“Time for Drawing weekends are useful for all people wanting to improve their drawing skills, let go of inner critic and learn to trust themselves more. Rena creates a safe, relaxed and playful environment for learning. ”

“Thank you, Rena, for opening my eyes. I’m definitely no expert, but I know now how to improve - for me it’s not about the best-looking drawing or it being 100% accurate, but you allowed me to explore. In doing so I allowed myself to express what I ‘felt’, and I believe that is what good design is all about.”

“Thanks for hosting the drawing class. I left feeling very energised and very inspired! My 5.5hr drive home was easy and i didn’t even need any music or radio to entertain me!
For me it was good to see the different ways of approaching the drawing process, particularly connecting with the site and letting the body draw. This aspect i’m keen to explore further. Holding the class at such an incredible building was a great choice. The buildings monastic feel really connected me to the site. And what a subject to draw!”

“So grateful for this expedition into the landscape, into the mystery of ink and sharpened stick on paper, for this gathering of lovers of built shapes and spaces and volumes, and for our leader and teacher, the rapidspeaking quickshooting gracefullymoving playful-enthusiast wombatlywise heart opening charcoal waving Rena.
The respect her students have for her and her authority as our instructor are palpable and yet she holds the role of teacher lightly. She reveals herself in the most endearing way, so that we see that she herself is a learner – a perpetual learner as well as teacher – both in her drawing and also in her love of movement and dance which are not separate, for her, from drawing.
Rena is both lovable and inspiring. Her own love and embodiment of what she is teaching is clear.”

“I valued the slow process of understanding and valuing awareness through experience. Starting slowly and building – Draw chairs – Draw landscape – Draw building in landscape. This process was supported by the experiential aspects of the workshop, such as living on site and sleeping in the pods that engaged your senses from first light. Movement classes related to this kinetic experience of the site …supporting the gradual awakening of the other senses … a great reminder of things forgotten.”

“My Riversdale weekend.
I looked again at the architecture that reminded me why I had taken the road to becoming an architect.
A dozen previously unknown people openly shared their stories, talents.
A man being led blindfolded through trees in pursuit of a wombat reached out to touch the air in front of him.
And drawing felt good.”

“I discovered for myself a thrill of drawing. The weekend was over way too fast, yet I think it left everybody wanting more which is not such a bad way to end things.
Thank you to Rena, for gathering and leading a very extraordinary weekend.”

“Dear Rena,
What a wonderful place to visit and what wonderful ideas to consider. Thank you for allowing that all to occur over the weekend. The incorporation of movement/liveliness/sensory exploration into the weekend was the key for me…Reminding us that seeing is more than a visual experience.

I have for some time been very intrigued by the eye-brain-hand ‘relationship’ and the benefits it has on learning, thinking and mental wellbeing. This weekend certainly fueled that interest.
Some random reflections I recorded yesterday:
-eyes and body open to the image
-seeing with your brain
-awakening senses
-live a multi-layered life
-visual decision making
Just love it”

“For me this weekend was an amazing journey to myself. It helped me to realize how important it is to listen to my own body and use all of my sense organs to really observe the world around. The best moment was the last exercise - we were lying on the grass, looking into the blue sky and laughing. That was pure happiness, pure acceptance of everything inside and outside of myself, the feeling of being a part of the nature. Before this weekend, it was always very important for me to use my eyes to feel connected to the surrounding environment. You showed me that connection is possible without looking around, but sensing it””

“Dear Rena,
Your Riversdale workshop very successfully refocused the minds eye in that all the participants at least for some of the time were able to see and draw something of what was actually there. You were uncompromising in your efforts to get us to let go of our preconceived notions about drawing and this resulted in some beautifully free and fluid work.
I am a great believer in the body-mind approach to many things, so the exercise movement component, the left hand drawing, the blindfold experience and of course the signature piece, all contributed to get us ‘into the zone’ relaxed but focused.
”

