Meet Susan Kramer-Pope
Facilitating Self-Expression for over 30 years
I have been practicing the art of full presence and clear listening for over 30 years. I'm passionately curious about how our internal landscape and its outward expression assist our soul's creative expression.
At the age of 7, community musical theater and dance became my haven well into adulthood when Afro-Cuban percussion, singing, and facilitating spontaneous spoken-word expression became my paths of creative and soulful expression.
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It wasn't until 2008 that painting became a central focus in my life. A powerful image appeared in my mind's eye. It demanded to be painted. No technique, no rules! It was a bold upward stroke of red! I continue to this day to be captivated by the ever-present creative stream that runs through me and belongs to us all.
I have no art training and enjoy it that way! Just the ongoing practice of listening to the intuitive voice, moving the ego voice aside, and developing trust in the unknown to lead the brush. I find an aliveness and freedom in painting this way. It returns me to 'the innocence' where the inner critic is quiet and my childlike joy returns. The mystery and wonder each painting bring keeps me painting, now fifteen years later and counting! I am called to assist all who want to reawaken and repossess the vibrant creative within no matter what the results look like. Afterall, life is creativity in motion. If you are alive, you are a creative!
I have studied with Michele Cassou, founder of Point Zero Painting and Stewart Cubley, founder of The Institute of Art and Living (The Painting Experience) where I keep current in my intuitive process painting facilitation skills. My commitment as a facilitator is to listen without an agenda, track body language, and ask open-ended questions to uncover the gifts in the challenges that inevitably arise for each painter. I hold facilitation as a sacred, loving honor. Supporting the act of creating, rather than its outcome, holds within it the capacity to return us to the innocence of wonder, restoring aliveness often lost on this journey of being human.
Beyond my degree from the University of Massachusetts, I have held facilitation certifications in deep listening, spontaneous spoken-word expression, and relational presence from Speaking Circles International® and in mind-body wellness from Hellerwork International®. I also have extensive training in transformational communication from Landmark Worldwide.
At the heart of my work is the experience of being profoundly seen and heard. I know its transformative power firsthand. It is this that guides my work with others.