Your Voice in Art

 

 

Class: Your Voice in Art

Instructor: Tess Mosko Scherer

Medium: professional development

Date(s): Saturday, January 13, 2024

Time: 9am - 4pm

Cost: $80

 

Class Description:

In this workshop, Your Voice in Art, we will be finding meaning in your art and revealing the story behind your artwork.

Michelangelo has been quoted as saying: “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” In this workshop we are going to discover the hidden meaning in your art through observation, reflection, and conversation reviewing time-tested symbols, their meaning and how that relates to your work.

You are a collaborator in the making of the work. Your conscious and subconscious minds work together with the material to create the finished work. You are consciously making decisions and following the rules of design, color theory and composition. Yet our subconscious is our studio companion, guiding us along in our decision-making whether we know it or not. This is the state of flow when everything around you disappears, and you are immersed in the making of art. You lose the sense of time and space.

What is happening in your subconscious? What decisions are being made? What direction did the art move into? Why?

In this workshop, we will delve into the sometimes-hidden meaning found in our art. For some artists, myself included, there is a specific meaning and messaging behind the artwork. For others, the meaning may be elusive, a little less obvious. Which one are you?

In his theory of Aesthetics, Carl G. Jung describes that symbols are at times expressed in geometric forms, humans, semi-humans, gods and goddesses, animals, and plants. Their symbolic content rises from the unconscious to consciousness by the unconscious through archetypes.

The gift from artists is to let their stories unfold in their art, creating an opening for transformation in the viewer.

In this workshop, we will explore the meaning behind your art. For example, just like to paint flowers. They are pretty. They make me feel good. However, upon deeper introspection you might discover that:
You like to explore the patterns of nature, the way the light saturates a color, and how flowers transform themselves in a short period of time.
You are inspired by the symmetry and how birds and insects nourish themselves physically while being part of a larger system. This is much more interesting to read and gives deeper insight to who you are and what drives you. Art collectors want to know that.

In this one-day workshop you will bring 3 pieces of art, and if possible, a digital portfolio, laptop/notebook/ipad, or other digital device that is available to you, paper and pen.

Join us for a fun-filled and inspiring workshop into the abyss of why we make art and more specifically why YOU make art.

 

Instructor Biography:

Tess Mosko Scherer has had a diverse career in the arts spanning more than 40 years: gallerist, professional artist life coach specializing in working with artists, and leading non-profit arts organizations. Additionally, she is the Director of Facilitation and Curriculum for the World Academy for the Future of Women, serves on the advisory board and facilitates programs on leadership in China and Bangladesh. While in China, she facilitated art programs in rural villages. Since 2019, she has served as the Executive Director of the Arizona Art Alliance, mentoring the leadership of Arizona arts organizations, hosting exhibitions for their membership, and workshops for professional development.

As a coach, she has developed several workshops for artists including Selling from the H.E.A.R.T, digital media labs, and Giving Voice to Your Art. She has mentored artists working in a diversity of mediums and at various stages of their careers.

Mosko Scherer is a grant recipient from the City of Phoenix, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts and is the recipient of a research grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to study the impact of a leisure arts program on veterans’ cognition, mood, and sociability. In addition to Veterans, Mosko Scherer has worked with varied segments of our community who have experienced trauma. Among the groups she has worked with are Survivors of Suicide, young women who have been sexually abused and trafficked, native American Elders and Non-English speaking adult refugees. These diverse groups have differing experiences yet have had positive outcomes participating in group leisure-arts activities. She is the co-author of “Open Me Up!” a book of art prompts.

Her work is represented by Van Gogh’s Ear Gallery, Prescott, and has won several awards in juried shows in Arizona. Mosko Scherer was named one of the ‘100 Creatives You Need to Know’ by the Phoenix New Times in 2016. Mosko Scherer lives in Phoenix with her artist husband. They both maintain studios on their urban farm oasis surrounded by their flock of chickens, gardens, orchard, fish, dog and cat.

 

Cancellation:

Full refund if cancelling 1 week before class, half refund before class, no refund once class begins.

 

Supply List:

Supply list to be sent out upon registration for the class.

 

Class Sizes:

Minimum Class Size: 4

Maximum Class Size: 15