Everything Changes: Impermanence and Process Painting

Everything Changes: Impermanence and Process Painting

After so many years of painting, somehow it really hit me that from the moment we start a painting, impermanence starts, too. I began painting with The Painting Experience in the mid-1980s. After that, I started a meditation practice, studying Buddhist principles and psychology. I took a long break from painting and when I began [...]
Expressing the Sacred

Expressing the Sacred

We are delighted to offer this guest post by Amy Kisei Costenbader. Kisei is an ordained Zen priest who currently lives and practices at Great Vow Zen Monastery, where she has resided since 2010. She also teaches meditation at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Respect, Stewart says, is accepting what arises and going with it, [...]
Connecting With Your Own Energy

Connecting With Your Own Energy

After creating a safe and spacious environment, working with energy is a facilitator’s primary tool. The energy determines how you move within that space -- for example, the questions you might ask and the suggestions you might offer to a painter. ~ Stewart Cubley, from "Working With the Tool of Energy," a talk available in [...]
Process Painting Through Grief

Process Painting Through Grief

My dear old 94-year-old Dad died in late September. After the initial grief and busy-ness, including helping my 91-year-old Mom resettle, I was exhausted. I noticed my mood fluctuating between sadness and grief and feeling pretty flat. By flat, I mean not quite numb, but in a kind of re-orienting or integrating state. Soon afterward, [...]