“…when we apply the lifeless paint to a surface,
 we must get the light behind the surface. We must spiritualise
the surface and create a secret inner radiance.”

Rudolf Steiner

This course explores the nature of painting as a coming-into-being experience that has the capacity to open our souls to the life of the cosmos.

One key difference between most modern art schools and the approach offered by Rudolf Steiner is that we make a clear distinction between drawing and painting, between the qualities of the line and those of the surface.

Why is this so? What difference can it make to paint with surfaces rather than with lines? And what does this even mean?

Painting is a two-dimensional art of coloured surfaces. If we work consciously with this thought, work actively with this understanding, our whole relationship to how we paint (as opposed to what we paint) is changed and transformed.

Working with transparent surfaces creates an interface to our inner world, which in turn leads us to the threshold of our inner being – and beyond. In fact, Steiner states that artists, especially painters, are already working at the threshold of consciousness.

But care must be taken! If we open ourselves too much to the spiritual world, then we may be in danger of losing ourselves to it. Meditative verses can help us here, so we will also work with appropriate meditations during the course.

Who is it for?

• For artists, art therapists and art students seeking a path of soul/spiritual development through the arts.
• For advanced participants of Art as a Path of Schooling for the Soul.

Required: watercolour wet-on-dry or veiling skills. This is not a demonstrated course so you must feel comfortable with your painting technique.

Desirable: Working with Colour Moods or equivalent experience of working with watercolour painting.

When is it?

Saturdays 3pm-5pm AEDT
7 March – 2 May 2026
Fortnightly classes plus recording

Cost

$260 AUD
$270 for PD certificate
Video recordings and other resources included in the fee. The payment options, Zoom link, and list of materials will be sent after booking.

For more information

This course also a core component of Art as a Path of Schooling for the Soul. It follows on from Working with Colour Moods.

Background reading

A Contemplation on Surfaces as Interfaces to the Spirit, a lecture by Fiona Campbell
‘The Phenomenon of Colour in Material Nature’, In Colour GA 291 by Rudolf Steiner

^{Feature image: Musical Improvisation  © Fiona Campbell 2010}