Mindful Art Training is an intimate learning journey of self-exploration that combines traditional art tuition and timeless meditation practices to unlock your creativity and express your inner voice. Led by a powerful duo - award-winning contemporary multidisciplinary artist and expert art teacher, Michael Armstrong, and established holistic yoga and meditation teacher Tracey Murray, Mindful Art Training is a practical and detailed training set to shift energy and enrich lives. Over 12 weeks, 30 contact hours, and dedicated home practice, practitioners will move through hands-on activities, wondrous theoretical and practical learning and self-paced practices — perfect for easing stress and sparking creativity in a fast-paced world.
Mindful Art Training is based in Canberra’s Inner North at Mike and Tracey’s shared community wellbeing studio in Lyneham. The partners have crafted a unique and beautifully aligned syllabus to guide you through detailed techniques, traditional meditation and mindful practices to meet the aims of this course and beyond.
With an emphasis on observation—both of the internal and external self—Mindful Art Training invites you to lean into your creative side when in a calm state, get a feel for it, and understand why it matters. This considered and gentle approach to art practice will fundamentally shift your perspective and provide new thought patterns for healthy habits and subtle connections for a more contented, purposeful life.
Expect to gain foundational knowledge on how to meditate effectively, key art skills, and mindfulness tools for life. Get equipped with art and meditation theory and embrace tools as you become more aware of your energy. You’ll learn to draw, sculpt, and paint to reduce stress and boost self-expression. There will be lots of practice and lots of reflection.
Sessions will develop you progressively and be offered at a slow pace to ensure you have the time and space to understand the HOW and WHY about what you’re doing.
- Research suggests mindfulness and art can calm the nervous system and boost creativity.
- These practices may likely increase serotonin and feel-good hormones.
- The evidence leans toward benefits for individuals with trauma, anxiety, and depression.
- This course will support you in building a strong creative art practice and an effective personal meditation practice.
BENEFITS
- Ease stress with mindfulness and creative outlets
- Unlock your creativity and express your unique voice
- Gain formal art training in portraiture, drawing life, still-life drawing, sculpting and painting
- Gain a framework for effective meditation to form and strengthen neural pathways
- Learn technical and practical art skills
- Allow flow states to emerge and be experienced
- Explore creativity when in a calm state, instead of being forced or deadline-based
- Connect with others in a supportive, inclusive space
- Gain more confidence in creating works
- Create your own personal art and meditation practice
INCLUSIONS
- 30 face-to-face contact hours of in-person training and tuition with two highly skilled, compassionate, kind and dedicated teachers.
- A bound, written course reference manual.
- Guided meditation resource recordings to support home practice.
- A kit of professional art resources, including a sketchbook, drawing tools, oil-based clay, art boards, art canvas, oil paints, a paint knife and brushes.
- A supportive community to connect and engage with.
THE PLAN
Session 1: Foundational observation
Saturday 20 September 1pm to 5pm (4-hour session)
- Understand what meditation is, what effective meditation preparation looks and feels like, how to overcome common barriers and start cultivating concentration.
Observational drawing: Sketch everyday objects (e.g., a shell, a flower, a glass) to see the world with fresh eyes. Using a variety of drawing mediums, create sketches and sustained drawings, investigating a range of subjects.
Session 2: Structure and objectivity
Saturday 27 September 11am to 5pm (6-hour immersion)
- Learn how to effortlessly focus on a meditation object and create presence with your meditation object. Learn the art of beginning again.
- Two life drawing sessions: capture the human form without time pressure. Learn how to see and craft proportions with mindful and precise application.
- Work directly from the nude figure to understand the balance between observed figuration and abstract formal qualities. All fundamental drawing elements are considered, including compositional issues of the human form, space and structure.
- Experience the art of rest through restorative yoga to integrate and process thoughts and feelings, to renew energy and create ease.
Session 3: Preparation for self-reflection
Saturday 18 October 1pm - 5pm (4-hour session)
- Understand how to prepare the nervous system and the mind with your breath and explore the concept of showing up ‘doing’ without attachment.
