Full Circle Digital Magazine September 2013 | Page 18

FULL CIRCLE ART • ART CLASSES • ART WORKSHOPS

Awaken your unique creative spirit
through the ASTAR* approach to art making
by Michelle Knight

*

ASTAR = Awakening Spirit Through Art

Picasso said, “It took me 12 years to learn to draw like an adult, and the rest of my life to learn to create like a child again”. Like Picasso the ASTAR approach to art making, draws inspiration from how children create.
We are all born with the powerful urge and ability to create. Young children express their creativity freely and abundantly, with a sense of playfulness and spontaneity. They create without judgments and expectations of the creative product, but revel simply in the ACT OF CREATING. Their creativity expresses their boundless imagination, and instinctively reflects their experiences and environments, as they make sense of their worlds. Young children naturally have a strong belief in their creative powers. Ask a group of children, “Who can paint, draw, dance, sing or act?” and the vast majority will shout emphatically, “I CAN! I CAN!” Ask a group of adults the same question and just the odd hand will tentatively be raised.

intuition. In this way, the artworks naturally emerge and unfold. Students begin to believe “I CAN CREATE!” The creative process becomes a vehicle for self-expression, self-discovery, gentle transformation and an infinite source of wellbeing for body, mind, heart and spirit. “The single most important factor for health and well-being is that we make something creative from our existence” Deepak Chopra

What is the nature of the ASTAR PROCESS?
The art process is led and held by a trained ASTAR facilitator. Groups are usually small and intimate. Each process begins with a guided inspiration, which leads the students into art making, using a wide variety of mixed media materials and techniques. Each process ends with a reflection on the creative process. This provides an opportunity to explore meaning in the art works and to make connections between art and life. It also allows reflection on artistic learnings – although the focus is not technical, through creative exploration, artistic skills and an understanding of the language of art is naturally acquired.

Why do adults lose their confidence in creative expression?
As adults, this creative confidence and freedom is often lost through layers of inhibitions, judgments and fear, where emphasis shifts from the ACT OF BEING CREATIVE, to the PRODUCT of the creative process. Creative energy does not disappear – it might be blocked, but it is not lost.

The ASTAR approach & methodology was founded and coordinated by Lindy Solomon.
Lindy has been involved with art education, curriculum development and teacher training for over 25 years. She has also written two books on teaching art Khula Udweba (1989) and Creative Beginnings (2005). Lindy is currently teaching and running training courses for facilitators to use the innovative ASTAR approach. She has also designed a series of art making courses for adults, which are taught by ASTAR trained facilitators.

How does the ASTAR approach to art making rekindle creativity?
Central to the ASTAR philosophy is the practice of nonjudgment. Everything that is created is honoured. Like with children when they’re creating, value is placed on the PROCESS OF CREATING, rather than the ART PRODUCT. Art making processes are designed to by-pass the analytical, thinking mind, that judges and controls a lot of what we, as adults, create. The space is thus opened up for students to create spontaneously, playfully and honestly, being led by feelings, imagination and

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FULL CIRCLE DIGITAL MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2013