Artist Tessa Nunn to lead upcoming figure painting workshop

Diana Rinne/Encore!

Artist Tessa Nunn paints very much from her heart and her spirit and it is that meditative process of looking inward to access artistic vision that the Edmonton-based artist will share with Grande Prairie artists in a special workshop at the Centre for Creative Arts, June 4-5.

Exploring the relationship between self-expression and the formal techniques of painting, the two-day workshop will focus on painting the figure in oil or acrylic.

Nunn, who holds a Masters in Fine Art from the New York Academy of Art, just recently began teaching workshops in a manner that would not necessarily be considered traditional.

"I basically took a leap," she explains of her decision to alter the focus of her teaching. "I've been teaching for a long time, the same kind of curriculum in institutions like the U of A, Red Deer College and Grant MacEwan. I paint very much from my heart and my spirit and my process is so unique and very meditative and yogic.

"I've been finding that students are interested in what I do and how I do it, so I just decided these workshops are going to be about accessing some inner-self rather than just learning all of these techniques of paint mixing and colour mixing - things they'll get anyway. More important to me is this inward journey and understanding of how to ground and access the artistic mind," she says.

As an artist, Nunn has won numerous scholarships and awards including the Elizabeth Greensheils award, which celebrates excellence in figurative art. "I've become obsessed with painting the figure," she says. "Within a single body I see the contradictions of humanity. With a gesture, a glass, an uncomfortable twist of the shoulders, I see the possibility to express both tension and peace. The human form has the power to illustrate things that make us uncomfortable, to challenge the currents of our material world, to create a connection where there is disconnect."

Nunn's own art is very autobiographical and as such is made up in great part by self-portraits, which tell the story of the human condition, specifically what it is to be a woman in today's world. "I can't stop painting myself," she says. "Most of the stuff that's meaningful is self-portraits. That's rooted in both the spiritual philosophy of the universal self that there is a point in all of us where we are all connected and if we can access that calm we can kind of understand the oneness of being and how our actions have a ripple effect.

"It's also when you experience trauma, especially at an early age, your sense of self is destroyed and for me the journey of self-portrait, I've always understood as me searching for myself. "As well, it's so readily accessible whenever I want it," she chuckles.

Though Nunn's art carries in it quite heavy content she says they are created through very joyful eyes. "They are a celebration and an empowerment of our condition and that is how I see the world - as this beautiful kaleidoscope or pastiche of colour and textures.

So though they're contemplative or telling a tragic story, they're also joyful and playful." It's that joy that Nunn hopes to impart on those who attend the weekend workshop in Grande Prairie.

"My hope is that they will learn to centre, learn to find that part of them that we tend to lose every day so that they'll come to a centre of peace. They'll be able to take that out from the workshop and affect others," she says.

"I will take them on a crazy ride and challenge them at every corner - both their beliefs and prejudices as well as their techniques; challenging their abilities and teaching," she adds.

For more information on the two-day figure-painting workshop with Tessa Nunn, contact the Centre for Creative arts at 814-6080. For more information on Tessa Nunn, check out her website at www.tessanunn.com.