Teaching Method
on Artistic Transformation
Ideally, for an artist, painting should occur at the subconscious level, as if by intuition. To achieve this, I first train the conscience until the conscious thought is no longer necessary to control the hand, and the hand becomes a free-flow of the mind. Transformed individuals become exceptional artists.
on The Importance of Observation
My strategy is based on clearing the vision of the artist-to-be from any adopted limitations such as assumed views, habitual brushwork and "style". Having a style is not bad, but a style, acquired before the ability to see, is mannerism, not a real style. Once the "clearing" is established, the true process of training-the-mind-to-see can begin. The first step to accessing one's unlimited artistic potential is through learning by observation. An explanation must precede observation. Otherwise, the observation - no matter how intense - by itself can rarely result in Artistic Seeing.
on My Teaching Strategy
What I found through working with hundreds of students over a period of 30 years of teaching is that it takes approximately 12 hours to prepare the beginner for this transformation. This process of accelerated learning is based on altering the habitual way of responding to visual information. Individualized assignments & specific exercises lead to breaking through the normal limits of the individual's perception to help their mind to see, rewiring the brain for seeing newly. Students experience a life-changing shift in their perception of the visual world. They are surprised to find "seeing" to be such a profound experience.
on Artistic Seeing
This is a phenomenon occurring inside the necessity to depict. Artists become aware of the fact that visual information is a range of simultaneous optical illusions in color, light, shape and distance. To reproduce these effects on a surface, the painter must know the laws of perception. This is what the beginner classes are about. In order to create an interpretation convincing to the viewer, the artist must learn the craft of creating a convincing illusion (in abstract art as well as realistic) where the believability depends upon the artist's own understanding of the laws of perception, ability to see, and his control over the technical means (the skill).
Olya Losina, founder & Art director
Olya Losina, born into a family of artists, and raised in Moscow's art community, was educated in the Soviet Union and studied at Moscow University, graduating with a Masters Degree in Fine Art. Losina owned a painting studio in Moscow and was the Art Director for Progress Publishers, the largest multi-lingual publishing facility of the Soviet Union. Here she collaborated with Soviet artists, museums, archives, and European auction houses including Sotheby's Auction.
In 1991, Losina moved from Russia to La Jolla, California, and found herself diving into the local art community, by joining the faculty of the Athenaeum School of the Arts in La Jolla as well as opening her own art school. In 2007, Losina founded the Losina Art Center in San Diego with the purpose of "teaching art as a science". Losina enveloped, in her teaching, this unique approach to the arts.Over 500 individuals in San Diego have been introduced to her transformational way of teaching, which enables art students to view their subjects and advance their ideas in different manners. Her current student body ranges from absolute beginners to emerging artists, all with incredible results. In 2010 Losina was invited to partner with the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego, to provide art education to museum members & docents.
Losina's teaching method derives from her own experience with studies in Soviet Russia, bringing to the class a cross-cultural feel. Her students have the opportunity to experience the ways of the Russian system of art education. Losina continues to hold strong ties to her homeland, keeping close connections with Russian artists and art collectors. Her extensive knowledge in art, as well as her understanding of the psychology of learning, allow her to reach her students at the subconscious level, when students learn effortlessly. Teaching art in this manner stimulates the creative process, seamlessly slipping in and out of science and language. What sets her apart as a teacher is that she is sincerely interested in each individual's way of accepting information and through that, helps her students find their artistic uniqueness.
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