Perceiving Electrical Fields of Flowers in Art & Latent Inhibition

Perceiving Electrical Fields of Flowers in Art & Latent Inhibition

By Stephanie Tihanyi

'The Electric Flamboyant' 2009 - Stephanie Tihanyi (acrylic on canvas 34" x 34") 

New Research 2013

We have recently discovered that bumble bees can detect floral electric fields and learn their presence and structure to inform foraging decisions (Clarke et al. 2013. Science}.

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'Flowers have sophisticated ways of communicating, that until recently were unknown, according to new research by scientists at the Bristol School of Biological Sciences . According to new research lead by, Professor Daniel Robert, "pollinators such as bumble bees are able to find and distinguish electrical signal fields given out by flowers. From their research they reveal, flowers produce bright colors, strong patterns and fragrances to entice their pollinators. Now researchers have found flowers have their own electrical equivalent of a neon sign. They create distinct patterns of electrical signals. Plants are charged negatively, due to being grounded.'

Bees on the other hand require a positive charge, up to 200 volts as they fly through the air; the bumble bee generates this in the hairs of their body. When the bee approaches a flower their electrical signals interact and when the bee leaves, the flowers electrical field is change for some time after. Researchers believe the flower lets the bee know the honest status of it nectar and pollen supplies, and also, how long ago, it was visited by another bee. The flower and the bee share an electrical relationship. It is also shown that electricity boosts flowers other tools too, such as color. Researchers are speculating if it is possible, electrical fields happen when humans and other animals interact with flowers also. 


"When you bend over to sniff a flower, will it change the flowers electrical potential?" - says Professor Daniel Robert (2013).

Bees Can Sense the Electric Fields of Flowers - National Geographic

'Allemande & Honey Bee' 2014 - Stephanie Tihanyi (oil on panel 9.5" x 9.5")

 This pink/white Allemande is backlit by the sun behind it. I have noticed on some plants, (when the sun is low or when they face away from the sun) are illuminated by translucent patches inside, creating a geometric pattern of spots on the inner base of the petals and central stamen. It occurred to me that this arrangement of ’visual signals’ serve to guide the bee, like 'landing lights', to the reward of life-giving pollen within. Bees will forage till late in the evening and it is known that bees cannot see the color red but they can see ultraviolet light, it then seems to make sense that this is a perfect adaption by the flower.
  

For a decade in my artwork I have explored my passionate love of flowers, not only as joyful colorful objects but also on a deeper level, sensing them and viewing in detail how they are made. I began a series of large flower paintings in 2008 and its still an ongoing theme for me. Above, the first image is a painting I did in 2009 of the Flamboyant Tree (Delonix regia ), also known as the Flame Tree. It grows all over my resident island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean  It is one of the most strikingly colorful trees when in flower. The whole tree turns a vivid orange/red that can be seen for miles. Some color varieties range from deep red, orange to yellow.  At a distance the tree is a mass of red color with small dots of white seemingly scattered over it. Many of our island artists have captured this global view of the tree, notably the well known artist Roland Richardson, making it his signature theme. I was more interested a studying single flower clusters as I have always been fascinated by  the details of things.

'Flamboyant Flux' 2012 - Stephanie Tihanyi (acrylic on canvas 22"x 18") 

 After seeing the research posted online in a news article 2013, I emailed Professor Daniel Robert and sent him a picture of the Electric Flamboyant (top of the page). He emailed me back and said he loved it and was delighted and said it was a great illustration to what he was talking about. He asked my permission to use the photo in his lectures and at the university. I said I was very happy for him to do so. The color is what is most striking of course but then you will notice the incredible detail of intricate patterns on the petals made by colors and by the flame-like vein structures. The whole cluster seems to tell you its giving off energy of some sort, that travels along the routes of the veins and is expended out to the ends of the plant, into the environment.

'Study of a Bay Bean' (canavalia rosea)' 
 2008- Stephanie Tihanyi (gouache on paper 9"x 11") 

                                                                                                                            

 Being so highly focused over an extended about of time, you become open to the flowers information, it can feel like the neurons are firing up in your brain, mirroring the flowers energy. Yeah, I know it sounds a bit nuts but that is how it literally feels!. Its hard to explain to folks who don't do that. Lol. I remember when painting the series, people would say, 'you painted a nice picture of flowers, but then you went and put all those lines all over it'. I have a blogger friend, Douglas Eby, who says this is a trait of the Highly Sensitive Personality . Eby M.A./Psychology, he is a writer, researcher and online publisher who has a blog called: The Creative Mind at Psych Central. He has a name for such an states ; latent inhibition.

