INTUITIVE PAINTING: a Path to the Heart of Creativity

I say HEART - because the source of creativity is the source of love.

It is through an open receptive gentle and trusting heart, that the energy of the creative force can flow. By using simple tools of paints and brush this creative flow can express both the unique ego and soul experience of the person, in color and form. Intuitive Painting can dissolve our conditioned resistance to free flowing energy, heal old hurts, and prepare the heart to accept the joy and aliveness of each moment, no matter what the challenge. Those of us who practise Intuitive Painting communicate its gifts to others using words like: joy, spontaneity, play, respect, amazement, healing, non attachment, conscious surrender, non judgmental witnessing, creative destruction, the light and the dark, assessable to all, freedom, authenticity, Presence, in the moment, process not product, no rules or limits, passion, struggling with resistance, dissolving blocks, expressing the inner self, creative energy, no prior experience necessary.

I say INTUITIVE - because this is the word we use when we have a gut sense of what is right for us, when we don't use our rational, linear mind to direct our brush, when we want to touch the mystery of spirit, when we respect that inner voice that says pick this color, paint this image, don't stop, when we really don't have to know it all before we take the plunge.

I say PAINTING - because paint is one powerful tool of creative expression. It vibrates with colours, it flows off the tip of the brush, with energy that moves through the whole body. It makes shapes and images right in our face to surprise us, to delight us, to trigger our critic, to convey an immediate impression of mystery. It could be writing, or sculpturing, or quilting, or cooking or gardening or birthing, but it is painting. Why not painting? It is accessible, affordable, simple, and oh so exciting.

And I say PATH - because intuitive painting is a practice, a process, an experience, not a product, although that comes into it too. It is taking us along some kind of journey with no end in sight. It is this current moment on the Path, on the paper, that is our direct experience, the "now" - while still feeling a past and future. We simply have to wake up and pay attention. We intuit when we are off the Path, and we discover how to paint our way back onto our Path. Path implies we have our own destiny to discover. We walk our Path. It feels like a gentle way to travel. Walking. Why not let painting be a tool to help us travel our life Path?

What do we do when we Intuitively Paint?
And what does a workshop look like?0

We show up. We gather in a comfortable room along with others, with agreements made to not look at each others' paintings, or comment, or criticize or compliment. We each have a large painting space on the wall that is our private home base. This is not a traditional art technique class.

A large white piece of paper is hung there, awaiting us. A table with 16 colors of paint is in the center for all to share. Palettes to mix even more subtle colors. Brushes, large and small. A feeling of potential. An excitement. Almost a fear. A curiosity. Compassion. Mystery.

We paint whatever comes off the tip of the brush, without planning. We continue to paint accepting where ever that takes us, each with our own unique touch. The vocabulary of spontaneous images grows from painting to painting. A new shared language is forming.

We bump into blocks, not knowing what to do next. We don't like what we painted, or we like it so much we are paralyzed, afraid to risk ruining it with more paint. We grow restless or bored or tired, realizing we are off track. Where is that flow that was so easy, so relaxed, so exciting?

With facilitation, and with practise, we embrace the block as our teacher. With the support of seeing others wildly painting around us, we learn to ask ourselves special questions that confront and dissolve the blocks, shift our mind set. We open up to the empty space inside us, from which original images burst forth. And once again time stops still, the mind empties, and color flows onto the paper going forward, going forward, not stopping to fix or manipulate or control. It feels like our spirit takes over, lovingly guiding us.

The blood moves through our veins, and color comes to our cheeks, our eyes shine and our heart warms. We paint what we need to paint, not what we think we want. We keep the thinking in the background, the spontaneity in the foreground.

As a group of painters we wind down and stop, at the prearranged time, usually 1 1/2 to 2 hours, to rest our bodies, to eat and drink, to clean up. With the teacher's guidance we sit in circle and share with each other the joys and agonies of our personal discoveries, respecting the vulnerabilities of others, increasing our capacity for self care. We ask questions, we discuss, we explore, just enough to remember what we've learned, and to ready ourselves for another painting session.

We take some free time, maybe a walk in Nature where we notice that our senses are more alive, and we feel more connected. Maybe a sleep, perchance to dream. Then, when the agreed upon time arrives, we return to the studio and we walk the path again - Intuitive Painting.

It is so simple, once we get the hang of it, and its so amazing.

We take our paintings home and put them away with care, treating them like diary writings, not for public consumption. We reinforce we are on a continuing path of creativity, not producing a product. Something continues to work on us from the inside. Something is revealed. Our life evolves. We do it again and again, until in all our days, painting or not, we feel the sacred ebb and flow of creative energy. It is like meditation, or yoga, or prayer, or authentic movement, or drumming, or Tai Chi.

So - Why not paint?

Read what other teachers have to say (on my links page) about this painting method - hear the same messages, expressed by each in their own way.

Click here to find out about the next Intutive Painting Workshop that is scheduled.