The Space to Create: Decluttering and Creativity
For the month of August I have been off work: no clinical work, no teaching and no workshops. Every August I take the month to rejuvenate and spend time with family. I get to spend more time in the garden, riding my bike and creating. This time, much of my creative energy has […]
Adventures in Art Journaling
Well Spring is finally here in Toronto with warm weather, sunshine and spring showers. Though I am outdoors more, I still turn to my art journaling as my main mode for inner solace. You may be wondering why I am such a big art journaling fan. It all started back even before I was training […]
Creativity Thaw
Winter brings a coldness that is meant to allow things to prepare for the spring, for new beginnings. It is the cycle of life. It is also the cycle of creativity: the deep sleep that creativity sometimes falls into, often when we least want it to, is an essential part of the process. We need […]
Reflections on Doodle Journey Part Two
It has been amazing seeing all the different interpretations and expressions of the Doodle Journey course. Once a year I offer this course free to those willing to take the time to explore through doodles, while setting judgement aside. Because doodling is so process based, it is a simple and easy way to allow […]
Making Room for Creative Expression
One of the main things that I hear over and over that gets in the way of maintaining a creative practice is not having the space. First there is the literal and practical question of a physical environment for art making. And then there is the question of motivation, or perhaps more accurately put, what may be […]
Digging Deep Via Creativity
Digging deep into the unknown crevices of your emotional life can sometimes be daunting, even uncomfortable. Its easier to pretend like it does not exist rather than to explore it through our creativity. Why is it that inner reflection so important? The stuff we ignore can stifle us, and block us from moving forward. […]
Inner Journey through Painting
Painting is a conduit for many things. It challenges our self-doubt, inner critics, and perception of Self. Through the journey of painting we can come to know our inner lives differently. We can have our way of being in the world reflected back at us through the process. How do we approach the canvas or […]
Create Self-Love
Want love? Create it! Sometimes we forget to give ourselves the much-needed messages of encouragement and love that we so easily give to our friends and loved ones. Sometimes it is a matter of rewriting the scripts to undo old habits of negative self-talk that do not serve us. Today make your Self a promise […]
Finding Your Voice
We all have a voice, a unique way of communicating to others who we are. Like our fingerprint, each individual’s creative voice is unique. No two the same. Sometimes this is forgotten, traded in or pushed aside to conform with what we think people want, what we think is the norm, or with how we think we “should […]
Part of the Process
One thing that I always come back to when stuck is the notion that there really is no stuck. This “stuck” or “creative block” is in a sense a figment of our imagination. We feel stuck, think stuck, but is it really stuck? Feeling stuck is so common for creatives, and frustrating too. It is easy […]