afternoon November 25.

Pop-Up artists will feature special offers on unique gifts for your holiday needs, including numerous one-of-a-kind art pieces. Festive packaging is included with purchases of $25 or greater.

All of the artists represented by Pop-Up are local Sedona artists. A remarkable range of styles and mediums are shown, includes original paintings (oil, acrylic, watercolor), photography, metal works, sculptures, gourds, glass creations, jewelry, handbags, fiber clay sculpture, pottery and more.

The artists whose pieces are offered in the raffle are Komala Rhode (jewelry), Sharron Porter (painter), and Beverly Kievman Copen (photographer).

Pop-Up is located on the upper level of Hillside Sedona Center, 671 State Route 179 (about ½ mile south of the “Y” in Sedona). The gallery is open from 10 to 6 PM every day with an extra hour on Wednesday evenings – until 7 pm — as part of Hillside Sedona’s “Weekend on Wednesdays.”

More information about the gallery can be found online at http://www.pop-upsedonagallery.com.

This month I will be featured artist at the Sedona Arts Center. The theme of the exhibition is Color Galore. We will serve wine and snacks at the

Opening Reception on Friday October 5th from 5 – 8 pm. I’d love to see you there.

For this year’s upcoming Sedona Wine Fest art exhibition the prospectus asked to create a piece of art that incorporates the wine theme. Designing a piece of jewelry that relates to wine and yet is wearable on a day to day basis turned out to be challenging. After giving it some thought, I decided to take this challenge quite literal and began to form copper leaves that were finished with a green Patina on beads and toggle clasp. For creating the grape clusters, pearls seemed an obvious choice. The necklace has been accepted by the jury and I am looking forward to presenting it on September 22nd to 23rd.

Update: The necklace won 3rd place.

The purpose of this blog is to track my own adventures in making jewelry and
creating art, and perhaps inspiring my students and subscribers with new
ideas and techniques I discover along the way.