In his blog post: Highly Sensitive and Creative: Latent Inhibition  he states;
"One technical term for the personality trait of high sensitivity is “sensory processing sensitivity” – One study, for example, found that the brains of creative people appear to be more open to incoming stimuli from the surrounding environment." 

Another Psychologist Elaine Aron, PhD is probably the leading expert on high sensitivity, or more technically, sensitivity.sensory processing.  She writes “About 15 to 20 percent of the population has this trait. It means you are aware of subtleties in your surroundings, a great advantage in many situations. “It also means you are more easily overwhelmed when you have been out in a highly stimulating environment for too long, bombarded by sights and sounds until you are exhausted.”

 Douglas Eby, who has interviewed Aron says, 'As an HSP herself, Aron reassures other Highly Sensitive People that they are quite normal, and that their trait is not a flaw or a syndrome, nor is it a reason to brag. It is just a human asset they can learn to use and protect'.

I find this also to be true, In the act of painting and observing it I feel I am both acutely sensitive to the visual information and stimulation while being intently focused. I allow myself to extend all my senses out as far as they will go. Natural countryside environments and quiet places are the places I feel most at ease to let the senses run free. Urban environments I find too 'noisy' and overwhelming to tolerate for long which is why I don't live in the town or city. 

                                                                 

The Detail Obsessed Artist

The Detail Obsessed Artist

I had a thoroughly absorbing busy day alone in my tiny studio, doing what I love most. Absorbed in that timeless dimension, wandering free in that empire of detail.

Under-painting in egg tempera
and oil on new work -Stephanie Tihanyi

Under-painting on new work
(oil and egg tempera) Stephanie Tihanyi

 I am working on new painting, putting dark lights into the red/gold duo-chrome of the under-painting to gain a sense of depth and relief in the foliage and corner of the angels wings, seen in this detail.

 Next step would be to go over it again high-lighting with the egg-tempera (in the old masters of the Flemish tradition, such as Jan van Eyck), but that's a far off land for now. This ability to endure and even enjoy long hours alone hyper focusing on detailed work is a gift of my aspergers. For all the challenges that being on the autistic spectrum has given me, I would not ever, ever trade it for anything.

Autism, Shame & Society: An insider’s view



The Star-flower Cactus-by Stephanie Tihanyi
(all copyright held by the artist)

Autism, Shame & Society: An insider’s view

Published July 21st 2015 in the St. Maarten newspaper The Daily Herald

 When I was a young teen, a close relative’s child died, leaving behind young sibling, who had just been diagnosed with autism. I remember my father saying, “It was sad, but it was sadder, the wrong one died”. He probably did not mean it, but the time I thought it was cruel and I sensed the shame. I did not know, I too was on the autism spectrum.  This toxic shame permeates society, negatively impacting on the lives of autistic parents, children and adults, in ways far worse than their difference ever could. In an enlightened society, it shouldn’t be that way, but it is. It is through societal attitudes, those of us who are ADHD, dyslexic, or autistic, grow up, learning to feel shame for who we are. Society has perpetuated a culture of fear, shame, and pity around difference, often making it more of a disability than it needs to be. I believe this shame is intentionally and unintentionally manufactured, often by those who profess to care and that discrimination, against the differently abled, is becoming the major cause of injustice and civil rights issues of our time.

I always knew my brain worked very differently, I never knew why. Far from being devastating, being diagnosed was a relief that gave me validation for my experiences. It helped me understand and accept myself enabling me to re-frame my life, in a new positive way. It helped me forgive myself for being ‘stupid’, for being terribly bullied (at home and at school), for being misunderstood, for always struggling to fit in. It answered questions why being social, was always such a mystery and such hard work. It helped me finally come to terms with a lifetime self-blame and low self-esteem. Like many girls on the spectrum, I craved friends but had few or none. I tended to hang on the edge of groups, in order to learn the group’s social behaviors by observation and copying. I learnt to disguise my lack of social skills by being invisible. Like many kids in today’s ‘special education’, I struggled in school, except for art, but art had little merit in school. At 11, I was labeled as ‘a child having below average capabilities’ and was put in the ‘slow-class’ after being bullied. Then one day, I stunned everybody by creating a huge 200 page folder of pressed wild flowers, in my summer holidays, I collected, identified, pressed, catalogued and labeled them with their common and scientific Latin names. People on the spectrum are an odd mixture of strengths and deficits like that. Back then, the ‘slow class’ didn’t mean you got special education or extra support, it meant they left you on your own. I finished school with no qualifications.

