Art as Contemplative Practice

Art as Contemplative Practice
Author: Michael A. Franklin
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2017-09-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1438464347

Drawing upon his personal experience as a practitioner-researcher, visual artist, and cancer survivor, Michael A. Franklin offers a rich and thought-provoking guide to art as contemplative practice. His firsthand experience and original artwork complement this extensive discussion by consulting various practice traditions including yoga, rasa and darshan experiences, imaginal intelligence, and the contemplative instincts of select early twentieth-century artists. From this synthesis, Franklin suggests that we treat art as a form of yoga and meditation with the potential to awaken deeper insight into the fundamental nature of the Self. Exercises and rubrics are included that offer accessible instruction for any artist, meditation or yoga practitioner, art educator, or art therapist.

Arts-based and Contemplative Practices in Research and Teaching

Arts-based and Contemplative Practices in Research and Teaching
Author: Susan Walsh
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2014-11-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317801385

This volume presents a scholarly investigation of the ways educators engage in artistic and contemplative practices – and why this matters in education. Arts-based learning and inquiry can function as a powerful catalyst for change by allowing spiritual practices to be present within educational settings, but too often the relationship between art, education and spirituality is ignored. Exploring artistic disciplines such as dance, drama, visual art, music, and writing, and forms such as writing-witnessing, freestyle rap, queer performative autoethnograph, and poetic imagination, this book develops a transformational educational paradigm. Its unique integration of spirituality in and through the arts addresses the contemplative needs of learners and educators in diverse educational and community settings.

The Illuminated Space

The Illuminated Space
Author: Marilyn Freeman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020
Genre: New media art
ISBN: 9781734407136

Literary Nonfiction. Art. Film. Winner of the 2020 Nautilus Award's Gold Medal for Creativity & Innovation. In this fragmentary and fluent little gem--full of light and stunning, full-color images--writer and time-based artist Marilyn Freeman offers up her own contemplative practice of dowsing for and creating "opportune moments" of insight and healing. With humor and humility, Freeman reveals her innovative approach to making video essays, a process developed over years of art-making, study and personal searching--a process of waking up again and again to the extraordinary possibilities hidden in everyday existence. Freeman introduces a theory of "evocative" practice as an alternative to the conventions of narrative and non-fiction filmmaking--a risky and rigorous engagement with form that invites the audience to participate in the creation of meaning. Her examination of the dialectical relationship of sound and image takes us far deeper than just a critical study of audio/visual media--deep into the human heart with its dark traumas and its shimmering capacity for honest and compassionate reckoning. Transgressing disciplinary boundaries and trading authority for authentic inquiry, Freeman takes us with her on a foray into time-based art that leaps and wanders from movie theaters to museums to Instagram in search of the "illuminated spaces" where we encounter ourselves and each other. This book is an essential resource for artists who question the importance of their work in these dark times, and for anyone seeking wisdom and wonder in our ordinary world.

Contemplative Vision

Contemplative Vision
Author: Juliet Benner
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2010-12-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 083083544X

Docent Juliet Benner began showing people how to meditate on Christian art treasures, which led to her much-beloved "O Taste and See" columns from the spiritual formation journal Conversations, now expanded into this book. In each chapter you'll encounter a passage of Scripture and a corresponding piece of art to lead you in a new experience of prayer in God's presence.

The Arts of Contemplative Care

The Arts of Contemplative Care
Author: Cheryl A Giles
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2012-11-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614290377

Powerful and life-affirming, this watershed volume brings together the voices of pioneers in the field of contemplative care--from hospice and hospitals to colleges, prisons, and the military. Illustrating the day-to-day words and actions of pastoral workers, each first-person essay in this collection offers a distillation of the wisdom gained over years of compassionate experience. The stories told here are sure to inspire--whether you are a professional caregiver or simply feel inclined toward guiding, healing, and comforting roles. If you are inspired to read this book, or even one touching story in it, you just might find yourself inspired to change a life.

The Artist's Rule

The Artist's Rule
Author: Christine Valters Paintner
Publisher: Ave Maria Press
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2011-07-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1933495472

Christine Valters Paintner, author of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire, invites readers to discover and develop their creative gifts in a spirit of prayer and reflection. This twelve-week course draws on the insights and practices of Benedictine spirituality to explore the interplay between contemplation and creativity. Summarized in the phrase "pray and work," The Rule of St. Benedict provides the inspiration for Christine Valters Paintner's newest exploration of the mutually nourishing relationship between contemplative practices and creative expression. Artists of all stripes and stations in life--poets or painters, potters or photographers--will discover how traditions of Benedictine, Celtic, and desert spirituality can offer new sources of inspiration for their work. Through this twelve-week course, themes like "Sacred Tools and Sacred Space," "Creative Solitude and Community," and "Nature as a Source of Revelation and Inspiration" are enriched by Paintner's perceptive discussion and enhanced by insightful quotations from well-known artists and writers. Each week offers suggestions for grounding both the creative and the spiritual life through three basic practices: walking, lectio divina, and journaling. In sync with Paintner's vibrant Internet presence, The Artist's Rule is supplemented with online resources, including guided meditation podcasts, video lessons, and discussions.

Lectio Divina--The Sacred Art

Lectio Divina--The Sacred Art
Author: Christine Valters Paintner
Publisher: SkyLight Paths Publishing
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2011-05-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1594733007

Break open this ancient contemplative practice of listening deeply for God's voice in sacred texts. Drawing on her own experience as a monk in the world, Christine Valters Paintner introduces the foundations for a practice of lectio divina. She closely examines each of the four movements of lectio divina as well as the rhythm they create when practiced as a process.

The Practice of Contemplative Photography

The Practice of Contemplative Photography
Author: Andy Karr
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2011
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 9781590307793

This book teaches photographers how to connect fully with the visual richness present in their ordinary, daily experiences. According To The authors, photography is not purely a mechanical process. You need to know how to look, As well as where to point the camera, and when to press the button. Then as you develop your ability to see, your appreciation and inspiration from the world around you become enhanced. Filled with practical exercises and techniques inspired by mindfulness meditation, this book teaches photographers how to "see what's in front of them". It offers a system of training and exercises that draw upon Buddhist concepts, As well as on insights of great photographic masters such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. There is a series of visual exercises and assignments for working with texture, light, and colour, As well as for developing mindfulness, As a way of bringing the principles of contemplative photography into ordinary experience.

The Art of Solitude

The Art of Solitude
Author: Stephen Batchelor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2020-02-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0300252277

In a time of social distancing and isolation, a meditation on the beauty of solitude from renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor “Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it. A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.”—Kirkus Reviews “Elegant and formally ingenious.”—Geoff Wisner, Wall Street Journal When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned sixty, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. Spending time in remote places, appreciating and making art, practicing meditation and participating in retreats, drinking peyote and ayahuasca, and training himself to keep an open, questioning mind have all contributed to Batchelor’s ability to be simultaneously alone and at ease. Mixed in with his personal narrative are inspiring stories from solitude’s devoted practitioners, from the Buddha to Montaigne, from Vermeer to Agnes Martin. In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.