In this reality, teaching is based on the assumption that the student does not know. And that they must start at 'zero' and be given the knowledge. I never had that point of view. I actually have the gift of seeing the infinite being in my students, the being that knows, the gifts they have. For the longest times, this very gift that I have made the possibility of me teaching others sort of non-sensical. There was nothing to teach. They know!, I thought.
Then, I remembered how my most important 'teachers' always gave me space and asked me questions. They could see that I required that space for me where I can go on my own journey and discover that I know, remember lifetimes as artist and dive into my own well of knowing, rather than being treated as 'stupid' and being told what to do. If someone would tell me what to do, I would run. Didn't you? I could never stand in front of a class and tell them to paint by numbers. I don't paint by numbers. I don't use projectors to project photographs on a screen and paint off of that projected image. Why would I force that onto anyone else?
No. Art of itself is very much about a quest and about freedom. It's about discovery! Man, if one of my students discovers that they CAN create what they would have never expected, that very moment of explosion in their being, that is priceless. I would never take that away from anyone.
So, I go with my class on a journey of discovery.
I use these gifts that I received from my brilliant teachers and create the space for my classes as a space of freedom to explore. Explore with color, explore different mediums, very much like adventurers that embark on a journey, with a small bag with tools, with courage and deep trust in their stomachs that they will master the challenges. Yes, I thought, that I CAN do.
In my classes, generally speaking, I sort of 'lay the ground' for subsequent deep-dives into any medium. A medium is, for me, a universe. We first look at the basics and 'losen up the grip of this reality' so we can be free of norms and tap into the well of our being where we know that we know, where we will find that we have gifts and talents, each one of us, that we had no idea. That no one told us, before.
These 'basics', in all my classes, evolve around color and our natural gift of composition. That 'natural' way of composing a piece of art is not coming from the mind but, as a whole body connection, from our being. We release blocks and limiting beliefs. We release the controller and 'self-saboteur', as we paint and as things come up for each participant.
So, now is the time. To uncover, to discover and recover, as the artists we truly are.
So many people ask me about silk painting classes. I know there are not many instructors for that medium, not in the Western World, for sure.
The silk painting class that I will be offering will demand of each participant, and of myself, to be open to the unexpected, see the mistake as miracle and well of creation and be willing to receive what silk and water and this earth have to offer. Any of my other painting classes would be a prerequisite, so we have a 'common platform' to build upon.
What art can we create now? From the rubbish of a reality that has fallen apart?
Illusions and lies are being brought to the light, shattered and undone. Structures are shaking, idols and ideals questioned. All this is good. Not just good, it's great! We all knew things had to change, and, well, they are changing now.
What did you, yes, you who is reading this, come here to create?
What do you know, from deep in your heart, what do you know is possible?
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Bettina Madini is a contemporary European artist and designer who combines luscious color and expressive motion in her paintings and fashion accessories. Born in Berlin, she spent time in the Corporate World before laying the groundwork for her artistic breakthrough in Luxembourg in1992, when she joined the Conservatory of Music and, shortly after, the Ecole d’Art Contemporain.
Bettina studied Fine Art in Luxembourg at the Ecole d'Art Contemporain with Jean-Marc Tosello, and in New York City at the National Academy of Fine Art and Design with Susan Shatter, Sharon Sprung, Henry Finckelstein and Wolf Kahn. Her search for expressive color and light has led her on a journey across different painting media that are universes to her.
Her body of work encompasses watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel and silk painting. In 2018, she launched her own line of Wearable Art labeled ‘Magical Bodies.’
Bettina's paintings can be found in corporate and private collections in Europe, Australia, Canada, China and the United States.
“Living within the confines of a wall in my home city of Berlin carved in me a drive for freedom and a desire to live life with joy and gusto. I learned to thrive on contrast and marveled at impressionistic and expressionistic art, especially the search for color and light.
Artists such as Marc Chagall and Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky and later Mark Rothko were the stars in my universe.To this day they keep inspiring and encouraging me further along my artistic journey with colorful expression.
Color fascinates me. Each painting begins with a range of colors that seduce me into the symphony. Paintings unfold from the space of curiosity and wonder, be it abstract, floral or visionary. I move beyond the image that I see with my physical eyes, allowing the inner world to flow into my creation.
Will I ever be complete? Not as long as there is color. The dance moves beyond the edge of confinement and expectation. Beyond that edge is where I live.”
For Bettina's painting classes, go HERE
