WINTER SESSION – * February 12-April 4, 2010 * is FULL

SPRING SESSION – * April 12-May 23, 2010 * is FULL

SUMMER SESSION – * July 19-August 29, 2010 * (space available – register below)

(Also see Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist – July 19-August 29, 2010)

* Each Class Section is Limited to 25 Participants*

If you’d like to be notified when future classes are scheduled, please subscribe to the Abbey Email Newsletter

DESCRIPTION:

“Film is a record of the ever-changing face of God. This moment is holy, but we walk around like it’s not holy. We walk around like there are some holy moments and there are all the other moments that are not holy. [But they are] and film can let us see that. Film can frame it so we can see that, Ah! This moment. Holy.” – from the film Waking Life

Photography is a deeply contemplative practice. If we approach it with reverence and intention, it can help us to see the holy moments all around us. In this online class you will be invited to take your camera out into the world each week for photographic journeys based on an adaptation of the ancient monastic practice of lectio divina and specific guided themes. In the process of slowing down and lingering over moments of beauty, you will cultivate sacred seeing, your ability to see the world beneath the surface appearance of things.

Photography is essentially about the play of light and dark, illumination and shadow, much as the spiritual journey is a practice of paying attention to these elements of our lives and how the holy is revealed in each. Photography is also about the choices we make in the visual framing of elements, what to include and what to exclude, whether to zoom or pull back. This is a practice of visual discernment: a way of choosing what is important and what needs to be let go of. We begin to see things differently, and in our images also discover aspects of ourselves and God.  In our discussions we will explore how to distill wisdom from the images we receive.

Are you seeking a way to bring more presence and prayerfulness to your creative expression? Are you longing for ways to practice the contemplative life which are more visual and kinesthetic? Would you like to join a supportive online community to offer you structure and encouragement in the creative path?

This class is not about developing your technical proficiency as a photographer -  it is about cultivating your ability to see with the “eyes of the heart” (Eph 1:18).  In biblical and mystical traditions, the heart is the seat of our whole being.  To see with the heart, means we bring the whole of ourselves to whatever reality we find ourselves in. We will explore photography in service of expanding our contemplative practice and compassionate presence to the world and to ourselves.

HOW THE COURSE WORKS:

• Monday of each week – beginning on April 12, 2010 (or July 19 for Summer) – I will send out an email with a PDF of the week’s reflection, your photographic journey assignment, and questions to ponder (Weeks 1, 3, and 5 will include a podcast with a guided meditation connected to the week’s theme).

• By Wednesday of that week you will post a response to the week’s theme at our private group forum. You will also post photos during the week.  This will be a safe place for exploration and the focus of the photography you create is on an authentic expression of your soul rather than a beautiful product.  We will respond to each other’s work in ways that illuminate the impact and inner meaning of an image on our own hearts and minds.

• During the week you are strongly encouraged to engage each other in conversation, respond and support each other, and offer your own reflections to the great pool of wisdom we will be diving into collectively. I will be checking in regularly to also respond and support you in your process.

• Each day you will also receive a brief email with a quote, image, and question to inspire and encourage you along the creative and contemplative journey.

• Our discussion forum will happen on Ning.com – login details will be sent following registration, prior to the start of the class.

WHAT IS INCLUDED:

• Weekly written reflection including a photographic journey assignment, spiritual practice, and questions to ponder
• Daily quotes sent by email with images and questions for inspiration and encouragement
• A podcast every other week (three in total) with guided meditations
• A private discussion forum for conversation, support, and sharing of images

YOUR COMMITMENT:

• Daily practice of Art-Making and Reflection

• Photographic Journey and Journaling Response each week

• Posting your images and responses to each other in the discussion forum

• Support of one another in engaging a creative and contemplative way of life

WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE THE CLASS BEGINS:

1. Register for one or both classes online. (checks also happily accepted)

2. A commitment to yourself and your creative process (the amount of time you spend will vary with your energy and availability, but please plan on dedicating 20-45 minutes a day for this process plus a longer block of time once a week)

3. Computer with email access and a free Ning account (details will be sent after registration)

4. A digital camera to take on your photographic journeys (expensive or high end equipment is not necessary, a simple point and shoot will do!)

SESSIONS OUTLINE:

*Week One: Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart, Photographic Journeys, and Lectio Divina

*Week Two: Exploring Shadow and Light

*Week Three: Framing: What is Hidden and What is Revealed?

*Week Four: Reflections: What is Mirrored Back?

*Week Five: Self-Portraits

*Week Six: Discovering Images of God

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COSTS & PAYMENT:

Early Registration for July 19-August 29, 2010 – SUMMER Session (before March 1, 2010): $125

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Combined Early Registration

Register before March 1, 2010 for BOTH CLASSES:

Eyes of the Heart: Photography as Contemplative Practice (July 19-August 29, 2010 – Summer Session)

AND

Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist (July 19-August 29, 2010 – Summer Session)

(Fall Session will be scheduled soon, for now only the Summer Session is available for registration)

$200 Total Cost for both classes –

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Regular Registration (after March 1, 2010): $150

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To pay by check please mail payment to: Abbey of the Arts, PO Box 23160, Seattle, WA 98102 (send me an email at Christine@AbbeyoftheArts.com to let me know to expect your registration)

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REFUND POLICY:

Refunds available up to one week prior to the course start date minus a $25 administrative fee.

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YOUR CONTEMPLATIVE PHOTOGRAPHER GUIDE FOR THE JOURNEY:

Christine Valters Paintner is a teacher, writer, photographer, retreat facilitator, and spiritual director. She has been a Benedictine Oblate with St. Placid Priory for six years.  As an Oblate she has made a commitment as a lay person to live out monastic practices and values in the heart of Seattle where she lives with her husband and dog, an old Weimaraner rescue fondly dubbed Abbess Petunia. Christine’s greatest passion is the weaving together of three threads: creative expression, contemplative practice, and the rhythms and cycles of the natural world.

She earned her PhD in Christian Spirituality and her professional status as a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE) through the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. The expressive arts is an approach to creative expression which focuses on the process of creating, rather than the product, and what we can discover about ourselves and God in the unfolding of our work.

She is the author of three books: Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness (with Lucy Wynkoop, OSB, Paulist Press, 2008); Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Spiritual Practice of Praying with the Elements (Ave Maria Press, March 2010); and Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Expressive Arts to Spiritual Direction (with Betsey Beckman, Morehouse Publishing, February 2010). She also publishes a series of Reflective Art Journals which bring together her love of photography with reflections on different aspects of the spiritual life.

These two new online classes – Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist and Eyes of the Heart: Photography as Contemplative Practice – are at the heart of her latest book writing projects. She is thrilled to bring this material to a small group of passionate photographers and contemplatives.

She also works as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Theology and Ministry (Seattle University), the Program Coordinator for the Ignatian Spirituality Center, art editor for Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, and leads Expressive Arts Supervision Groups for those who are in ministries of soul care and compassionate listening.