Earth Sculpting
Working with mud can be a fascinating learning experience. It can serve as a way to artistically express ourselves, to connect to nature and deepen our understanding of the earth element. The common and popular thirst to play and build with mud has much to do with the fact that in our modern life we are less and less in direct contact with the earth.
In many ways nowadays we are less connected with nature, and we live a more artificial life. This can be seen in endless examples such as – the food we eat, the way we communicate, spend our spare time and the way we earn our livelihood.
Connecting to nature, to natural materials and to the earth we can connect to ourselves. This is an elementary need today that will only grow if we look at the current direction the world is heading.
Meditative Sculpting & working with natural materials
Our meditation and art workshops provide an opportunity to get in touch with nature through the use of a wide range of natural materials. Playing, building and creating with natural material, we can learn of their different qualities and attributes.
Furthermore, we will explore materials such as mud, metal and wood in depth from a holistic point of view. This means that we will explore them on different levels simultaneously. These levels include: physical, emotional, energetic and spiritual. Working with these materials will lead us to a direct experience from which we can improve and deepen our understanding and relationship with nature and its primal elements.
Creating from the source – The five elements
The manifested world is a play or dance of the five basic elements. These elements, unlike what is commonly understood,
are the same worldwide and across culture. Due to ignorance, it is a common misconception that different traditions have different elements. This is an incorrect assumption that can be simply proven false when we look into the “meaning” of these elements.
The attributes of these basic five elements, as well as the way they influence each other and the way they affect us humans, is the same in different traditional cultures and ancient wisdom. These elements are: Earth, Water, Fire, Air or Metal and Space or Wood.
The earth element and the creative process
“Earth” is the grossest and most tangible of the five elements. It can be experienced with all five of our senses : it has a smell, taste, it can be seen, touched and even heard in cases such as an earthquake. It is the easiest of the elements to understand and directly connect to.
Earth teaches us how to be steady and firm, strong and grounded. Lack of connection to this element can be experienced as instability and unsteadiness, for example not being able to make decisions or to follow a schedule or a routine.
One way to connect to the earth element is by working with the earth directly, touching and playing with it. This can be done when using earth in sculpturing or pottery, building with earth and even through gardening. These options and many others can help strengthen the earth element within us and deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Meditation & Art workshops
Connecting to earth through sculpturing enables us to physically explore the concepts of gravity and structure. We will also learn how to use other natural materials in order to create a firm and balanced frame for our sculptures. Some of the materials we will be working with are: coconut ropes, bamboo sticks, stones, beads, wood and metal.
In general during our classes and workshops we will explore the earth element and its relationship with other elements. All our events bring together Art, Yoga and Meditation and emphasis on the use of natural materials.
Our workshops and retreats may also focus on a defined theme or project. These include: sculpturing outdoors, creating a personal sacred object or ornament, building with bamboo, coconut fiber, mud and more.
