Discovering One’s Intuition Through Compositing

Karen Divine’s unique creative process, crafted through images and illustration, brings to life a world of color, symbolism, revelations, and a place where surprises unfold. She says, “My pieces begin with images of textures, gentle marks, colors that move me in the moment as well as forms from other images. I soften these experiences altogether and create a playground for my imagination to continue. On occasion, a background might hold the entire weight of the story. Most of the time a background is just the beginning, a resolve of the day’s mood and an opportunity to jump into the creative rabbit hole. It can be a place of salvation, peace, retreat, sometimes frustration and often utter joy.”

Join Karen in the creative space of San Miguel de Allende for a memorable week-long adventure geared to move you outside your comfort zone, challenging you to make iPhone composites that reflect a new and unique personal perspective. Karen says, “The fabric of all our experiences exists in our imagery, our shadows, dreams, joys, doubts, and fears—and given the tools, these qualities will appear in our work. Art is an amazing tool for self-discovery.” 

As the workshop begins, Karen provides a brief review of the iPhone layering apps used to create composites—Superimpose X and Procreate. Participants need to be proficient in at least one of these apps or be skillful in using layers and masks in Adobe Photoshop.

Karen then guides you to let go of concepts and control and trust our seemingly random choices. We aspire to create imagery from an intuitive place that reveals our personal experiences of the world and inner self. There are five steps in this artful process. The first is creating a background upon which holds the entire future image. The second and most challenging is learning to allow the imagery to appear. The third is creating balance in the image. The fourth step is the first time we allow our analytical mind to pull the image together using color, shapes, lines, and additional elements. The fifth and final step in this process involves opening yourself up to what this new work is revealing to you about your life and the present moment. 

The beauty and magic of San Miguel de Allende, where Karen once lived, plays an important role in the creative endeavors this week. Frequent field trips in search of inspiration and new imagery are coupled with daily group sessions for demonstrations and PowerPoint presentations, group image reviews, individual encouragement, and assignments for the next class meeting.

Join Karen for this unique program in the heart of Colonial Mexico to push your creative boundaries. Alumni of Karen’s previous online and in-person workshops are welcome to continue the creative journey with her.