Aural and visual meld in a series of workshops across the region starting this month.

After a decade as a couple, Gillian Redwood and Caelen Starblanket La Rocque experimented blending their brands of art.

B次元官网网址淚n the past IB次元官网网址檝e always had some good things around to help people relax. A nice environment or CDs with music, creating a relaxing situation so people can get into their art and into their creativity,B次元官网网址� explained Redwood, a painter. B次元官网网址淚 think peopleB次元官网网址檚 creativity is most free and most expressive when their body and spirits are relaxed and happy.B次元官网网址�

Common sense led to her acoustic guitarist husband accompanying art sessions, a concept they explored during a couple of residential courses in the Kootenays before moving to Victoria last summer.

Redwood has long used music to soothe artists and B次元官网网址減rovide a more fertile ground for creative expression.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 think live music has a much more immediate and direct connection to the spirit. ThatB次元官网网址檚 important and thatB次元官网网址檚 what will connect with people,B次元官网网址� she said.

At the Da Vinci Centre in Victoria, there will be five one-day workshops starting next Wednesday (Feb. 27). A more in-depth series of two-day workshops at The Coast Collective in Colwood started Monday and feature RedwoodB次元官网网址檚 personal approach to expressive acrylic painting.

Sessions include the live soundtrack thoughtfully provided by La Rocque.

B次元官网网址淚 just choose my music really at the moment. I can really react and customize things to how I see things going. Some of our groups are more stressed than others,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 really notice, and I pay attention, because I want to know that my music is having a great effect. B次元官网网址� I want them to be in their own creative space.B次元官网网址�

Feedback from previous performances shows his selection of jazz, folk and new age provides a renewed appreciation for live music.

B次元官网网址淢usic is all around us and most of it is recorded. So we know the value of music. B次元官网网址� ThereB次元官网网址檚 no denying how important music is to our lives,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like a rediscovery of live music for a lot of people. WeB次元官网网址檙e used to listening to recorded music on our devices. People found it so easy to slip into what theyB次元官网网址檙e doing and relax and not think.B次元官网网址�

The workshops start this week at the Leonardo Da Vinci Centre, 195 Bay St., and the Coast Collective Arts Centre at Esquimalt Lagoon, 3221 Heatherbell Rd.

Visit creative-spirit.ca to book workshops.