Process Painting FAQs

What if I don’t have any artistic talent?
The Painting Experience starts from the premise that technique follows feeling — that if you have an inner connection to your work, then you also have the ability to express it. The Painting Experience removes the strictures of talent, skill, accomplishment, interpretation, competition and awards, allowing you to trust in your unique and individual style.
Do I need previous art experience to attend a workshop?
Definitely not. People come to The Painting Experience with varying degrees of experience — someone who painted in grade school might be standing next to someone who works as a professional artist who is standing next to someone who has never touched a paint brush. In this work, everyone is on the same level and participants are not compared to one another.
I feel blocked in my creative expression. Will The Painting Experience help?
One of the myths of art is that you have to feel inspired, have endless ideas or feel confident in order to create. But if you engage the process honestly, you will also experience your emptiness and your lack of inspiration at times. The Painting Experience supports you to enter these places courageously and to meet yourself there — where paradoxically, you discover your genuine passion.
What are the results of doing The Painting Experience?

Many people report that the discoveries made in The Painting Experience have strengthened their connection to the creative source, bringing about a life-changing and deeply satisfying personal realignment. The effects of this work tend to expand over time. That’s because you have dared to trust in your spontaneous nature and found it empowering and fun! Some of these discoveries include:

  • Realizing that you have an authentic creative voice that is inherently your own
  • Trusting in your immediate perception rather than your analytic thinking
  • Daring to ‘follow the energy’ rather than what looks good or what’s expected
  • Experiencing that your intuition is intelligent and provides access to deeper knowing
  • And for those who pursue the experience over time, discovering that process painting is a genuine path to spiritual exploration
Why do people repeat the workshop?
Often participants in a workshop are returning. This speaks to the fact that process painting is not a technique, but rather a space that’s created for coming home to oneself. The exploration is always new and fresh because it’s going to meet you where you are right now.
Is The Painting Experience art therapy?
Process painting is not art therapy. In The Painting Experience, emphasis is placed solely upon the internal reality of the creative encounter. Not having a  goal in mind, therapeutic or otherwise, engages the intelligence of free expression and opens the space for discoveries that may be completely unexpected and surprising. And by not narrowing the experience by placing the outcome into a known category opens the sense of mystery and beckons the painter toward more creativity.
Here are two blog posts that discuss this topic:
Is process art therapeutic?
Absolutely. Free expression is a powerful teacher. Places that are unresolved may naturally reveal themselves given the proper timing and appropriate environment. By letting the feelings that arise guide the brush toward completion, a true resolution can be reached that is both genuine and grounded. You may feel a sense of increased contact with yourself, and specific insights into your life can continue to unfold long after the experience.