joyouslybecoming: Layers of Movement; Seattle Painting Big Workshop

* This workshop is FULL. Please email me to be put on a wait list *

Courage is to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart. ~ Brene Brown

The Alchemy of Spontaneous Expression

I can think of nothing more thrilling when I paint, than venturing into the spacious state of spontaneous expression. In this place, myriad choices bubble to the surface while I work, I make marks in my distinctive and original voice, and from one moment to the next I find myself creating a painting that resonates with my personal and distinctive human experience. And then there is the satisfaction and feeling of completeness at the end of the process, a sense that I've touched into a part of Mystery that lies inside me, hidden until I discover it.

A soulful painting is a map, a series of creative thoughts and gestures layered across a substrate, the mysterious visual language of authentic creative expression that speaks from our heart to our soul and the hearts and souls of others.

For two days we'll explore this mysterious landscape as we paint big, roaming the outside edges of our comfort zone in loving support of our curious and expanding soul. Together we’ll playfully experiment with techniques and exercises that engage our senses and I’ll share some visualization and awareness practices that sharpen our intuition and deepens the communication between our heart and the canvas.

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.

~ Shunryu Suzuki

Whether we are new to painting or come as experienced painters, this weekend we’ll all inhabit “beginners mind” as we explore:

* Painting Big (big meaning a substrate 24" x 24" or larger)

* Trusting our intuition, learning to feel more comfortable metaphorically “walking in the darkness” as we paint, gently supporting and following the flow of the sacred mystery in our work as it reveals itself

* Observing how movement (creative energy) looks and feels in our body and in our paintings, tuning in to the conversation between ourselves and our creation.

* Discussion and practices to examine freshness or lack of it in our work and ways to create movement when paintings feel stale

* Using the practice of inquiry to gain momentum when energy bogs down

* Exploring our interior world through abstract and/or expressionist painting