When painting their sacred visions, from Buddhist thangkas to Byzantine icons, artists have learned to see the sacred in the image they are rendering.
These contemplative techniques are still practiced today by modern visionary artists. In this rare opportunity to study with Laurence Caruana in the United States, we too can learn how to paint—and meditate upon—our sacred visions with one of the form’s master practitioners as our guide.
As we explore images from a variety of sacred traditions, we learn how symbols can induce mystical experience. We then begin painting our own symbolic doorways to the sacred. We discover that, as our vision expands, the colors brighten, perspective deepens, and the parts resonate as a whole.
Using the mischtechnik (mixed technique), we paint in the manner of the Old Masters, exploring different perceptual modalities and visionary color harmonies. We mix oil and water-based media to alchemically pursue painting’s more ethereal qualities, like translucence, iridescence, and the jewel-like effect of glazing.
Finally, we meditate on our work to “enter through the image” to its underlying experience of the sacred. All levels of artistic experience are welcome.
