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Joy and Beauty in the New Year

9/19/2015

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After living so many years of my life in synch with the school calendar, September always feels like the beginning of the new year for me. This makes me think back to my New Year's resolutions of last January.
Picture
In January 2015, I posted on my Facebook page that my word for 2015 was going to be "JOY". Nice idea but easier said that than done. Now, in September, I recognize that I am in a situation that is familiar to me from the painting studio. A painter starts out with an intention: I am going to paint "Joy". 
For a while it works. Flowers, rainbows, balloons - the painting is light and free. But after a while the painter runs out of energy. When I check in, the conversation goes like this:
Me: How is it going?
Painter: I'm making a happy painting.
Me: How are you feeling as you paint?
P: I'm feeling sad and heavy.
Me: Could you let some of that show up in your painting?
P: But I want it to be happy! I don't want to ruin it!
Me: You did paint happy. But this is process painting. Could you let your current feeling show up in the painting too?Usually the painter agrees. New, darker images appear but instead of ruining the painting, it becomes richer, more complex, and more satisfying.
I love the way that lessons learned in the painting studio reverberate throughout my life.  As I struggle to find space for more joy in my life, I know from my painting experience that admitting to the dark parts doesn't undermine the happy stuff - it makes the painting better. Both sides of the struggle - the wanting joy and the dark feelings that block it out - deserve to be in the painting and make it beautiful.
Picture
So this is what I am learning from process painting this month:
My life may not always be happy but it is beautiful.
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Experiencing a Painting Intensive

9/19/2015

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Wonder what it is like to spend an entire weekend painting? At the Fall 2015 Intensive, participants made this painting to capture their experience.
Picture
As you can see, it was complex experience with images of growth, movement and calm. The words that came up the most were "Joy" (three times) and "Love" (twice). It is a safe space ("Trust" and "Acceptance"). It can also be a quiet, meditative activity, as you connect to your own experience and translate it, without words, into color, line and shape with painters describing it as "Peaceful", "Mindfulness", "Silence", "Inward" and "Grounded"

With more time for the workshop, paintings have time to unfold - to move beyond the first impulse into something more complex, more interesting, and more surprising. There is also more time for the underlying skills of process painting - giving yourself permission,over-riding the critical impulse and allowing your creativity and intuition to blossom. Finally, there is time for fun - Be Big! Use Glitter! Make a Mess! Do What Makes You Happy!
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    Author

    Process painting is such a magical experience that I want to share. My invitation to you: Paint. Play. Discover.

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