- When
- Friday 21 August
- Time
- 9:00 to 13:00
- Length
- 4 hours
A morning of movement, presence and intuitive creativity. We open with a guided Qi Gong practice to wake the body and make space, then work with a gathered collection of shells, feathers, driftwood, rope and other natural elements to build a totem of your own. No experience is needed, and your totem is exhibited through the residency before it comes home with you.
We begin the day by gently awakening the body with a guided Qi Gong practice, inviting stillness, grounding, and openness. Through conscious movement and breath, we create space for creativity to flow naturally. The morning opens at 9:00 with half an hour of Qi Gong, and the making runs from 10:00 until 13:00.
From this grounded state, you'll be invited into an intuitive creative journey using a carefully gathered collection of shells, feathers, driftwood, rope, and other natural elements.
Rather than following instructions or striving for perfection, you'll learn to trust your intuition. Notice which pieces draw your attention, follow your curiosity, and allow your hands to create freely.
As each participant works with different materials and intentions, every totem becomes a unique reflection of its maker: a symbol of strength, protection, transformation, or whatever wishes to emerge during the process. No artistic experience is needed, only an open mind and a willingness to create.
At the end of the workshop, your finished totem joins the residency exhibition, where it is displayed during the evening gathering and for the rest of the programme. After the exhibition, you take your creation home as a meaningful reminder of your experience.
Meet the artist
Philine Allard
Artist, energy guide and Qi Gong teacher, creator of natural totems.
Since embarking on a road trip in 2022, Philine has been collecting shells, feathers, driftwood, and other treasures gifted by nature. Each element is gathered with respect, waiting for the right moment to become part of a meaningful creation.
As an artist, energy guide, Qi Gong teacher, and wellbeing mentor, Philine loves to weave together creativity and inner transformation. Her work bridges the worlds of art and healing, inviting people to reconnect with themselves through intuitive creation.
Her handcrafted totems are more than decorative objects. They are symbols of intention, strength, protection, and remembrance. Every piece carries the unique energy of its creator and becomes a personal reminder of the qualities they wish to cultivate in their lives.
Living in the peaceful landscapes of Alentejo, Portugal, Philine continues to create in harmony with nature, allowing each artwork to emerge organically from the materials themselves.
Nature already holds the beauty. We simply listen, create, and allow it to take form.
The practical part
What is included
- A guided Qi Gong practice to open the morning
- All the natural materials to work with
- Guidance throughout the creative process
- Your artwork exhibited through the residency
- Your handmade totem to take home after the exhibition
- A ticket to the Open House exhibition on 27 August
The Living Gallery
What you make here joins the Living Gallery: it stays with the Art Space Residency through the programme, on show until the Open House exhibition on 27 August.
What to bring
- Comfortable clothing for movement
- Any natural items of your own you would like to work in: wood, shells, stones, feathers
- String
- Swimwear and a towel, if you would like to use the swimming pool
Limited spots
The residency has closed
This day has been and gone
The August residency is over and nothing here is for sale any more. The page stays up as a record of the day. We are now bringing our creative services, living galleries and art residencies to hotels and guest houses — if that is you, or you would simply like to know what comes next, write to us.
We answer every message personally.