 From my teens to my late 20,s, I had such terrible social anxiety and depression. Many jobs, were beyond my ability to cope, because of sensory issues, even talking to others was difficult. Most of my jobs when I wasn't unemployed were in cleaning and washing-up. I had to practice over and over in my head sentences, just to be able to ask for a packet of cigarettes in a store or a bag of fruit at the grocers. It was so hard to get the right words out or intonation in the right order, together with the right body language, without looking totally weird, frightening people or irritating them. I memorized scripts for everything.  Many people on the spectrum do in time develop, abet atypically and later in life.  I eventually got better at engaging with people and even taught myself many subjects I had missed in school, like writing, but art remained my one special passion that I never had to work at. Looking back, I never imagined I would be the person I am now, capable of doing what I do now.

Following my diagnosis, I read a lot, I also talked with other autistic people, read their books, articles, research and blogs. I found a common experience and was stunned by a profound dissonance between how autistic people viewed themselves, their lives and how the rest of society views them, which was shockingly judgmental, negative, inaccurate and unjust.  Right from the start, from the time someone came up with the word ‘autism’ or ‘Asperger’s’, the condition has been judged from the outside, and not from the inside, not as from how it has been experienced. No one really knows autism is, but most in the medical field believe it’s a disorder caused by genetic defects or environmental harm, either way it’s a disease to be cured, that the value of talents attributed to autism, does not outweigh the deficits, and that autistic people and society would be better off if they were not autistic. They see it only in its diagnostic terms, and purely through a deficit model. They use negative words like 'suffers',' disorder', ‘disease’; they make lists of 'symptoms'. Most all their research comes from child studies, even today, adults are an un-researched mystery. The exclusion of adult autistic voices from the process of knowledge production is ethically and epistemologically problematic and has resulted in a horrendous lack of ethics. I see, that society allows the use of stigmatizing and fear-provoking language, to raise money for genetic research for a cure for child autism or even elimination by pre-natal testing

Emotive words are used in 'awareness campaigns like, ‘horror of autism’, ‘epidemic’, 'devastating' describing autistic children as ‘lepers’, ‘lost’, ‘empty’, soulless’ and ‘tragic’,  accumulated in the now infamous, 2009 Autism Speaks video, aimed at drawing funds from big corporate sponsors, shows a small child looking at the camera and a dead zombie-like voice saying:

“I am autism. I have no interest in right or wrong.  I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined, I will plot to rob you of your children and your dreams….And if you’re happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain,” says the video campaign.

These so called ‘charities’, repel all protests and attempts by autistic adults to have any say or voice in policy in their organizations and it’s not hard to see why. This negative and false definition of autism that shapes society’s attitudes of autistics in the 21st century, as ‘scary’, ‘sick’ or tragic’, is being driven by big business at the expense and wellbeing of innocent autistic people and their families. In 2011 of over $314 million that was raised, only 3% went into services support and education and only 1% went into adult services and the rest into genetic research labs.  The biomed movement is no better in its unchecked abuse of ethics in pursuit of funding and the selling of 'cures', many unproven and untested.

The point I make is, the unethical, negative portraying of autistic people, has been successful as a business marketing strategy.  Some of the most extreme Anti-vaccine and anti GMO-crusaders are accused of upping the ante. I have seen the most awful fear-mongering language, shock and awe tactics from this quarter. It’s from this sense of injustice and autistic identification,  I am drawn to defend the wrongful portrayal of all people, who are neuro-diverse. The only way I can do that is to stand up, and speak out, loud and clear.  In the last decade more and more adults from all across the autistic spectrum, across the globe, from all walks of life, scientists, parents, teachers, writers, lawyers, are organizing to advocate for theirs and others human and civil rights. By borrowing lessons from the Black civil rights movement, they are advocating against abuse and discrimination. Best known group is TPGA (Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism) and ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network), both are online.  These are people who see themselves, not a disorder, not broken or inferior, but as a variant within the normal neurological diversity, of the human genome. Their struggles, they attribute to psychological stresses of discrimination, intolerance of their differences, lack of supports and the constant perpetuation of negative myths and stereotyping.   

