Painting Enso workshops, London

Some of last years attendees artwork © Adele Cloony

People in the South may be interested in the Enso painting workshops with Adele Cloony on 9th and 10th September. Click here for more details.

Shetland

the Shetland workshops last month were lovely, and only now have I had a chance to sort the photos, here are a couple of us doing 5 Element Chi Kung.

The wind swirling across the bay - next day calm with sea otters!

Fire and Shadow

I am very excited to have been invited to teach on this wonderful 8 month course Fire and Shadow. A collaboration between Dark Mountain and Way Of Nature, this looks set to be a deep and transformative course which starts in May in the wilds of Alladale in Scotland, and I am delighted to be taking part. There's a video and lots of information at the link, so do have a look. I'll write more next week after my mammoth T'ai Chi fortnight comes to an end. For now, just to say I'll be teaching my ancient natural painting, drawing and writing materials, keeping it low on words, grounded in the physical transformations of plant, mineral and animal (feathers - naturally moulted!) to make beautiful kit with which to make our marks in the world. This will take place at the original hearth- the open fireside. The second week in nature will be in October in a national park in Transylvania, Romania, which looks totally beautiful. There will be plenty of time for meditation, stillness in nature, as well as T'ai Chi and Chi Gung. I'll also be leading some of the online and meet-up sessions that are planned. I am able to offer a discount to any T'ai Chi colleagues who'd like to join us, just get in touch.

We'll be making ink over the fire with rusty nails and oak galls,

and pens or brushes with goose and swan feathers.

We'll mix up paints in shells from ochres, earths, plant roots

and semi- precious stones with cherry tree gum as a binder.

My camp in the Great Ridge Woods 2 years ago.

A few logs and sticks can be a home.

Chi Gung / Qi Gong

After many years of meaning to get around to it, I have now finally filmed the Five Elements and other Chi Gung set that we do occasionally at class, thanks to Davina. They will be available for my students by tomorrow. They are for study reference only and may not be shared or posted on the web. A short text file will accompany the videos with some breath instructions, and tips on the way each one is done. I will be sending them out by Yousendit, which means you'll get a web file address to download them. If you would like them, please send me an email with 'Chi Gung' in the title line over the next week.