West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick

Challenge Your Students with Feng Shui Art

I have found, after teaching thousands of students of all ages, creating is a meditation and a “stress buster.” Transformation takes place on a cellular level, which can’t be seen but is felt when the individual is “given permission” to let go. Water, the Element of flow, invites release. Using the medium of watercolor for this type of class allows the experienced and inexperienced art student to understand emptiness from which manifestation arises. I have witnessed life changes for students using this simple technique on a regular basis.

Here is an outline of my latest teaching adventure describing Feng Shui Art. Maybe this letter to my future students would encourage other teachers to explore art in a different way, “to take it up a level,” as one of my mentors advised me.

I come to the world of Feng Shui through the gateway of art. Sharing my experiences through color is my service to others. The journey is a path of light that can’t be “tamed.” Its energies swirl and intertwine just as the air we breath and form pockets of delightful Chi. For those who understand or see this light are truly blessed. I want everyone to experience color through form, shape and touch.

Teaching art is a privilege, and I see the benefits of this Yin application used in combination with the Yang atmosphere of a conference or school curriculum. Witness a calming of body and mind when WATER flows onto the paper (WOOD). New life forms as the two Elements blend. Each piece contains colors and shapes which come alive. YOU ARE THE ARTIST!

I began using this method of pouring, spraying and watching many years ago, when I witnessed my students experiencing anxiety during a class, forcing themselves to produce a “perfect picture.” I have found that incorporating the Elements with their colors, shapes and symbolism allows the individual to experience Feng Shui on all three levels: environmental, physical and spiritual at the same moment without effort. It is fascinating to watch as Chi flows through the beginner’s fingers.

Teaching children is easy, as they are only painting to please themselves and not society. Adults benefit on many seen and unseen levels using my methods.

Classes can be conducted on several levels :

1 hour – introduction to Color and the Bagua, the Power of Art Images in living and working spaces. Demonstration only

2 hour – workshop on Color wheel and the Bagua Demonstration, handouts and creating

an image

3 hour – One-break workshop, Demonstration, Color wheel and the Bagua, students

creating 2 images or more, explanation period, handouts

2 hour – break, then two more hours – Class time, demonstration, Color wheel and the Bagua, students creating many images, handouts, discussion and painting demonstrations by instructor

1 hour to 1-week workshops (Power of Art, Painting With Chi, and 5 Element Feng Shui art are some of the workshops I have given over the years)

Watercolor, colored pens, pencils, sticks, brushes, feathers, straws, spray bottles, pencils and papers for materials would be provided (a supply fee would be added to the enrollment for the cost of materials). The students would keep their paintings, but not the paints, brushes, etc.

Flower essences are infused with the water, to hold the space and in the paintings themselves. Music is sometimes played for meditation.. Fragrances also set the mood.

Live demonstrations and handouts will explain the 5 Element cycles, Discussions are held on the Bagua, where to place the finished art for Feng Shui enhancements, cures and corrections. There are also discussions on the Power of Art in homes and businesses, as well as framing with the right Elements and shapes and/or combinations of the Elements and materials.

9 EASY AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO USE FENG SHUI ART

1. In the environment

2. Use the 8 trigrams …..for energy and Element information

3. For shifting a space’s….. energy quickly with…

4. Murals, painted floor rugs, painted furniture, crafts and fabric

5. To move energy from one floor to the next

6. Promote change

7. Healing art

8. To incorporate auspicious symbols…flowers, animals and etc.

9. To provide transcendental cures

I feel the time has come to invite consultants, practitioners and those working with energy to take their knowledge to a higher level, experience a hands-on intermission, so to speak…..allowing the mind, body and spirit to interact with technical applications of Feng Shui training. Training comes in many forms. I want to fill a void all professionals should experience, to feel and experience Color firsthand. To talk about Harmony and Balance is one thing, but to experience it is yet another way to the Tao.

Caroline Patrick, Feng Shui consultant/practitioner, teacher/speaker, Feng Shui artist and writer, lives in the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington. Her weekly newspaper article called WEST MEETS EAST is a popular Feng Shui advice column. She enjoys answering your questions, when possible. Some questions will be chosen for publication with the permission from the reader. Enjoy her new 5 Element attached-folding cards which can be used as a Feng Shui enhancement or correction in any space. Larger prints of several selected paintings are also available. For consultations, speaking/teaching engagements and art evaluations contact her at caroline@fengshuiartistry.com or visit her websites at www.fengshuiartistry.com and www.moongateschool.com.

Any suggestions given in this column are only for entertainment. Please contact your physician for any medical or herbal advice or diagnosis. Caroline Patrick is not responsible for any misuse of her advice or suggestions.