This intensive workshop is a must for anyone who wishes to understand the role of colour in Steiner’ education and in Anthroposophy in general.

It introduces us to colour as an experience using the immersive wet-on-wet painting technique. It provides you with basic watercolour painting skills and a grounding in Goethe’s Theory of Colour (which underlies the Steiner/Waldorf school curriculum for the visual arts).

Central to this approach is that form arises out of colour, not that colour is attached to form. In this way, we learn to understand colours as having individual gestures, moods that are not bounded by physical form yet nevertheless, follow physical laws.

But how do we paint ‘out of colour’ and not form? And how does this relate to the colours in nature, in the sky, the colours of the rainbow? To answer these questions, we start with Goethe’s colour circle as our guide. By immersing ourselves into the colour circle as it moves from light to dark, heaven to earth and back, we learn how colours work with each other, -and how we respond to them!

Why Goethe’s colour circle ?

Goethe proposed a revolutionary method of approaching the phenomena of colour, one which integrates the observer with the experience. Further, Goethe was concerned with the qualities of colours, which he called the ‘deeds and sufferings of the light’. By immersing our senses in each colour, one by one, we come to a deep, intuitive relationship with them. This, in turn, connects us more strongly to colour in the world around us.

Who is it for?

• For Steiner (Waldorf) teachers who want to learn about colour to support their teaching practice (PD certificates available).

• For anyone interested in learning to paint in the anthroposophic (Steiner) approach.

This short intensive also provides an introduction to the Art as a Path of Schooling for the Soul training. Working with Colour Moods follows on from this course, a further exploration of Goethe’s Theory of Colour but introducing the wet-on-dry watercolour painting technique.

When is it?

All-day workshop, 10am-1pm, 2pm-5pm AEDT, Saturday 21 February 2026

Cost

$150 AUD
$160 for PD certificate
Video recordings included in the fee, available for private study.

bookings

Please complete the form below to book for this workshop. You will be sent the payment details and a list of suggested materials after booking. 

The Zoom link is sent one (1) day before the workshop begins.

Feature image: Goethe’s symmetric colour wheel with associated symbolic qualities (1809)