Students should come prepared with 2 drawings, 12” x 18” in size. These can be fully-developed compositions or simple sketches which will be further elaborated while painting. Using photocopies, we will transfer these onto wooden panels prepared in advance by the teachers. (The methods & materials for preparing panels will be explained.)

       The students must bring their own oil paints and brushes. We will provide the easels, the prepared panels, the ingredients for making the painting mediums and for washing brushes. A list of recommended colors & brushes is included in the file: Required Materials.

       On the 1^ST panel, you will learn how to develop a painting using Ernst Fuchs’ Mischtechnik. Laurence Caruana learned this ‘mixed technique’ directly from Ernst Fuchs, having worked with the Viennese master for one year in his nearby studio at Castel Caramel. Maura Holden evolved a self-taught variation of the Mischtechnik, which she used in several of her larger works.

       You will learn how to layer the paint, alternating between ‘whites’ in a  water-based egg tempera and ‘color glazes’ in an oleo-varnish medium. Since these layers take time to dry, you will also work simultaneously on another painting...

       On the 2^ND panel, you will learn a modern variation of the Mischtechnik. This painting will still be developed in alternating layers of whites & color glazes, except now the mediums will differ significantly. The student will learn the alchemy of making mediums, and have the option of working with the preferred medium of Maura Holden or Laurence Caruana.

       We will also explore a number of Creative Methods for developing new imagery in the painting. By its nature, the Mischtechnik invites perceptual games & chance encounters. All these will be exploited creatively.

       Most of all, the teachers will impart their Visionary Methods for painting. Beginning with color, we will actively explore the Visionary color spectrum, and the way in which unique colors & harmonies may be created ~ not only by laying colors side by side, but by laying one color atop another, through glazing. We will explore the subtle distortions that can be achieved through different systems of perspective & sacred geometry. Variations in a figure’s style, line, volume & expression ~ all will be explored in depth...

       The techniques of the Old Masters require discipline & dedication. We will paint each day, all day ~ while pausing for a decent lunch and using our evenings to explore all the facets of visionary creation in a more informal manner. Weekends will be reserved for trips to Castel Caramel, Damanhur or exploring the fabulous Nature around Torri Superiore.

       Torri Superiore is unique: a small hilltop village that consists of one labyrinthine building built on five varying levels and containing some 162 different vaulted chambers. During its 700-year existence, the community witnessed prosperity & calamity. Finally it fell into ruin because of the economic upheavals & rapid agricultural changes of the 20th century.

       In 1989, the Associazione Culturale Torri Superiore was founded to restore the village and bring its community back to life through a broader world-vision based on sustainable agriculture & permacultural design. Although parts of Torri Superiore remains a Romantic ruin, the fifteen full-time residents (with the help of association members & teams of international students) have restored most of the chambers & apartments ~ including a communal kitchen & teaching facilities.

       Torri Superiori’s Cultural Association is happy to host our painting seminar, providing us with a studio space while offering students full accommodation (a bed plus breakfast, lunch & dinner). Since most participants are struggling artists or students on a tight budget, we have taken great pains to find accommodation that is both interesting & affordable.

       Torri Superiori is an Eco ~Village, not a resort. They aim for sustainable living, not luxury, and their prices are reasonable & variable. They have put various living quarters at our disposal, and have even offered the outdoors option of staying in tents. However, since all food is grown organically and shared communally, the price of accommodation will include breakfast, lunch & dinner ~ which will be mostly vegetarian.

       Accommodation is in Old European-style Apartments or the less expensive option of Tents. Each Apartment contains 2 bedrooms (sleeping 2 people per room) plus a bathroom. These thick-walled, vaulted chambers have plenty of character, and some have balconies overlooking the Ligurian hills. For the cheaper Tent option, Torri Superiore offers a grassy space on terraced slopes shaded by Mimosa trees, with a beautiful view onto the distant Alps. In Torri's building near by, individual bathrooms (including a shower, sink & toilet) are provided for campers. Participants choosing this option must bring their own tents & sleeping bags, but Torri Superiore will supply 3" thick mattresses to sleep on (!).

       Since this is a Summer Seminar, we will take full advantage of the beautiful Alpine setting. Students can go swimming in the fresh-water stream or hiking along trails in the mountains. Lunch may be enjoyed as a picnic on the grass, and evenings we can gather together on the large terrace overlooking the Alpine hills...