“I know the joy of fishes
In the river
Through my own joy, as I go walking
Along the same river”
Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the explorations and perspectives this workshop offered, where the focus was on how to drop into the body and to draw with the whole body.....experiencing drawing as a movement and expression of the body. Rena’s approach is one that is informed by her deep understanding of not only the technical and theoretical aspects of drawing, but also the somatic awareness she has gained over many years of exploring different improvised dance methodologies. Her passion is infectious and the process was very stimulating and inspiring. ”

“Creative Breakthrough at Riversdale
On the morning of the second day, after a healthy (real porridge) and convivial breakfast I found myself joining a movement class conducted by Robyn, obviously professionally trained in that sort of thing. Cautiously nursing a knee on the brink of total replacement, I stood in the back row and bent and swayed and waved. I could do it; I could move my body. It felt good. Nevertheless class over, I was glad to rest in one of the Foundation’s two comfortable arm chairs. It was at the back of the large main room and had a superb view of the trees , river and hills beyond.
As I sat there I realised that this was the first time in a long time I was really looking, and looking with all my attention, and as I focused on the view, framed to perfection by the concrete uprights and cross pieces of Glen Murcutt’s exquisitely proportioned glass walls, I was overcome, also for the first time in a long time, with a strong desire to paint that view.
A picture formed in my mind. Detail wasn’t important; colours and shapes were predominating. There was an unexpected bright yellow- green triangle of grass by the water and the sky was a flat pale blue, embracing the distant hills which weren’t the uniform greeny grey solid mass which I’m used to at the Hawkesbury , but a three-dimensional mix of dark and light, all variations of green, deep shadows and unexpected shapes. These weren’t just trees with trunks and clumps of foliage, these were trees that were round, triangular, fluffy and hard edged; through half narrowed eyes they formed themselves into a harmonious arrangement of abstract shapes – circles, triangles and blocks of colour in a marvellous variety of hues from reddish to golden , dark and light green, all framed by the perfect proportions of Murcutt’s window.
When I used to draw and paint it was very rarely landscape. Now encouraged and liberated by couple of days of Rena’s teaching I was looking at a landscape absorbing myself into it; and feeling it – and the blue sky, reflected in the blue water and, all around , the cones, balls and blocks of trees in their infinite variety of colours.
Later that day we were given an hour in which to draw anything we wanted. My composition was already in my mind. I scavenged some gouache and crayons and set to, and for the next hour I was back in the armchair, concentrating on that framed view, oblivious of anything else around me. I was completely absorbed in the creative process, covering an A3 a sheet with an already visualised landscape which simply had to be set down. I worked fast, laying down outlines with black conte chalk then filled in with colour, solid and textured ; everything fell into place. I realised this must be what they call being in ‘the flow’ – a blissful experience. Why don’t I do this more often?”

“A key idea was the attempt to draw the unknown, an ancestors’ signature. The idea of drawing an understanding of place, intuitively. Can drawing through intuition be taught? Unlocking the body and the senses was cleverly orchestrated.

The debate around the table hinged on this idea. Can a learned discipline be truly creative? What do we want our universities to teach? Other conversations revealed the benefits of collaboration between disciplines, of creative engineers, the avant-guard. The merits of code-centric education and tradition were questioned and in some cases upheld. Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is knowing what to do.

The movement sessions and walking the land blindfolded were revelations. Julian’s presence alone took the weekend to another level. Our group dynamic worked very well and the multidisciplinary combination of structural and mechanical engineers, filmmaker, students, masters, educator, dancer, and architects enriched the experience. Looking at work by Australian artists of this place was very insightful.
This group had set out on a new journey of unlearning. The stick and smudges and disposable paper were vehicles for this process, fueled by an awakening of the body. Together we moved our bodies in the mornings, on the sheltered platform, opening and closing. We drew figures, grounds and stepped outside. Then, after sitting down, switching off the peripheral vision and emerging from the end of a tunnel, we realized we had taken a wrong turn. Quickly retracing our path, we set out once more. The path back took us through places we had been before but not in this way, with a heightened sense of urgency and a hunger for the unknown. ”