Creative Momentum
I’m feeling really inspired after our mountain bike trip to Mount Saint Anne, near Quebec City, where the UCI Mountain-bike World-Cup races were held. Even though the rest of my family are much stronger cross-country mountain bikers, and are into downhill mountain bike riding (unlike myself who will take a climb over a downhill anytime) I really appreciated taking my […]
Growing Your Creative Practice
Every spring and summer I spend a lot of time in my garden; in the spring I am planting seeds, nurturing seedlings and watching them grow. In the summer, I watch my garden more closely, with my guard up because of past experiences with pests wiping out what I have created and grown on my […]
Renewal Through Creative Re-Purposing
Sometimes we need to look at things differently, with fresh eyes. Doing this allows us to take a new perspective, and opens the door to all the possibilities in life, including ones we may not have known existed. Creating art is a direct way to make this happen. When art-making, there is always the potential […]
Creating Opportunities
Last weekend I ran another in person Painting With Your Muse intuitive painting workshop with a lovely group of muses. Reflecting back now I realized it has been 5 years since I first created the online course which later became the in person workshop here in Toronto. I have been running the in person workshop since […]
Creative Mythology
This weekend I had the pleasure of running two arts based workshops where the focus was on self-exploration through creative process. In both the question came up- as often it does at these workshops: how are you able to keep your creative practice going? I must admit one of the reasons I began doing these […]
Self-Care Through Elemental Art
This week is children’s mental health week here in Canada. With many events promoting awareness about children’s mental health and the importance of supporting services. As an art therapists who primarily works with children and youth I see the need for more understanding and compassion towards children who often become labeled as “difficult” due to […]
Creative Process: the Underbelly of Self-Care
When we step into our own creative voice we step into our Self; who we are becomes strengthened by our creative connection through art making. Experimentation, letting go of outcome, and play are all aspects that allow us to come into our own creative voice. This voice is the underbelly of our authentic Self. […]
Communal Creating
I finally did my first Facebook Live on Friday. It was fun to chat with like-minded others and know that we were creating together, even if it was “virtual”. This is why I opened a Virtual Art Circle a few years ago, so that there was a safe place to create in community for those […]
Letting Go into Creative Flow
In February I ran my Painting with Your Muse intuitive painting workshop with another wonderful group of muses. It has been five years since I began running this workshop and for more than 20 years that I have been following an intuitive process myself when painting. There is a flow state that happens when one follows their intuition this […]
Challenging Your Creative Norm
I decided to challenge my creative practice, try something I don’t normally do. Usually I like to work more intuitively, painting, drawing, making art about whatever needs to come out in that moment. This is my comfort zone, to work without a directive or plan. For some that is daunting, for me it is freedom. […]