The SONIC BLOOM Visionary Art Academy
Join Visionary master Amanda Sage for this 3 day paint-filled journey through the realms of artistic expression.
An elemental artistic approach from the ground up, utilizing ancient as well as modern materials. Invoking the hidden patterns underlying creation – from primordial chaos to refined control… Balancing between the polarities of skillful observation of nature and pure imagination, the artist becomes a conduit for new manifestations of vision and the emergence of a deeper reality.
Amanda Sage
Assisted by Joe Bob Merritt and Emily Kell
Amanda Sage is an artist using her painting as a tool for spiritual and planetary growth and transformation. Her paintings represent multidimensional aspects of humanness in harmonious balance, inspiring a re-membering of an energetic inter-connectedness that is present and shared with all things. In 1997 she apprenticed for 2 years in classical painting techniques with Michael Fuchs in Vienna Austria. This led to becoming a painting assistant to Ernst Fuchs, founder of Fantastic Realism, for 10 years while developing her own style and portfolio as a resident artist at the culture house WUK in Vienna. Since 2009 she has been based in Los Angeles and influential in networking artists and initiatives while hosting workshops, lecturing and exhibiting world wide. Her work is mostly in private collections with some pieces also in the permanent collection of the Kirkland Museum in Denver, Colorado.
She is a co-founder of the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art and is on the board of directors of CoSM (Chapel of Sacred Mirrors) Alex & Allyson Grey’s art sanctuary in New York. She has also pioneered painting retreats in Eco-Villages such as Paradise One, Byron Bay Australia and PuntaMona, Costa Rica.
When not traveling she can be found in one of her studios in Los Angeles, Vienna Austria or Gunnison Colorado.
Joe Bob Merritt
Joe Bob Merritt earned the degree of Bachelor of Environmental Design at Texas A&M University in 1991. He earned the degree of Master of Architecture at The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC) in 1996.
He is particularly interested in the intersection of the visionary arts, mindfulness, and the creative process. He believes that art making provides one with innumerable opportunities to develop sensory clarity, strengthen concentration skills, and cultivate powers of equanimity. Joe Bob believes that the efforts that we as artists make in the cultivation of these skills contribute to the possibility of having direct experiences of freedom from mechanical conditioning and habitual re-actions, thus increasing the probability of intelligent, response-able, and creative activity in the midst of everyday life situations.
Emily Kell
Emily is a Colorado based artist who experiences the world through travel and creativity. Her artwork takes root in ideals of divine feminine and a return to the energy of the primordial goddess. In her artwork and in life, she celebrates women, the mystical realm, the spiritual journey of the human family, and the mysteries of the universe. She creates pieces that are intended to uplift and heal the collective with a focus on the healing of women in particular. It is her hope that her pieces serve as cosmic windows into other worldly realms and as talismans of healing for the viewer. Emily enjoys painting and sharing work in festival environments and connecting with people by doing work that can help to heal them. In her art, as well as in the way she lives her life, Emily tries to affect positive change in the world around her and to be a light in the world.
Materials to Bring
- Pencils & Pens for drawing and taking notes
- Kneadable or other preferred eraser
- Pencil sharpener
- Sketch book and/or pad of sketch paper — 11′′ x 14′′
- Soft, synthetic paint brushes for acrylics/watercolor (not bristle brushes):
Required Brushes
- 2-4 filberts in assorted sizes
- 1-2 small rounds/liners
- a 1.5”-2” flat brush for glazing (as soft as possible)
Optional
- Painting surface — canvas(es), gesso board, painting panel, watercolor block (if you want to work on a different surface other than canvas panel) – Size Limitation: No larger than 16”x20”
- Acrylics — assorted colors (tubes or fluid)
- Plastic paint palette for acrylics
- Travel easel (recommended)
Academy students can look forward to lots of perks with their enrollment fee including…
- 21+ hours of world class educational experience
- 2 healthy, organic meals per day (brunch and dinner)
- Yoga class every morning
- Connections with like minded people
- Be among the first people on site
- First priority shaded and creekside camping
- Free time in pristine Colorado nature
- Festival car camping included
- Academy/Festival combo tickets available
