Serena Barton: Wabi-Sabi Art Style Introduction & Inspiration

The simple things in life—the ordinary, the aged, the humble—they inspire the wabi-sabi aesthetic and the expressive, intuitive style wabi-sabi encompasses.

In this creative workshop, Serena Barton, author of Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop, introduces you to this fascinating philosophy and shares with you simple but rewarding ways to make it your own!

This video includes:

• A wabi-sabi art walk: Learn to look for wabi-sabi all around you, in nature and the man made, and advice for adapting your favorite photos for use as wabi-sabi inspiration.
• Easy to follow demonstrations:
• Create abstract and representational art in the landscape format and in collage.
• Integrate interesting media such as re-inkers and alcohol inks into your art.
•  Add perfect finishing touches.
• 70 total minutes of quality, expert instruction.

Wikipedia Definition

Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".  It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence, specifically impermanence, the other two being suffering and emptiness or absence of self-nature.

Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.