LIGHT From Art for happiness, rejuvenation and prosperity

Ottawa artist Elena Khomoutova, second from right, helps Rachel Law, 15, right, of Ottawa, as friends Melody Chen, 15, left bottom, and Shenoah Plewes watch during a Peace and Light painting workshop at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Meditation, Mozart and burning candles can immediately bring to mind a soothing image evoking feelings of serenity.
But they don't paint a picture of how you'd expect the average teen to pass the time on a Saturday afternoon.
Yet that was the scene that unfolded in a studio space tucked inside the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, where a group of teens attended a special workshop led by a husband-and-wife team on the power of peace through art - before they set to work crafting some images of their own.
"Peace and Light Painting" is one of two workshops being offered by the gallery's Teen Council, and designed to commemorate the International Year of Reconciliation.
The UN made the declaration with the intention of engaging the international community in efforts to develop reconciliation processes and establish lasting peace, notably in societies affected and divided by conflict.

"We thought it was a relevant theme for teens ... but it could be well expressed through the arts," said Teen Council member Sophie Giguere Samson, 16.
Samson said the aim of the workshops and other events organized by the council is to make art accessible to the masses. For $5, teens receive materials and resources needed for the workshop, she said.
The council enlisted Moscow-born, Ottawa-based artist Elena Khomoutova, whose work Samson said they thought fit well within the theme.

Khomoutova - formerly an official artist for the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators - uses oil and acrylic to breathe life into everything from city landscapes to sporting activities.

But regardless of the final product, each piece of artwork begins for Khomoutova using the same mode of preparation: lighting a candle and meditation.

"My intention is to bring the light of the universe through my art into view," she said.

It's the signature style that she brought to the workshop, which she led with husband Alex Khomoutov, as they first had teens stand in a circle holding hands while projecting a video of a candle aglow.

"They closed their eyes and they tried to imagine light from the universe goes to the Earth and covers Earth peacefully, to bring a peace to the Earth," Khomoutov said.

They repeated the meditation process again as the teens started painting.

Khomoutov said while it may have been an unusual exercise for the teens, he was impressed by their creations.

"I was walking around and I was amazed by how the kids are talented," he said. "Maybe meditation brought this to life."

Using a palette knife to mix colours or apply them on canvas, the teens were given carte blanche to unleash their creativity, crafting a diverse array of works inspired by peace.

Some took the theme literally, painting peace signs or replicating the burning candle projected in the video. Others opted for sweeping landscapes, from fiery-orange skies with blazing suns to lush greenery, as well as colourful depictions of the universe dotted with planets and stars and Earth itself.

Khomoutova created "Light and Peace," an acrylic painting depicting a rainbow light radiating around the Earth nestled in a dove's embrace, whose wings are in the shape of human hands.

While not all of the teens had a background in art or painting, Samson said they did well with the workshop and enjoyed the experience, adding that meditation and the burning candle lent to the peaceful atmosphere created by the artists.

"It just calmed everyone down and set the mood," she said. "Then the workshop itself was good because rather than just talking about peace it was more like they could create something."

The March 28 workshop, "Portraits of Refugees," will be led by artist Sherry Tompalski.