Improvising with Kandinsky

“See the music, hear the colour”

With guest artist Liana Vargas (BVA)

When:  Sunday 28 May 2017
Time: 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Location: Splashout Art Studios, 5 Ravine Street, Marino, South Australia 5049
Fee: $180

Includes: Large Stretched Canvas and ALL materials, including full use of Splashout Oils and Acrylic paints.
Accompanied by South Australian Cellist:  Harriet Davies.

On receipt of your booking form and deposit payment, a confirmation/information document will be sent to you by email.  Along with an invoice for balance payment due pre workshop.

Please Note: Places are only secured on receipt of $ 75 deposit.

IMPORTANT:  Places are limited to 10 people only.

About the Workshop:

Inspired by the philosophy, ideals, techniques and processes used by Abstract Expressionist Wassily KANDINSKY (1866 – 1944)

Kandinsky described himself as a ‘Synaesthesist’.  He saw music as colour.  Kandinsky was looking to paint beyond objects and to paint colours that played the human soul like an instrument.  He found his muse in music and saw a variety of colours when he listened.  He wanted to put this on canvas.  He believed certain emotional responses were aligned with particular colours.  We are familiar with this idea now,  but in his time this was a new concept.

Kandinsky believed music was the key to his Art and was greatly moved by it.  For many of us, the connection between sight and sound is metaphorical, we poetically understand the connection between our senses: colours are loud, music is soft, etc.  Literally history is overflowing with these types of multi-sensory descriptions.  Kandinsky was different, his understanding was visceral and experiential.  It was out of this experience of a unity of our senses that he described his pursuit of a monumental art form of intertwined music and art, joined in three-dimensional space.

“Colour is the key. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically.”

Following Kandinsky’s lead,  Liana Vargas (BVA) has collaborated with ‘Splashout Art Studios’ to design a unique sensory approach to abstract painting for this coming workshop.

The Process:

To begin with, a short tutorial will be presented with a slide show of works by Kandinsky, including an outline of his process and beliefs.

Participants will then be asked to respond through colour and line to live cello music, in the studio, played by South Australian Cellist: Harriett Davies.  This will be achieved, through a series of improvised ‘warm up’ sketches on canvas sheets.

These studies will later inform the composition for the major work on the larger canvas sized 30″ x 40″.

Liana will demonstrate, guide and inform you all along the way, stopping from time to time, so the group may meander the studio and view each other’s progress.

This is a full day Workshop (6 hours) with breaks and time to share a BYO lunch, with Liana and the group.  Maybe lunch ‘al fresco’, in one of the many delightful Splashout outdoor garden retreat areas !  If weather poor, there is a heated undercover, sheltered courtyard.  General refreshments are available throughout the day, all inclusive.  (Plus: We shall eat cake) !

ABOUT LIANA VARGAS: Guest presenter

Liana started her creative career in the profession of Dance, with ‘Flamenco’ as her specialist genre.  She has studied and performed worldwide with notable achievements.  During her Flamenco years she danced in venues such as ‘The Royal Albert Hall’, ‘Covent Garden’ and ‘Saddlers Wells’.  On retiring from dance she switched her creative focus to ‘Fine Art’.

In 2010 Liana embarked on her ‘Bachelor of Visual Arts’ (BVA).  In 2014, shortly after graduating she was offered ‘Artist in residence’ at the ‘Scuola Internationale de Grafica’in Venice, which of course she accepted.  Photos of Liana’s work and her experiences in Venice may be viewed on her website.

Liana describes herself as an ‘abstract expressionist’ and can turn her hand to many methods and styles in a wide range of art forms.  Liana’s study and experience has breadth and innovation, which has led her to becoming a well known character within the South Australian art scene.  In addition to having presented many workshops at various ‘Adelaide Hills’ venues, she now runs art classes at her home studio at Littlehampton.

In January 2016 Liana joined ‘Splashout Art Studios’ as one of the Workshop ‘Guest Presenter Team’.   Liana and Splashout enjoy a close association, with several ideas in the pipeline for further innovative and interesting projects !

HOW TO BOOK & PAY FOR WORKSHOP