Sit under a tree, hold court and paint with me*.
The art of attention - I can’t drive and talk but I can certainly paint and talk as I’ve been doing that all my life, ever since I could hold a brush.
I’m going to recreate this painting and I won’t do it again (as I have so many other things to do!) so this is a unique opportunity to follow along with this journey as a private student and mentee in small, exclusive private group sessions where you can ask me absolutely anything at all. It’ll be diverse, but it’ll work. (I’m diverse, and I work.) This is special: follow along with art being made, live. I’ll grow the painting methodically while skipping around spontaneously. I’ll talk about my thoughts and tangent off into theory no doubt and pepper it with art history and sprinkle it not with sugar but the spice of life. There are enough subjects in this painting to focus in on a rock or a crown or a cloud or a flower or a monkey or a lion or… a floating island if that is the feeling in the group. Gayumars is teaching his courtiers how to weave, hunt, write, cook, fish, make fire and the arts of living. I’m teaching and transmitting the art of art.
You’ll see all the basic methods plus some new ones that even I don’t know yet - as I haven’t made the painting yet! Basically, I’m approaching this painting as an artist. This project is different to all the other classes (which are focused on a single element, or Masterclasses focusing on a single subject) - these are bespoke mentoring sessions where we discuss being an artist, the nature of art, the nature of creativity, spontaneity, university, the life and mind of an artist, the journey of an artist and craftsperson, career, goals, education, tradition, modernity, history, contemporaneity, spirituality, meditation, imagination, application, ambitions, options, exhibitions, professions, progressions, confessions, transitions, family, balance, pleasure, leisure, soul… all of this wrapped up in this painting recreation that I did once for my MA (and then was going to wash off, and then my husband stole it - ‘saved it’ - and now it is lost!) and studied for years and years after and continue to deepen my knowledge and love.
Welcome to the Inner Oval (can’t be a circle - look at the painting!).
Once a week sessions:
£180 for just 1 student
£95 if 2 students
£65 for 3 students
£50 for 4 students +
Either
Tuesdays 12.30-1.30pm GMT
Or
Wednesdays 8-9pm GMT
I honestly don’t know when I’ll finish the painting. I hope it’ll be in a year. It may be less, it may be more. This way I can offer a year’s worth of teaching and mentoring. I am a long-term person (I’m doing a PhD in painting 1001 paintings!) and I really see it as investing in my people; I give them everything. This goes beyond the master-apprentice, teacher-student exchange as it is a real relationship I cultivate and develop with people and I genuinely care about them. I also understand that not everyone can commit to a year, so it’s not for everyone. Even the dates and timings don’t suit everyone. Maybe there should be a waiting list. Maybe it’s more fluid and people drift in and out, stop by for a time to listen under the tree in the shade, fill their cup and then walk off into the sunlight once they feel replenished. Always a rolling small and dynamic group. Maybe some students stay meditating under the tree in a yoga pose for the entire year - I don’t know. I know that I don’t want anyone to pay me in advance for a whole year. So I can be flexible on payment options - email me and we’ll talk.
Please note that this is not for complete beginners. (I love complete beginners! - they are welcome to join one of my other courses.) I already teach some cherished private students and I only have a small number of slots available, so this is a solution.
*Ancient way of teaching, sitting and pondering under a tree in the shade and oral transmission in comfort and style. No trees involved unfortunately, you’ll have to supply your own. “Tree” here means Zoom webcam as these will be delivered via Zoom, and you’ll be comfy in your own home.
Storytelling, universal catholicism and the peaceable kingdoms - I love the threads that came up in the discussion during The Art of Attention: The Court of Gayumars! It's all there, all wrapped up in that painting. Also - reconnecting with one's own identity and heritage, magic realism, illustration and the universalism that is painting itself.
Other themes that came up earlier were perspective and some technicalities about gilding (info about which we can keep in the appropriate threads).
Enjoying going deeper in this project with you all!
A very short answer to the question 'What is (miniature) painting for you?' from me: Painting for me is like breathing, I feel like I grew up with painting and painting grew up with me, and we are one and the same entity, almost.
(Also a very short answer to my email 'riddle' - are you a king or a vagabond? My answer is both! Do both things, do all the things. Room enough for all. Etc etc)
I shall be so happy to join! the 8 pm is super for me!!! Thank you!
This sounds like fun! I have already responded in an email that I would like to join in. The 8 pm GMT is good, and the 4 person pricing is the most affordable. I always learn so much from you, Vaishali, so yay!
Visibly stoked. I wish you could see my face.
You had me with "Sit under a tree." And attention. I can do the Wednesday 8-10pm GMT. I hope there will be four students, so the total will be an odd number rather than square. And more affordable for an ongoing class.
I love this whole concept and I love the business model too, which draws on both the traditional master-apprentice and the patron model of art creation.
We will be supporting you in creating a piece you’ve been meaning to make —- you will be mentoring us while we observe your painting process —- as a group we will be developing eachother by talking/listening/learning —- and the whole process mirrors the subject of the painting AND the subject of our conversations will also be reflected (as conversations always are while we paint) in that painting!!
i can afford to be a fairly regular 3rd or 4th person on these conversations, but not a 1st or 2nd person (although I do need one or two of these sessions as well, and soon).
I would also like to know if there will be an opportunity along the way to invest in a print of the finished work? In a staggered way (maybe a small add on per session that eventually reaches a set amount).