PAINT PLAY
« PAINTING AS AN ART IS THE REALM OF ARTISTS.
PAINT PLAY BELONGS TO EVERYONE ELSE. »
Arno Stern
A workshop, out of sight.
Where everyone comes to paint in complete freedom.
An open door to a world without judgment.
A place for self-expression and self-realisation among others.
For everyone from 3 to 103 years old!
No prerequisites. The best thing that can happen to you is to be yourself.
Paint Play is about drawing without models, without judgement, without comparison, in conditions that allow the expression of the natural lines that are inside each of us.
In this safe space, we gain self-confidence, we play at painting by freeing ourselves little by little from the need to please and approve. We let our personal expression flow while being among others.
The benefits
It has the advantage of regenerating spontaneity and developing :
Autonomy
Focus
Boldness
Confidence and self-esteem
Confidence and self-esteem
The place invites you to be in the presence of yourself. You can recharge your batteries in the pleasure of doing and not of communicating. Only the moment of play counts.
in practice
SCHEDULES
Weekly sessions
- Wednesday 4.30 pm to 8 pm
- Saturday 9.30 am to 11.00am
- 45min for <6 years old
RATE
Subscription from September to June (30 sessions)
- Session 90 min: 540€
(equivalent to 18€/session) - Session 45 min: 450€
(equivalent to 15€/session)
Price adapted on a pro-rata basis according to the starting time.
LOCATION
Hakunamatata animation farm
Langevelde 34, 1785 Merchtem
(10′ from the North ring of Brussels)
LANGUAGE: Multilingual NL-FR-EN
By appointment at the workshop or during an information session.
« IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT CREATIVITY. IT’S ABOUT THE PERSON.
IT’S ABOUT THE PERSON YOU BECOME WHILE YOU’RE CREATING » – Charles Peacock
faq
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN A PAINT PLAY WORKSHOP?
Paint Play has the advantage of reaching a very wide mixed audience. It is not limited to children and is natural for all of us. The mix of ages, languages, culture and education makes it special.
In front of the paper, everyone is the equal of the other. Differences are “erased” and there is no competition.
HOW LONG DOES A SESSION LAST?
A weekly session lasts 90 minutes. Everyone is free to leave the studio when they feel they have finished. The paintings remain in the studio and can be continued from one session to the next. For children under 6, the recommended time is 45 minutes (or less depending on the child).
CAN I ACCOMPANY MY CHILD?
For children under 5 years old, it is requested that the parent participates in Paint Play so that they can be with the child when they are finished.
WHY DO THE PAINTINGS STAY IN THE STUDIO?
As it is play, it is not the purpose to create a “product”. It is the act alone that is valued. You don’t make a work and you don’t contemplate the trace. In this spirit, it is excluded that a person takes his or her painting with him or her or that he or she photographs it.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH ART THERAPY OR AN ART EDUCATION COURSE?
Playing is not the same as creating a work of art. The play is experienced in the process. It does not produce anything. We find our resources in the pleasure of doing and not in the pleasure of communicating. This play is renewed at each session. It is natural, coherent and endless.
Even if resourcing and well-being are benefits of the play, we do not come with the objective of “curing” something as in therapy. One does not contemplate the trace to make an interpretation of it.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE PAINT PLAY PRACTITIONER?
She is at the service of the play and its players. She is the play facilitator. She helps to prepare a mixture, to move a pin that is in the way of the brush. She brings a stool, helps to hang a new sheet.
Trained by Arno Stern, she has learned to accompany each person in respect of free expression. She guarantees non-competition and non-judgment. She encourages each person in their efforts, and accompanies them to go even further, to gain confidence. Her benevolent presence is just what is needed to feel good in this workshop. Her role is essential.
WHY IS THERE NO TRIAL SESSION?
The dynamics of the play are built through its practice in a framework where non-judgment is essential. It is also in this spirit that all the paintings remain in the studio. We paint for play and not to produce a work.
It is therefore necessary to be informed to avoid any confusion. Let’s make an appointment to meet during a visit of the workshop. You will then have all the elements to commit yourself to the dynamic. And then let you live …
WHAT IS A CLOSLIEU?
The “Closlieu” is the name given by Arno Stern to the space created for the Paint Play practice. It is an integral part of the approach and it is essential to respect its specifications. It is a cosy and colourful place without windows. It invites you to be in the present moment where only the moment of the play counts (no external stimuli).
How can we make the simple and beneficial paint play possible for everyone? By creating the right conditions to overcome prejudices and inhibitions. Everyone is capable – like a small child – of playing this game when it takes place in a space designed for this purpose. This space is the workshop! Arno Stern
WHAT ARE THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE GAME?
The pallet table: In the centre of the room, consisting of 18 colours with two brushes each. It is a space for meeting and sharing, a place where people come and go between their sheet of paper (their world) and the palette-table (the others).
The white sheet: Everyone has a sheet of paper fixed to the wall. This space is unlimited. The size of the drawing can be enlarged to fit the need.
The push pin: This is used to fix the sheets. But above all, it is an object of exchange with the Practitioner-Servant who ensures the smooth running of the game and the well-being of each person.
The mixing cabinet: It is available in the workshop to create other colours ad infinitum.
These instruments are to be considered as communication tools between the participants and with the practitioner-servant. They make it clear to the participants that the role of the facilitator is to serve their needs, not to give them ideas, nor to judge the content of their play.
WHAT IS FORMULATION?
“The act of drawing is one of the fundamental necessities of being and the disposition for this act is in everyone. Its accomplishment gives boundless pleasure” Arno Stern
IS IT POSSIBLE TO PARTICIPATE WITH MY CLASS OR GROUP?
Contact us to work out a tailor-made formula together, which can be combined with a time at the animation farm.
We can also organise information and awareness-raising sessions on the approach at your facility.
«It is a question here of the most permeable of mysteries: the construction of a person by himself… Expression through drawing, form, colour is an opportunity for this encounter with oneself; to be faced with a blank sheet of paper is more vertiginous than to be faced with a mirror. »
Albert Jacquart
CALENDAR
OUR EVENTS
PAINT PLAY – new cycle from septembre ’23
Hakunamatata area, Merchtem
Wednesday 4.30 pm to 6 pm
Saterday 9.30 am to 11 pm
Testimonials
As a teacher and an artist, I often forget that painting is first and foremost a game. Cécile and her studio have taught me again the meaning of play in the act of painting, its irreducible importance. There is no play without pleasure, and no creation without play. In Paint Play, I (re)discovered free pleasure, without stakes, and I (re)found the taste of freedom; similar to a plunge into the void: not necessarily soft and sweet but surprisingly fertile and overwhelming.
The Resources
VIDEOS
- The Finder
- The Story
- The Trace
- The Formulation
- The Universal Code
- The Journeys
- Organic Memory
- Paint Play
- The Closlieu
- The Paint Play Servant
- Art Education
- The Impasse of Consumption,
- The Future of Painting.
READING
“Happy as a child that paints ” Arno Stern
« If one wants to have an idea of the future of humanity, one comes to look at the Paint Play sessions (…), here everyone is himself among the others, here relationships are harmonious in diversity and also through diversity. »