The Painting Experience Blog
Awaken Your Image Maker!
If you don’t know where to begin a process painting, ask yourself: What would I paint if I really let myself feel?Sensing what to paint is so simple that we often disregard it. As you stand in front of your painting, what do you feel? Burdened? Light? Overwhelmed by the large space? Sad? Rough and bold? [...]
Five Ways Self-Compassion Supports Your Painting Practice
When we are able to soothe ourselves -- to take a risk and continue painting anyway -- we can experience great relief from the confines of fear and perfectionism. In the first post in this series on self-compassion, we looked at how practicing self-compassion can help us expand our creative potential. There, I introduced the [...]
Creative Discontent : A Talk by Stewart Cubley
Stewart Cubley and Annie Rousseau recently facilitated the seventeenth annual Painting Experience retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs in the Oregon Cascades. This year, Stewart brought back several talks recorded live during the morning sharing circles.We thought you'd enjoy hearing one of these recordings, and we chose this short, vibrant discussion on the topic of "discontent." It's a familiar feeling, one that [...]
Annie Rousseau Talks About Ocean Resort & The Potential of a Creative Life
One of the many things we love about having a new blog is that we can now introduce you to the wonderful folks who make The Painting Experience possible. Last week, Caroline McCartie sat down for an interview with senior Painting Experience facilitator Annie Rousseau. They talked about Annie's upcoming workshop at Ocean Resort in British Columbia, and about the potential of discovering our own creative expression. Annie [...]
Creative Destruction
It is important to learn to use destructive energy in a creative way; if you don’t, it will turn against you.An act of destruction usually brings a few seconds of pleasure, and this is why it is so tempting. But it leaves you with a bitter taste, a sense of failure. When painting for process, [...]
What Kids Say About Process Painting
I learned that if you just feel free, wonderful things will happen.I’m astounded by how eagerly children take to process painting -- and by the joy they discover from trusting their own internal spontaneity and intuition. I see kids taking risks by painting images they’ve never painted before, experiencing how “mistakes” can lead to inspiration, [...]
Painting Outside the Lines
It is time to reclaim that which every child knows and is taught to forget: the essential right to create without interference or shame. In creative or spontaneous painting, the defining moment is when you face the fertile white void. Your openness and your courage to step into that void with the spirit of exploration are all [...]
Is Your Painting Finished?
You are finished when the painting is finished inside you.What comes after you believe you are finished may be the most important time in your painting.Levels of CompletionEvery process painting has cycles of birth, maturation, and death, and within every cycle a pulse beats. There are several levels of completion, and after each level you [...]
Paint Your Own Path
Travelers, there is no path. Paths are made by walking. ~ Antonio MachadoOften we are strongly attracted to a form or image but afraid to paint it. “It would be too stupid,” “I could never paint that,” or “I would be ashamed to do it,” are frequent thoughts. But magic can happen when we are painting [...]
The Myth of Inspiration : Don’t Wait to Paint
Wherever you are is the entry point. ~ KabirWho does not feel the tingle of excitement at the prospect of painting? Paint is sensuous. Its rich vibrant colors and its yielding smoothness make you want to taste the delicious enjoyment of applying it to paper. To stand before the white void with a rich spectrum [...]