New For Fall

SoulCollage card by L. West

Fabulous and Fun for Fall!

I hope you have had a wonderful summer despite the weeks of smoke.  It was hard on my usual outdoor activities, but it did keep me working in my studio on NEW class ideas to bring to you. I also spent a reflective week teaching Zentangle at a retreat.  Together with three old friends,  we led a week of personal exploration for a small group of older adults.  It was a good challenge for me and quite enjoyable by all accounts.  It was great reminiscing with my friends and meeting new folks as well. I will remember my experience at  The Centre at Naramata (https://www.naramatacentresociety.org/) for years to come. 

So what have I been thinking about, you may wonder?  Well to start off this fall season, I have decided to add one more hour to the Zentangle classes so we have more time together. 

 In addition, I am adding something new to my offerings. For a few years now, I have been a SoulCollage Facilitator and have been using SoulCollage for my own life`s path. I love how the use of  collaged images spark the deepest parts of  myself and allow these parts, that are often ignored. to speak and offer often wise and insightful guidance.   We are often our own greatest teacher, and this is a gentle way to hear that teacher`s voice.  I hope you will be intrigued enough to join me in learning how to make SoulCollage cards and understanding this fun process. If you click on the SoulCollage Tab you can find out more about this wonderfully creative process. 

I will also be starting classes a bit later this year, as well.  So beginning in early October, I am offering a Zentangle Beginner and Refresher class for those who are just starting out and also for those with experience who want a refresher or just to tangle in a group again. 

Through the fall/winter we will explore Zentangle in other mediums which will include metal embossing, Christmas Ornaments, Zen-animal forms, Zendala, to name a few.  As always, the classes are geared towards people with no experience to more experienced tanglers, so all are welcome.

And that`s not all!  I have been making short Zentangle Videos and you can view them on my YouTube channel and click like if you like them and hit subscribe if you want to see them as soon as they are made.  

Wishing you a clear sky for days to come,  Loretta 

New Horizons

Hi there and welcome to my blog. It feels good to be back living in the Okanagan after many adventurous years away.  I am happy to continue my work as a Teaching Artist in our new home, and I am looking forward to connecting with students and other people that make art happen in this beautiful spot on the earth.

I have been an artist for several years and am a teaching artist as well.  Creating is about flow for me.  Taking things in, distilling them and allowing them to flow from me in some sort of creative activity.  Teaching is a big branch of that river's flow and I love to learn new things and pass them onto others.  I invite you to swim along in this creative river with me for a while.

I have taught many art mediums in the past but now concentrate mainly on two endeavors.  One is Zentangle for which I became certified to teach in 2012 and the other is a SoulCollage for which I became  trained to facilitate in 2016.

Zentangle is a practice like yoga.  It looks like doodling and is often called that, but it's a bit different in it's approach. Zentangle is done expressly to make you feel good inside. Tangles, which the patterns are called, are drawn usually in a specified way in order to make things easier and less stressful for the participant.  You can find out way more about it at Zentangle.com

SoulCollage is a fun and easy way to bring what's going on inside of each of us into the light of day in a gentle and fun way.  The deepest wisest part of ourselves usually speaks to us through images. Simply, by choosing images that we are drawn to and pasting them onto a card we gently give our most inner self a safe place to speak to our egoic self. There by creating a feeling of well being and understanding between the two selves. It is not therapy but, as I can personally attest, it is therapeutic and can be very helpful in day to day life and problem solving.  Because it involves the simple skills, of cutting and pasting it can be enjoyed widely.  Here's the link  to SoulCollage

If you click on the Classes and Workshops tab you can see what I have to offer you to enrich your life. I look forward to meeting you in person one fine day.

Sincerely,

Loretta West