Art from Intuition
by Mass Art Professor Emeritus Dean Nimmer
to be published by Watson/Guptill

This book, based on Dean Nimmer’s thirty-five years of teaching and practice as an artist, includes unique methods he has developed to help students and artists free their creative intuition by letting go of self-criticism, doubt, and insecurity that discourage artmaking.  Dean has used the practical excercises in his book with students of all ages, from novices to professional artists, not only in the United States but in Ireland and China.  The book will be of interest to K-12 as well as college-level art educators.

See Dean Nimmer’s blog about Art from Intuition, including ordering information:  http://artfromintuition.wordpress.com/ On the blog you can also follow a link to hear Dean Nimmer being interviewed by Dick Gordon on National Public Radio about his experience teaching intuition painting in Beijing.

Dean Nimmer is Professor Emeritus at  Massachusetts College of Art, where he was the chairman of the Foundations Program and the 2D Fine Arts Department (Drawing, Painting and Printmaking).  Professor Nimmer has lectured on his techniques for teaching intuitive creativity to undergraduate and graduate students at many U.S. colleges and universities including Vanderbilt, Harvard, Yale,  M.I.T. and James Madison, as well as internationally at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia; Winchester College Graduate program, Spain; the Burren College of the Arts, Ireland; and the Central Academy of Art and Design in Beijing.  He has exhibited his work in more than 200 solo group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad.  Recognized as one of the outstanding teachers in this country, Dean Nimmer has been nominated for the 2008, “Distinguished Teaching of Art Award” given by the national College Art Association.  You can contact Dean Nimmer and view his artwork and catalog on his website www.deannimmer.com.

Since his retirement from Mass Art, Dean has been living and working in Western Massachusetts.

Action Painting: A student in one of Dean Nimmer's Intuition Workshops

There will be an exhibition of the work of the artists, teachers, and students who contributed art works to Dean Nimmer’s book Art from Intuition from March 1-30, 2008 at the Northampton Center for the Arts in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Dean promises a spectacular opening reception on
Friday March 14, 5:00-7:00 pm
during Arts Night Out in Northampton.

Future Art from Intuition workshops will be announced on Dean Nimmer’s  blog.

Deborah recommends that you check out the video capsule of Dean’s teaching in Beijing on ” The Artist” section of deannimmer.com.   Among other things, Dean taught students a technique he calls “singing  a painting.”  One day in a public cafe one of the students got up and stood in front of  a print  on the wall and started singing out the sounds it evoked in him.  It’s a moment not to be missed!