Adventures in Orvieto, Italy | Annie Lockhart Italy Assemblage

Embracing Italy through Soulful Assemblage

Dates: May 24 - 30, 2009
Instructor/Leader: Annie Lockhart

Trip Description
In this workshop, you will create a wall hanging that will be a ‘visual memory.’ Using relics of nature along with the hoarded bits and pieces of junk that lurk in your studios . . . scattered upon your tables, and hidden in the nooks and crannies of your creative corners. You will expose these items as a metaphor . . . ones that represent a specific memory or story through the simple juxtaposition of these discarded inanimate “words”.

Through inquiry and reflection, you will take this vision to a level that will have significance for your life, possibly a memory that is for the ‘eye of your heart’ only. A visual journaling of sorts, this 3-D finished project will incorporate techniques that most will be somewhat familiar with already, along with some that Annie has found to be quick and easy shortcuts to keep the creative juices flowing.

An important and basic part of the workshop will be to learn to quiet the harsh critic within, allowing you to move more freely through expression, with much less self-doubt and judgment. This all too familiar thief is something that keeps creativity stuck in our souls. You move way beyond these fears to find your own unique voice . . . creating a piece that will flow and resonate within.

During the week you will:
   • Be guided in quieting the harsh critic within
   • Learn how to ‘wire’ elements
   • Create ‘age’ in objects
   • Incorporate basic design elements such as color, repetition,
     scale and texture.

This is a learning experience of a lifetime - learn about Italy and your unique ability to create. No experience needed - just a sense of adventure!

Itinerary
May 24 - Arrive Orvieto, group dinner
May 25 - Quieting the critic within, documenting our story, introduction
                to Italian culture, wine tasting, Orvieto walking tour
May 26 - Diassembling and reconstructing, foundations, cathedral tour,
                tour of Etruscan caves
May 27 - Incorporating symbolism and metaphor, Necropolis tour,
                cooking class
May 28 - Texture, repition, scale and color, market day, vineyard tour
                and wine tasting
May 29 - Finishing work, quieting the critic when your return home
May 30 - Show and share, Depart Orvieto

Details
Cost - $2350. Fee includes six nights double occupancy lodging and basic course materials. Single occupancy available for an additional cost. Because the tour is meant to expose you to the local culture, meals are not prearranged or included. Travel costs are not included.

Click here for registrations and terms, or contact us by e-mail, phone or writing at the contact information below.

A trip for companions is available for $1750.

Meet Annie
Annie is an artist and teacher always tempting herself with what's possible with color, textures, or the discarded. She loves to create something out of what appears to be nothing . . . there is usually a story to be peeled back from all of the layers created. If it’s faded, worn, or timeless, Annie can’t seem to pass them up. She enjoys the process of assemblage, and how her work tends to reveal something hidden . . . a question to be answered, or at least asked! Her work represents her life, either in how she experiences and visualizes her world, or through the hopeful eyes of a dreamer. When she is in the midst of expressing herself through photography, assemblage, painting or writing, she is most at home with herself.

She team taught painting in Guatemala to fifty children ranging in age from 12-18 at a wonderful school run by some very inspiring nuns - a life altering experinece. Her work has appeared in several national juried art shows in Kansas City and Tampa. Her “nest series” was featured in the mélange section of Somerset Studio magazine, Mar/Apr 07 and the Jul/Aug 07 back page, along with an article that she authored. She is published in Belle Armoire magazine. Annie teachs out of her studio, and taught at Arfest in 2008. Prior to the above, she had her own funky little antiques, floral, & interiors shop in a sweet little historic town amidst the beautiful rolling hills outside of Kansas City. Visit her blog at
www.annielockhart.typepad.com.