Sometime ago, I wrote a piece in this paper, trying to correct the many of the myths about people with autism and Asperger’s I had read in it. The false myths of the lack of empathy, lack of conscience, or lack feelings etc are wrong. Recently someone wrote about people with Asperger’s having terrible relationships, of being unimaginative and uncreative. Many people with Asperger’s marry; have children and have long happy relationships, why? Because like everyone else who falls in love, we pick and choose our mates, because they have a combination of positive traits, that are similar to or complement our own. Unimaginative?, uncreative?, I will leave that up to you. . I did not write this as a pity piece, but to inspire others to stand up. To tell them its ok to not let others, who don’t know them, define who they are. So you see the shame of autism, does not come from being autistic, it comes 100% from society. Incidentally, that younger autistic relative went on to university, to major in mathematics and speaks 5 languages.

By coming out, I take that shame and I am giving it back, it never really belonged to me, I don’t need it. Finally at last I can accept myself and like who I am. I will leave you with these words by Wired reporter Steve Silberman, author of 'Neurotribes", who wrote in his book ‘The Forgotten History of Autism: ‘We are still trying to catch up to Hans Asperger, who believed that the cure for the most disabling aspects of autism, is to be found in understanding teachers, accommodating employers, supportive communities, and parents who have faith in their children’s potential.

Stephanie Tihanyi  

 

 

Artist Selfie at work

   
A photo from the other week when I was out in the back painting a backdrop for a local dance school Dance Theater of St. Maarten 's recital, 'Dance Till You drop". I make a little money doing local stage and theater painting.

 It was fun to splash and drip with all the colors, as I am usually so meticulous and tight with my work, its great to ease up and splash it around.

My Letter to the Newspaper Autistics are not Pychopaths

Recently I wrote a letter to the newspaper. I felt compelled to write because I needed to correct some statements by a regular writer to the newspaper's opinion page, had made about people with autism/Asperger's. The lady in question often wrote quite nice articles about the helpful practice of mindfulness, which actually I liked to read, however, this time she wrote about people with autism and made the comparison of autism to psychopaths , ' the neurologically disordered' she called us.  Here is my letter:



The Broken- Hearted
 Machine - charcoal sketch by S. Tihanyi
(all copyrights are held by the artist)

An Autistic’s Reply to Mindful Comments by (Name Protected)

"Please allow me a little space in your newspaper to respond to some of the recent comments made by (name protected), about people on the autism spectrum. I give the lady the benefit of the doubt and believe she is compassionate and well-meaning but not aware that some of the facts she, holds are not totally accurate and that their proliferation creates needless fear, stereotyping, avoidance and bullying for autistic people by society. This can cause them shame, lack of self-esteem and depression. I do not intend to bash the lady, but as a high functioning autistic, feel I must set the truth straight, I am also backed up by facts from the very experts she quoted in her article. She states that autistic people, just like everyone else, can have low, medium or high IQ’s and the deficits and gains of both for IQ runs parallel.  Very good. Marriage with a partner on the spectrum can be work and a lot of learning, for both. Yes of course this is correct. The problem is not about their lack of capacity, will or lack of love or caring, its communication. I felt the article was fair but parts were vague and open to misunderstanding, especially the part about the perceived autistic lack of empathy and the comparison to psychopathy. This part troubled me a lot.

I quote the article: “The lack of empathy comes with some neurological disorders, not just autism- the psychopath will derive some pleasure from your pain, but the autistic will wonder what you are complaining about”, Their “(empathy) “needs to be worked on in their youth so that they can learn to reciprocate even if it’s just learnt behavior and does not come from the heart”.

I take issue with this line as it could give the reader the impression that autistics are ingenuous, false, heartless or lacking the capacity for feelings. This terrible perspective has been used to justified all sorts of bullying, discrimination and abuse upon autistic children and adults, whether intentional not, because people believe we don’t have feelings like others. It’s wrong. This misconception came about from early clinical research over the use of the clinical word ‘empathy’. It has been noted by autism experts and attempts have been made to address it over the years but the damage from a misconception around the clinical word “empathy” still lingers, even among some health professionals.

