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 Class Description:

Flow State is a 4-week abstract painting class that explores the connections between intuitive painting, mindfulness meditation, and community. Participants will learn how to combine abstract painting and drawing skills with mindfulness meditation techniques. Each class will present different ways this hybrid practice can be used to hold space for ourselves and each other. Participants will work individually and as a group using acrylic paint, pastels, paper and canvas. This class will connect to abstract works in the Denver Art Museum collection, including pieces by artists like Mark Bradford, Elaine de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Sam Gilliam, Shinique Smith, and Sonia Gechtoff.

What to Expect:

Students will be led into the galleries at the beginning of each workshop to observe and discuss one work. The selected work will serve as an introduction to and inspiration for the exercises that will be practiced that day, which will include guided meditations, gestural painting prompts, and group reflections. While each week will be a different experience, students can expect to:

? Be guided through various meditations as a group with visualization and mindfulness-based techniques.

? Practice guided, individual meditative painting/drawing exercises on paper.

? Create a large-scale, group painting on canvas.

? Reflect on the day’s work in a group discussion at the end of each workshop.

Participants will walk away with a series of personal abstract paintings on paper, a set of creative meditations to use in everyday life, and the opportunity to co-create a large-scale group painting with others. The large group painting will require participants to work on the same surface at the same time in some instances.

No prior painting or drawing skills are required. No experience with meditation or mindfulness required. This class is open to all skill levels.

Timeline:

Week 1

• Artist introduction and meditation intro

Week 2

• Intuitive drawing intro, individual practice and getting to know your materials

Week 3

• Intuitive drawing, individual practice continued

Week 4

• Individual practice continued, group painting

Class Make-up Day Policy:

If a class or workshop needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather or teacher illness, a “make-up” day will be scheduled on a FRIDAY or SATURDAY as the educator’s schedule allows.

Materials:

Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $30-50. We partner with Meininger’s for local shopping, purchase a kit of your required materials online for in-store pickup, or purchase the items individually.

Educator:

Visual artist, Sarah Darlene, explores the functionality of abstraction through a feminine, queer, and contemporary perspective. Her work investigates the intersections of painting, social practice, and meditation and their collective ability to promote self-reflection, cathartic healing, and true social change. Palmeri holds a BFA in Painting and Drawing from Louisiana State University, and an Executive Certificate of Nonprofit Management from the University of Notre Dame. She has been a member of Strangers Art Collective since 2015 and is a former Artist in Residence at RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Iceland.

www.sarahdarlene.com