Previous Workshops & Events

Earth Salon
Sky Earth Heart - a journaling practice
with Barbara Bash
A contemplative art practice that engages with the natural world through simple blind contour drawing and fresh distilled writing . We will let the principles of heaven, earth and human - sky, earth heart - guide our exploration. 

Artist - in - Residence
Creative Music Workshop
with Barbara Bash
Creativity and improvisation as a way to learn: CMW is active all year long, this workshop is centered around an 8-day summer program for musicians and artists of all disciplines which takes place during the Halifax Jazz Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The CMW Core Program gives students the knowledge and skills required to elevate their artistic practice and experience a richer and more fulfilling creative life.

Shambhala Online Workshop 
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky : Seeds - Words -  Lines
with Laura Simms & Barbara Bash
A brush line appears on the page joining heaven and earth. 
Words become a story and bring us to the ceaseless unfolding story of our lives. 
Myth is not an old story. It is happening again and again in the moment. 

Lenz Distinguished Lecture :
MAPPING THE MOMENT: The Calligraphic Voice
at Naropa University
During the early years of Naropa Institute Barbara Bash taught western pen calligraphy and performed with storytellers, musicians, dancers and poets, becoming a visual voice on the stage. Her love of the alphabet mixed with the Asian teachings of heaven earth and human bridged cultures and widened her creative path. Barbara began working with larger brushes and bigger marks, held by ancient principles. Come to hear and see the story unfold before your eyes.

CIRCLING THE WELL
The Contemplative Practice of Nonviolent Communication
with Barbara Bash & Katherine Betts in High Falls NY
Connection to our own experience - knowing what is deeply important to us - is the well we draw from when we practice NVC. This awareness strengthens our capacity to be more fully in dialogue with others.

COMPASSIONATE BRUSH : Calligraphy & Communication Practice
at Samadhi, Kingston NY part of the O+ festival (in person)
Making a mark, with brush and ink, brings vision down to earth - through the body - onto the page.The practice of Nonviolent Communication is also a grounding act. How we speak can express our embodied awareness and lead to connection with ourselves and others. We will explore this interweaving of silence and form, space and body, aloneness and connection through brush stroke and dialogue.

TRUE NATURE : Writing & Drawing Together
Catskill Lit Writing Retreat with The Poetry Barn, Olivebridge NY (in person).
Beginning with simple pencil lines, held by an ancient order, we will follow what calls our attention and discover where we are in this moment. Practicing blind contour drawing levels the field and brings forth the artist in us all. Adding words to the page clarifies and enlarges the insight. Come explore a simple and enlivening way to journal the world.         

SKY, EARTH, HEART: A Way to Meet the World
Presented by Touching the Earth Collective and Shambhala Online (in person).
An exploration of the ancient and universal principles of heaven, earth and human and how they express themselves through art of the natural world. Beginning with what is overarching and wide, moving to what is settled and on the ground, the intimate insight of the heart is revealed.

THE ALIVE LINE
Four Zoom Gatherings and a Month of Creative Practice
Bringing forth the life moving within us all by grounding on the page and letting our natural creativity emerge. Each week we explore a different contemplative art practice - straight water brush lines , heaven, earth and human spontaneous strokes, drawing & writing together and alive handwriting with three line expressions.

Dharma Art & the Artist (third in the series)
EXPRESSIVE BRUSH: Making a Mark
Presented by Sky Lake Meditation Center, Rosendale NY (on zoom).
In conversation with Eric Archer we investigate the mark of dharma on the artistic process. How do we approach the page of our life ? What is the experience of landing, connecting and receiving insight utilizing the principles of heaven, earth & human ? Following the brush the world is revealed.

SLOW HANDWRITING: A Contemplative Practice
Hosted by the Shambhala Center of Los Angeles and part of the Contemplative Creativity Lab (on zoom).
Our handwriting is a form of artistic expression that is accessible, unique and reflective of who we are in this moment. Drop in to this close at hand visual voice and discover the creative self. We will slow down our handwriting - working big, loose and illegible - small precise and clear - with pencils, pens and brushes, letting our true expression come forth. Letters become words become three line poems. The alphabet sings.

OPEN EYES: Children’s Book Art of the Natural World
Stone Ridge Library 3700 Main Street, Stone Ridge, New York 
An exhibit of original art from a wide selection of Barbara’s books that explore the world of the desert, old growth forests,, Indian banyan trees, little brown bats, black footed ferrets and urban birds.

AWAKE MIND: Writing, Drawing Contemplating
A weekend virtual retreat with Victress Hitchcock & Barbara Bash (on zoom).
Gathering in the space of open awareness and letting our creativity come out and play.

MINDFULNESS RESIDENT FOR CREATIVITY & INNOVATION 2020
at Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO
A four month engagement with students and faculty through block teaching, brush & illustrated journaling workshops, communication and creative mindfulness practices.

LEAPING LETTERS: From Nature to Pictograms to the Alphabet
Part of the ELEE lecture series at The Rosendale Theatre (in person).
Since the earliest times humans have been reading the language of the world, from tiny tracks in the sand to a flight of a birds in the sky to a river winding through the land. The power of this visual language has distilled deep down into our alphabet. Come follow the journey of these ancient forms as they evolved through the centuries, right up to the present moment - direct, alive and on-the-spot.