Saturday, March 15, 2014

Upcoming Art Lectures and Workshops in New Zealand with Van James

The Dynamic Language
of Linear Design:
Meander, Koru, Knot, and Braid


A Drawing Workshop at Taruna College
Friday 4th April (7-9.00pm)
Saturday 5th April (9.00am – 5.00pm)

Linear designs such as meanders, korus, knots and braids have held deep significance since prehistoric times.  Their rhythmic forms and patterns indicate a journey of transformation and empowerment for the one who successfully masters the secret language of their design.  Labyrinths, mazes, and encircling mandalas, all are iconography of artistic and spiritual power, used for concentration, visualization, meditation and the journey of self-realization.  In this workshop we will practice simple knot and meander form drawings as a basis for creating more complex interwoven patterns and designs. In this way we will explore the wonderous visual language of dynamic linear form drawing. No drawing experience necessary.

Van James, an experienced international art educator based at the Honolulu Waldorf School in Hawaii, will lead this workshop. He is the author of several books on art including Drawing with Hand, Head and Heart.

This is a course for non-artists as well as those who have artistic experience. No prior skills are needed.

For booking ring: 06 8777174
                                                    Course Fee: $120+GST
                                                   33 Te Mata Peak Road


Havelock North 4157
Programme:

Friday 4th April

7.00-9.00 pm

Introductory Talk
with practical exercises


Saturday 5th April

9.00-10.30 am

Workshop 1

Morning Tea

11.00-12.30 am

Workshop 2

                                                                                            Lunch
(Bring your own)


1.30-3.00 pm

Workshop 3

Afternoon Tea

3.30-5.00 pm

Workshop 4




Drawing materials: crayons, pastels and paper will be provided



The Origins and Mysteries of Art



Lecture and Workshop
with Van James
11th and 12th April
Friday 7.30 pm, Saturday 1pm-5pm

How and why did people first make pictorial representations? What can we learn about ourselves as contemporary individuals from prehistoric and even ancient Egyptian art? The beginnings of art are a mystery that lies at the very foundation of who we are as human beings and the capacities, such as memory and mental picturing, that we take for granted. The lecture will survey Palaeolithic to ancient Egyptian art while the workshop will explore the art of these periods through pastel drawing.
 
Van James is a Hawai’i based artist, author and teacher with a degree in painting and drawing from the San Francisco Art Institute, USA, and diplomas from Emerson College in England, and the Goetheanum Painting School in Switzerland.  He has been an art instructor at the Honolulu Waldorf School for 30 years and is a guest instructor at Taruna College in New Zealand, and Rudolf Steiner College in California. He is chairman of the Anthroposophical Society in Hawai’i and editor of Pacifica Journal. He is also the author of several books on art and culture including Spirit and Art and The Secret Language of Form. His latest book is Drawing with Hand, Head and Heart.

Rudolf Steiner House, 104 Michaels Ave, Ellerslie
Lecture $20, Saturday workshop $50, $60 for both
As places are limited please call Bernadette on 3611368 to register

Mandala
The Art of Centering the Self

Lecture and Workshop
with Van James
28th and 29th March
Friday 7.30 pm, Saturday 9am- 1pm

Mandalas are an artistic expression in both East and West, used for visualization, meditation and initiation. The mandala creates an enclosed sacred space, a cosmogram, which represents the Self within the universe. Hildegard von Bingen, Rudolf Steiner, Carl Jung, and the fourteenth Dalai Lama, all created mandalas and worked with their power to fashion a center of energy within the great, universal periphery.  Carl Jung said of mandalas: "In accord with the Eastern conception, the mandala symbol is not only a means of expression, but works an effect.  It reacts upon its maker. Very ancient magical effects lie hidden in this symbol…the magic of which has been preserved in countless folk customs." The evening lecture will consider the worldwide phenomena of historic mandalas and the workshop will explore the practical-artistic aspects of this sacred form, culminating in the creation of our own individual mandala. The lecture and workshop may be attended separately, but both together are recommended. No artistic experience is necessary. All materials are included.
 
Van James is a Hawai’i based artist, author and teacher with a degree in painting and drawing from the San Francisco Art Institute, USA, and diplomas from Emerson College in England, and the Goetheanum Painting School in Switzerland.  He has been an art instructor at the Honolulu Waldorf School for 30 years and is a guest teacher at Taruna College in New Zealand, and Rudolf Steiner College in California. He is chairman of the Anthroposophical Society in Hawai’i and editor of Pacifica Journal. He is also the author of several books on art and culture including Spirit and Art and The Secret Language of Form. His latest book is Drawing with Hand, Head and Heart.

Rudolf Steiner House, 104 Michaels Ave, Ellerslie
Lecture $20, Saturday workshop $50, $60 for both
As places are limited please call Bernadette on 3611368 to register



Enlivening Our Work through the Arts

An evening with VAN JAMES

Wednesday 2nd April, 2014

Michael Park Steiner School, Auckland


In our time when technology increasingly pervades the home and school it is important to be aware of and to help foster the healthy human capacities that children will need for their challenging future.
This hands-on lecture-demonstration is for parents, care givers, teachers, and those interested in how learning is supported through the development of creative faculties by means of the arts.
We will explore the importance of children’s drawings and how they lay the groundwork for skills and faculties such as visual thinking, cognitive feeling (emotional intelligence), and moral imagination. We will focus on basic artistic principles that enhance the learning experience in the early classes and provide a basis for confident and skillful work in the upper school.

Van James is a Hawai’i based artist, author and educator; a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, Emerson College in England, and the Goetheanum School of Painting in Switzerland. He teaches art at the Honolulu Waldorf High School and is a regular guest instructor at Taruna College in New Zealand, Rudolf Steiner College in California, and numerous schools and trainings in Asia. He is editor of Pacifica Journal and chairman of the Anthroposophical Society in Hawai’i, as well as the author of several books on art and culture including Drawing with Hand, Head and Heart: Learning the Natural Way to Draw.

THE ROLE OF ART
IN EDUCATION

An EVENING WITH VAN JAMES

Wednesday 9th April, 7.30 p.m.

Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School-- Eurythmy Hall

~Koha requested~

                
                    

In our time when technology increasingly pervades the home and school it is important to be aware of and to help foster the healthy human capacities that children will need for their challenging future.

This hands-on lecture-demonstration is for parents, educators and those interested in how learning is supported through the development of creative faculties.

We will explore the importance of children’s drawings and how they lay the groundwork for skills and faculties such as visual thinking, cognitive feeling (emotional intelligence), and moral imagination. We will focus on basic artistic principles that enhance the learning experience in the early classes and provide a basis for confident and skillful work in the upper school.


Van James is a Hawai’i based artist, author and educator; a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, Emerson College in England, and the Goetheanum School of Painting in Switzerland. He teaches art at the Honolulu Waldorf High School and is a regular guest instructor at Taruna College in New Zealand, Rudolf Steiner College in California, and numerous schools and trainings in Asia. He is editor of Pacifica Journal and chairman of the Anthroposophical Society in Hawai’i, as well as the author of several books on art and culture including Drawing with Hand, Head and Heart: Learning the Natural Way to Draw.