‘Empathy has nothing do to with how the person feels, i.e. whether they feel bad for someone when they are hurting (as in sympathy), love or care about them (unconditional love and altruism). It has to do with understanding the emotional state of another person (cognitive), and responding appropriately.  The ability to recognize the emotional state in another person relies on good communication. Autistics and non-autistics communicate differently. As someone on the autistic spectrum, I can tell you that my difficulties in social situations, have absolutely nothing to do with empathy – chosen or automatic. I quote from an online blog: "When I know someone else is suffering, I can’t help but feel empathy for them. It hurts me inside sometimes so intensely, I am very sensitive, if anything, often, I seem to have more empathy than the average person. Consider this please, if someone told you, in Russian, “I’m sad because my mother died yesterday”, you’ll only feel empathy for their sadness if you understand Russian. If you don’t know Russian, his statement will have no meaning to you and you won’t realize he’s talking about a sad event. For autistic people, nonverbal communication is like a foreign language, and we often don’t understand what it’s conveying. If I don’t realize someone is sad, I won’t show empathy for their sadness. But as soon as they tell me, in a way I understand, I’m sympathetic and feel for them, just as anyone else would. (Whether I’ll know what to do to comfort them is another matter)"
Certainly most parents of autistic kids object strongly to the portrayal of autistics as unfeeling, unloving, and unlovable as well. “Empathy" could be teased into two parts: 1) Awareness-empathy, i.e awareness of other's emotions and well-being, and 2) Caring-empathy, i.e. caring about other people's emotions and well-being. I also quote expert Dr Tony Attwood, who states:

 “I think it is important to explain the misinterpretation of other people’s suggestions of a lack of empathy for people with Asperger’s syndrome. I think there are two factors here, one is that the person with Asperger’s syndrome may not be able to read the subtle signals in another person in facial expression, body language and gesture that would normally be associated with a response of compassion or affection. Thus, if the person with Asperger’s syndrome does not respond with a hug or words of compassion the neurotypical defaults to paranoia and then assumes that the person with Asperger’s syndrome lacks care and empathy. It is not that the person lacks care and empathy it is more that they didn’t/could'nt read the signals or body language. Once the signals are recognized, the person with Asperger’s syndrome can be remarkably kind and supportive.

One of autisms biggest researchers, Dr Simon Baron -Cohen has also attempted to address this misconception that people have, of autism’s lack of empathy being the same as the psychopathic/sociopathic lack of empathy: He says, “I want to return to the subject but with more information on WHY there is a misunderstanding about autistic and sociopathic persons and why popular culture tends to screw up portrayals of both. The key difference seems to be that in psychopaths the 'cognitive' component of empathy is intact but the 'affective' component is not. In autism, both components may be impaired, or just the cognitive component. But their strong systemizing leads them, through powerful logic, to develop a moral code based on 'fairness' and 'justice'. Psychopaths lack the moral compass that most people develop using their empathy, and lack the moral compass that people with autism develop using their strong systemizing. People with autism spectrum conditions often end up as 'super-moral', developing a set of rules they expect people to live up to consistently (such as honesty, fairness, duty), arriving at the conclusion that one should 'treat others as you would have others treat you' because it is the most logical approach. He also adds: In my experience whilst even adults with Asperger Syndrome may have difficulties figuring out why someone else’s remark was considered funny, or why their own remark was considered rude, or may judge others as liars when they simply are inconsistent in not doing what they said they would do, they may nevertheless have a highly developed emotional empathy, caring about how someone feels and not wanting to hurt them. If they do hurt them, it is often unintentional and they feel mortified when it is pointed out, and want to rectify this. In this respect, they do have some of the components of empathy.

Many people with autism also form very strong emotional relationships with their pets, worrying about their welfare, and find that whilst they struggle to ‘read’ human behavior and human intentions, they can read the arguably more predictable behavior of a pet. Finally, as mentioned earlier, the difficulties with the cognitive element of empathy by no means leave people with autism devoid of a moral code, and their strong systemizing can mean that they often end up with a more principled moral code than many people without autism. Thank you."

Now a Member of the Society for the Art of Imagination

Since the beginning of last month (March), I was accepted into the Society for the Art of Imagination.
 The Society is one of the largest Fantastic, Visionary and Surreal artist groups in the world, with over 400 artist members in 23 countries.


Flight of the Bride-Brigid Marlin

Origin and History of The Society for Art of Imagination
In 1961 a group of artists from England, dissatisfied with the way the art world was going, began to work together, calling themselves the Inscape Group. They were Diana Hesketh (1931--), Peter Holland, .Brigid Marlin (1936--) Jack Ray and Steve Snell (1946-). They worked together to experiment with different ideas and techniques. Their progress may be summarized as follows:

Brigid Marlin

1966 One member of the Inscape group, Brigid Marlin, went to study with Ernst Fuchs in Vienna. She was able to learn the Mische Technique, which was recieved with enthusiasm by other members who began to work with, and teach the technique in England, Europe and America.