       Students will also have the opportunity to learn and experience Sustainable Living. This means that they, like the villagers, will integrate their lifestyle with the land ~ seeking to be its custodians rather than its exploiters. Permaculture is a form of long-term planning in which an integrated model of life is developed so flora, fauna & humanity may interact harmoniously & holistically. Agriculture is specifically tailored to the shape of the land and the cycle of the seasons.

       This model attempts to incorporate as many dynamic life-interactions as possible to create sustainable forms of living. Often a more labor-intensive polyculture (planting mixed crops) is preferred to the single-crop industrial method (which erodes top soil). All in all, the residents and their guests will seek out a form of communal living ~ a template for the future based on earth harmony rather than environmental destruction.

       The Associazione Culturale Torri Superiore lead their own Summer Seminars in Sustainability, Communal Living and Permacultural Design. Our seminar students will work on their paintings, not in the fields. Still, they may benefit from informal discussions with other seminar participants while actually living the life of the community. The Associazione Culturale Torri Superiore is a founding member of the Italian Permaculture Academy and belongs to the Global Eco-village Network; it has no religious or political affiliations.

       The French Cote d’Azur & Italian Riviera are unique places on earth. From the height of the Alps, the landscape plunges to below sea-level at the Mediterranean. This steeply-sloped area faces south and is fed by Alpine streams. As a result, the foot-Alps remain one of the richest places on earth for natural varieties of vegetation: pine & palm trees, wild basil & mint bushes, endless fields of lavender... Our Mediaeval Eco-Village is located in the gorgeous foot-Alps on the border between the French Cote d’Azur & the Italian Riviera.

       More precisely, Torri Superiore lies 5 km north of Ventimiglia ~ a quaint coastal town nestled between Monaco in France & San Remo in Italy. For centuries, Europe’s rich & famous have built their villas along this shared coast, since all homes have a southern exposure onto the vast expanse of the Mediterranean.

       Driving west from Vintimiglia, it is a 15-minute drive to Menton & Castillon ~ where Ernst Fuchs has his home atelier. Continuing west along the Cote d’Azur for ten more minutes, you come to Monaco (where Fuchs has a studio) and - one hour after that - to the holiday town of Nice.

       Three hours north of Vintimiglia ~ passing along a beautiful Alpine road ~ one reaches Torino. From here, it is a one hour drive west to Damanhur in the Valchiusella valley.

       On one weekend, the group will drive out to Castel Caramel ~ Fuchs’ villa in the Alpine foothills. Professor Ernst Fuchs is the founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism ~ a renowned group of painters who revived classical techniques of painting and applied them to fantastic subjects. Fuchs in particular has become ‘the grandfather’ of Visionary art, pioneering many of its approaches while teaching its techniques to such former students as Mati Klarwein, De Es Schwertberger & Roberto Venosa (as well as Laurence Caruana).

       Castel Caramel is not only Fuchs’ home, but also houses the Large Studio where he now does most of his painting. We will see the master at work and have the opportunity to pose questions about the Mischtechnik. Quite possibly, Fuchs  will also come out to Torri Superiore to see our students at work (~ Or, a special class will be held in Ernst Fuchs' studio after the seminar.)

       On another weekend, we will drive up to Damanhur. As Alex Grey has written in his book on Damanhur: “We were introduced to a virtually unprecedented collective of devoted artists, craftspeople and villagers who had founded a new way of life.” The history of Damanhur began on a summer night in 1978 when eleven friends sat around a campfire and watched in awe as a meteor slowly passed overhead. Taking this as an important augury, they spontaneously  began digging into the Vidraco hillside. Construction of the subterranean temples continued in secret for another thirteen years ~ until the Damanhurians themselves unveiled to the world their Temples of Mankind.

       These consist of long Subterranean Passages leading to 7 different temples dug some 5 storeys deep into the hillside. Each temple is ornately carved & illuminated by glowing orbs or stained-glass ceilings. One labyrinthine passage leads to the Hall of the Earth and the Hall of Metals. Another passage, beginning at the Blue Temple and the Hall of Water, leads through the Hall of Spheres to the large and central Hall of Mirrors. All the columns & walls are covered with Visionary figures, forming a complex iconography dedicated to spiritual unity.

       Today, Damanhur is a Community of Artisans, Scientific Researchers, Agriculturists & Educators divided into 40 small communities of 20 members each. Collectively, they are trying to create a new model for community living based on sustainable agriculture, global co-operation & spiritual growth. While seminar participants may take an interest in Damanhur’s spiritual aims, our main interest will be its Visionary art and iconography.