Look See Paint Faqs

Virtually anyone who can hold the kit in their hand, we usually start with 6 year olds

Younger will work - 5^th grade is superb, because they “get it” (“It” = how to swing the brush, as well as how to appreciate nature)

On the other end, anyone who can still hold the brush, and who still possess a mind that can play.
Basically the word desire determines the qualification.

Anyone with a desire to lead An eighth grader teaches a third grade A high school student teaches a 7^th grade A Mom who has led girl or Boy Scout groups in any endeavour A Dad who has coached a team or player An employee or employer who has helped a customer A teacher and all of the above who have never had any art training. Worst: Ridged & restricted art teachers Best: Nature lovers with leadership abilities.

We can say with confidence that anyone can “teach” Look See Paint. Here’s why:

¨ Our practical and easy program has been conducted some 3000 times by a multitude of folks including teachers, leaders, camp counsellors, and an adult with autism.

¨ It is quiet , contemplative, and experiential therefore stress-free

¨ It is interactive and at the same time individually solitary.

¨ We sit on the ground, physically contacting mother earth.

¨ We make ourselves ready for explained sensory contact , primarily –visual

¨ We sit apart, stressing the individuality of us but with in earshot of the leader/facilitator.
Think about how different this is from the formality of the typical classroom or art class.

Opening thoughts: When you think of presenting Look see Paint think of doodles. Its doodles plus feeling our human connection to nature. We think of nature first and then we think of getting into painting. When we think about the feeling of nature, we are mindful of our sensory engagement with the natural stimuli around us .Look See Paint builds this intimate contact with nature by and through the gift of the art process - made downright easy

Look see Paint moves logically and smoothly from opening /welcoming remarks which set the mood for this playful 2-3 hours (best time length). The biggest obstacle to success (in anything) is fear of failure. Talent, giftedness, and masterpiece art- concepts are dispatched and replaced with “desire” as the only prerequisite. The reassurance is made that the art process is accessible to all of us! The facilitator may admit that she isn’t a trained artist either, but she knows how nature and art are old buddies and love each other, and that’s what today is all about.

Look See Paint is like an exercise program. It doesn’t need to graduate to a more complicated training level. Think of it as warm up not just for painting but for everyday life living, centering us with self trust for the day, investing in our human spirit, and exercising our need of self _expression. Those are only some of the key payoffs. (the beginner also gets off to a solid start). Like Yoga exercises or mantra we revisit the bare fundamentals of painting as a touchstone for visiting our home, which is of course - nature.

We set up for the experience of painting outside, if weather allows, in the same way again and again, repeating the same comfortable 6 easy steps.

Robert Bateman (world famous wildlife artist) admires these refreshing steps as being practical (read common sense) and, in their abject simplicity, opening the door to painting to even the most doubting participant.

James Raffan, a Queens University professor who specialized in outdoor experiential teaching, conducted this program with great ease, fun and success, with no art background. He would say of us that Look see Paint has managed to come up with the visual art equivalent of Alex Tilley’s threat-free washing instructions for his travel clothing “ give em’ hell”, meaning use them, have fun with them , even if you’re not sure how !”

Look See Paint, has made the process of painting playful and easy, to “teach” to assist thousands of kids and adults to shout out their love for nature using art as their vehicle for _expression.

It’s all about feeling good about

¨ Nature

¨ Love

¨ Painting

¨ Life

¨ Diversity

¨ Yourself!

Anyone who convinces us that they will put the program to use, and thereby represent us in the spirit of our mandate, carefully explained and understood. Generally, the driving force of LSP is to spread the gently message of sensitivity and respect embedded within the program as opposed to selling a quota of paint kits.

School teachers (elementary, high school, university), summer camp operators, environmental educators, parks operators and managers, outdoor recreation directors, land conservancies, natural science interpreters and 30,000 regular folks.

These experiential sessions are conducted by a trained facilitator, usually outside, in a park, conservation area, etc. Groups are small, the experience is quiet, contemplative and delivers a connective message between the painters and their surroundings to make the point that we naturally combine with nature and exercise that attachment. Folks with no background learn enough to be able to paint outdoors for the rest of their lives. You keep your paintings in a casual field matte (the kit is not included to take home)

The ideal location is outside, in a natural surrounding. Indoors can be any room with a window or imagination. Look See Paint can be taught during all seasons. In the northern climes (dead of winter) we use the EarthViewer outside, make mental notes and go back inside to “play” from memory.

Look See Paint exercises personal trusting and focusing on our sensory system, and therefore, the natureness of us, which goes toward the experience of recognizing ourselves as nature. Look See Paint also teaches us that the more we invest of ourselves in the work/play we do, the more our authenticity appears before our very eyes, like a signature. This kind of personal character development exercise is one of the ways in which we are different than other “art lessons. It’s an art exercise which focuses on self-sufficiency.

Definitively. And in some exciting personal ways. First of all, you are welcome to the idea that their definitions are equitable. Nature is about Life. If there was no nature there would be no life as we know it. No oxygen, water –to include all of the constituents of nature which support our lives. Art is about life, because art is about the way the human animal (that’s us) express ourselves about our lives on this planet. We sing about our lives, we paint and write about those life things, we dance, and photograph, and dramatize always about our lives. Always about our lives on earth. Often we refer to the Earth Sciences. Just that very association of words suggests that nature and science are “old buddies” or at least, very closely related. But notice how science supplies the intellectual and analytical way to knowing about life, while art supplies the passion for life, and that’s why they are inseparable. I would go outside to say that we’ve got a lot of science and we’re still wrecking the place (earth). The missing element is LOVE. Love enters through the arts, and passion paves the way. Finally, if the above makes sense, we can see ourselves as nature, not just connected to it. So that when we love ourselves, we love nature, and vice versa.

This is the force - the simple association of ideas, which drives Look See Paint. And this mandate is different than the objectives which drive art lessons; namely art to be used for the benefit of nature, not art for masterpiece We believe in art for understanding and use in expressing ourselves, in communicating the need for a healthy nature, not art for personal high skill reward that drives most art lessons

Best of all – WE KNOW IT WORKS! Our knowledge is based on our 12+ years of field experience with the program, supported by 30,000 references available from users in parks, schools, camps and outdoor education centres.