It's a way to meet that which is wordless that wants to express itself through you without regard to how it's going to look. The basic principles are:

• listen to impulses, body sensations, feelings and allow them to guide color choice and brush stroke

• follow your energy… feel and paint, more so than paint your feelings

• honor what shows up even if you don't like it

• be curious about the contrary voices within

• move toward the resistance presented by unwanted and uncomfortable feelings rather than away, and to hold them as invitations to choose a color and move the brush

There are many:

• a renewed feeling of aliveness

• a coming home to oneself… to an innocence and wholeness all but lost growing up

• an opportunity to take creative and emotional risks that spill over into daily life

• ongoing courage to face the unknown

• a deepened experience and trust in one's intuitive voice and the courage to follow it

• a tool to help metabolize trauma, however it's not a substitute for trauma therapy

Indeed, this way of painting is therapeutic. However, it is not a substitute for therapy with a licensed professional therapist whose skill set is much broader.

Beginning in January of 2025, I will be offering in-person classes at The Jansen Art Center in Lynden, WA. If you'd like to be kept abreast of the upcoming event schedule, please click below to contact me.