The 2023 Summer Seminar at Torri Superiore - Italy
Come spend 3 weeks in a 14th century Alpine Village
Studying Painting in the Manner of the Old Masters
July 1st - 23rd 2023
~ Experience the Direct Transmission of ~
FLOW ACRYLICS & THE MISCHTECHNIK
~ Enjoy Communal Living in our friendly Eco-village ~
Under the expert guidance of experienced artists, you'll develop Two Original Works
...With DANIEL MIRANTE, you'll learn the mystery & alchemy of the Mischtechnik.
...With JONATHAN SOLTER, you'll gain new insights into layering with Acrylics.
Tuition for the course includes 3 Weeks of Full Accommodation
in cosy apartments with 3 full meals per day.
TORRI SUPERIORE
...is a labyrinthine village of spiralling stairs & narrow passages, built from the local limestone in 1300.
In this cosy & creative atmosphere, the inhabitants live in harmony with Nature,
practicing Permaculture & Sustainable Living.
We will become part of village life ~ sharing in communal meals prepared by the local chef
from fresh and mostly organic ingredients grown in the surrounding fields…
Each Student brings their own unique talent to the Seminar
~ Yoga, Chanting, Live Music ~
to enhance the group experience
~ NOW IN ITS 13TH YEAR, THE SEMINAR OFFERS 3 WEEKS OF INTENSIVE TEACHING ~
~ COME SHARE YOUR VISION WITH US ~
~ TWO TEACHERS ~ ONE UNIQUE SEMINAR FOR 2023 ~
~ JONATHAN SOLTER ~
Jonathan Solter will guide you through his unique process of creating living, organic flora & fauna within a world of vibrating colour.
After an initial brainstorming session, you will immerse yourself in the painting process, following various Flow Methods to develop a Soul Tree in Golden fluid acrylics and (if you wish) spray paint.
Working from general to specific, you will explore the play of shapes, pushing and pulling the lights and darks to arrive at a cohesive composition.
Through his years of experience as a live painter, Jonathan will also transmit quick and effective methods for opening portals to the visionary world.
In a more structured manner, he will offer lectures and demonstrations to illustrate his unique approaches to form and colour.
If they wish, students may also create compositions of temple architecture within interdimensional landscapes.
~ DANIEL MIRANTE ~
Daniel Mirante will offer instruction in the Mischtechnik, a “Mixed Technique” that alternates between white egg tempera and coloured glazes in oil & varnish.
Following the approaches of the Old Masters, Daniel will impart the ‘tempera grassa’ version of the Mischtechnik – a layered approach used by Venetian Renaissance artists like Bellini and Titian, and revived in the 20th century by Piero Annegoni.
By visualizing your painting within the Mundus Imaginalis, Daniel will help you to bring forth your own world - seeking a nested composition of figures, architecture and landscape that creates a painterly world.
For artists accustomed to acrylics, the transition to oil & tempera is a rich & rewarding experience, allowing for new explorations in oil’s unique opalescent effects.
Students with no prior experience ~ have no fear! ~ these techniques are very forgiving, allowing for changes & alterations at each layer. We accept students at all levels of experience ~ from beginners to advanced.
~ EXTRA TEACHINGS ~
Academy Directors Laurence Caruana & Florence Ménard
will be present throughout the Seminar,
and also add their extra touch...
~ FLORENCE MENARD ~
As a visionary painter and moondancer,
Florence Ménard Cuepaliztli
will share her gifts with the Seminar students
by leading Guided Meditations and Chanting Circles.
For Jonathan Solter's project,
she'll offer an Inner Journey
to help you visualize the world
in which your Soul Tree lives and thrives.
For Daniel Mirante's project,
she’ll guide open-eye meditations
onto your painting at different stages of progress
to aid in its visual development.
As part of the Moondance “Cantos” Singing Group,
she'll be very happy to offer Chanting Circles
to share traditional prayer songs
for the Earth and the Sky, the Four Directions
and the Four Elements.
So please bring your drum or shaker and join us...
~ LAURENCE CARUANA ~
As an artist, author & lecturer,
Laurence Caruana
has developed many lectures on
The Sacred Codes of Art,
which delve into the traditional knowledge
passed on over the centuries
from master to apprentice.
From his rich store of Academy lectures,
he will offer visual presentations on whatever subject
is most needed or requested:
Composition, the Figure, Visionary Colour etc.
Or, for those interested in the esoteric,
he can also offer lectures on
Gnosticism, the Afterlife Soul Journey
or the Alchemy of Paint.
Passionate about transmitting these sacred traditions,
his lectures always manage to
inform, entertain and enlighten...
~ THE TECHNIQUES ~
JONATHAN SOLTER'S
~ ACRYLIC FLOW TECHNIQUE ~
Acrylic Flow is about letting go and working with the brush movements that come through you. The evolution of the composition is a gradual process - of seeing the forms and working with them, accentuating through light, shadow and colour.
DANIEL MIRANTE'S
~ MISCHTECHNIK ~
Beginning in the manner of the Old Masters, you will create a brown underpainting (called the brunaille) in ochres and earth tones that may be, in part, sourced from the near-by river. Using a reductive technique, areas of the underpainting will be lifted off to achieve greater luminosity. With the aid of quick studies, you will also grasp the fundamentals of white tempera, learning how to see and render the volumes. Finally, fine oil glazes will be applied to achieve soft and lustrous hues.
Working in this manner, from general to specific, the composition will be built up layer by layer to achieve a cohesive vision.
This large-scale painting by Daniel Mirante is still in progress.