Ernst Fuchs

1968 Members of the Inscape group were invited by Ernst Fuchs to come to Wartholz Castle, to his Summer Seminar, where artists from all over the world came to exchange ideas, and work together experimenting with old and newly evolved techniques. The Summer Seminar continued for seven years under the direction of Wolfgang Manner, and brought about great art and great friendships.

1972 As artists from different countries worked to promote each other and the cause of fine art, World-wide Exchange Exhibitions were set up in different countries and the Inscape Group became known as Inscape International.



 

   Adam and Eve-Ernst Fuchs     

1973- 1992 Inscape International. went on to exhibit in Paris, Ireland, Holland, Sweden, Tokyo, the United States and Canada. Lectures and classes were given on the Mische technique in Europe, the United States and Canada,

1993 Professor Ernst Fuchs summoned some of the Inscape artists to meet at Grafenegg Castle near Vienna to discuss the way forward towards promoting the Art of Imagination. He asked each artist to work towards this end. He had by now founded The Ernst Fuchs Museum in the villa built by Otto Wagner, and was planning an International Museum for Fantastic Art at the Saxe-Coburg Palais in Vienna.

1994 Maurizio Albarelli launched a major Exhibition "Du Fantastique au Visionnaire", the largest of its kind ever to be staged, at the Zitelle Cultural Centre, Venice, which included the work of many members of Inscape International.

1996 Rosemary Bassi organized the first of several shows of Fantastic paintings and sculpture inclluding Inscape International Members at her Galerie Rolandseck near Bonn, Germany

1997 Inscape International decided to expand their Membership and work to help to promotion of Imaginative Art around the World. To facilitate this it changed its name to The Society for Art of Imagination. Ernst Fuchs agreed to be Honorary President.

1998 The Society for Art of Imagination launched a World Premiere- the very first Open Exhibition for Art of Imagination. It took place at the Mall Galleries, London. Virginia Rogers, a patron of vision, pledged to the Society $10,000.00 every year to distribute as prize money.

H R Giger

1999 The Erlangen Museum near Nurnberg, Germany, arranged a huge exhibition "Phantastik am Ende der Zeit" planned by Dr. Christine Ivanovic. The show was arranged in historical order , starting with the early woodcuts and engravings of Schongauer 1481, and Altdorfer c 1511, then on to the paintings of Bosch and Breughel, followed by Ensor and Munch, Max Ernst, Dali , and Paul Wunderlich. The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism was well represented, and the Exhibition displayed the work of many Members of The Society for Art of Imagination .The Exhibition formed part of a Symposium on Fantastic Art and attracted more than 10,000 visitors.

Martina Hoffman

1999 & 2000 The Open Exhibition for Art of Imagination at the Mall Galleries continued. This Exhibition had now become a very popular annual event, giving artists of Imagination a public forum, and a chance to win valuable prizes. Many artists have been discovered through showing there, and have been taken up by visiting art dealers. The money awards helped artists who were finding it hard to survive.

A Magazine called Inscape was launched by the Society, to appear twice annually.

Lectures and classes were set up to spread the knowledge of good techniques in painting and sculpture. 

De Es Schwerthberger

 2001 H R Giger agreed to be an Honorary Patron, and invited Vonn Stropp, 1st Prize-Winner of the Art of Imagination Exhibition 2000 , and other members of the Society to visit his home in Switzerland, and travel with him to the H R Giger Museum at Gruyeres. An Exhibition of Members' work at his Museum was discussed.

Damien Micheals

2001 Damian Michaels from Australia, a Member of the Society for Art of Imagination and Editor of the 

Michel de Saint Ouen

acclaimed magazine "Art Visionary", launched the opening of his International Collection of Fantastic and Visionary Art at the Orange Museum, Australia, which was opened by the Director of the Society or Art of Imagination. The Exhibition was recieved with great enthusiasm and praise for its excellent quality. A special workshop on the Mische Technique was also organised in Melbourne.

(excerpt from The Society for Art of Imagination) website 

Philip Rubinov Jacobson

 




In June this summer, I will be attending a month long workshop in Vienna, Austria with Prof. Philip Rubinov Jacobson 


Philip Rubinov Jacobson

to learn the secret Mische Technique of painting with layers of egg-tempera and resin/oil glazes, shown here below in the first stages by the brilliant master painter, Madeline von Foerster



Mische Techique demonstrated by Madelaine von Foerster

 

I will talk more about the Mische Technique and the up coming workshop in my next post soon. Please check out and like my Facebook page for updates on my current work Artist Tihanyi

one of my current paintings in progress - Stephanie Tihanyi