- Explore facial drawing techniques and create a self-portrait. Draw your own face or a friend’s, using a mirror and techniques to make the process accessible. Explore and learn to draw the forms and structures of the human head and facial features. Discover the connection between the ‘character’ and the ‘face’.
Session 4: Bring ideas to life
Saturday 1 November 1pm - 5pm (4-hour session)
- Explore and discuss meditation pathways and meditation techniques.
- Sculpt from life as you shape oil-based clay into 3D forms, feeling stress melt away.
- Delve deeply into the making process, exploring new ways of manipulating and pushing the clay to create challenging and mindful sculptures.
Session 5: Create colour and clarity
Saturday 15 November 1pm - 5pm (4-hour session)
- Create clarity around meditation practice, including choices, repetition, and routine.
- Play with paints and colour theory, honing your observational skills.
- Using oil paint, learn to mix paint and experiment with colour and composition.
- Learn to paint with a mindful approach while increasing your knowledge and understanding of the importance of colour, composition and form.
Session 6: Craft your personal practice with purpose
Saturday 29 November 12pm - 6pm (6-hour immersion)
- Create a personal meditation plan with intention and put it into practice.
- Create something uniquely yours, with Tracey and Michael cheering you on.
- Celebrate your achievement in the community with your teachers and peers over a complimentary vegetarian-based dinner prepared by Tracey.
If you’re ready to trade burnout for balance and reconnect with your creativity, Mindful Art Training is calling your name. Join Tracey Murray and Michael Armstrong for a journey that’s as practical as inspiring. Sign up today and take the first step toward a calmer, more creative you.
INVESTMENT
$1285
Early Bird Price: $1085
Book before 10 July 2025, 11.59pm
and use the code MAT25EARLYBIRD
Payments must be made in full, or payment plans are available with a $100 deposit to secure your place. All payment plans must be completed four weeks before the training.
YOUR TEACHERS
MEET MIKE ARMSTRONG
Mike Armstrong is a veteran, award-winning artist, martial artist, business owner and author known for his figurative art, photography, and work with veterans and mental health. He's also an experienced facilitator and has taught art classes in various mediums, including painting, drawing, and sculpture. Mike aims to convey a deep inner emotional expression through his work rather than only describing the external form. He creates emotive allegories based on themes of love, loss, pain, shame and hope. His works draw on real-life situations, a wealth of literary sources, and intensely personal, psychological symbolism. Armstrong is an active artist mentor who proactively works with galleries, universities and organisations. Mike is currently undertaking his PhD as Artist in Residence with the University of Canberra (UC). Mike He will share his insights into creative genres, his passion for helping students build technical skills and an ‘artist’s eye’ for seeing the world anew. Through personalised instruction, you’ll develop a personal practice and visual language to create dynamic, engaging, and creative artworks. He will share his insights into creative genres, his passion for helping students build technical skills and an ‘artist’s eye’ for seeing the world anew. Through personalised instruction, you’ll develop a personal practice and visual language to create dynamic, engaging, and creative artworks.
MEET TRACEY MURRAY
Tracey Murray is an authentic woman passionate about holistic health, wellbeing and personal relationships. She owns and directs a thriving holistic yoga studio-community in Canberra’s Inner North, Flow and Food Yoga & Ayurveda. A loving mother and dedicated partner, Tracey was born and bred in Canberra, surrounded by family and friends. A self-confessed foodie, freestyle home cook and dedicated yoga practitioner, Tracey founded Flow and Food Yoga & Ayurveda in 2023 after studying Yoga and Ayurveda for over 600 hours and a series of digestive issues, weight gain, hormone imbalance, disease and discomfort. Tracey found that practising Ayurveda and Yoga together alleviated many of her symptoms and enabled her to live life with more ease. Tracey will share with you the basics of how meditation works, why to meditate, how to meditate effectively and how you can incorporate a meditation practice to help reduce stress and enhance your creativity. Turning your focus inwards, even for just 10 minutes each day, will help you be more adaptable and resilient to life's demands and able to flow with the ups and downs that arise. Meditation has been proven to support many aspects of life, including creativity, leadership, and chronic health conditions.
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