ArtTherapist.ca

Art Retreat

What happens when you bring three art therapist friends together at the cottage on a warm and beautiful weekend? Contemplative outdoor art of course!  A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to be at a cottage with my 2 dear friends and colleagues who are also art therapists.  We had thankfully planned this getaway […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Making Creativity a Priority

In my last blog post I shared ways to make sure you have time for your creative self-care practice. We looked at some of the practical solutions to barriers that block creative practice. Without setting up your external environment properly it is too easy to fall back into old patterns of neglecting your creativity. Today […]

The Inner Wilderness of Creativity

Canoe camping in the backcountry is always an adventure.  We had been away from it for a few years as our kids no longer fit with us in the canoe and it meant taking a second canoe and portaging it- with two kids who at that point were starting to say they were not interested. […]

Creative Microcosm

  The more I do this work, creating for my own self expression and guiding others to connect to Self through art making, the more I am reminded of it’s importance.  Perhaps a better word than work is PLAY.  Yes I know sometimes it does seem like work, to find the time to actually be able […]

Stoke Your Creative Fire

    Spring is here and I’m full force in creative mode.  Between planting seedlings, capturing my dreams day and night, dropping off creative deeds, and connecting with my muse, sometimes there just doesn’t seem like enough time to do all the things I want to do. But I know in my heart, I feel […]

Inner Wise Self or Inner Critic?

From time to time my inner critic states her opinion on the task at hand. In the past I have given in, giving up on what I was doing as a result.  Then I became pretty good about listening to her without judgement for the most part and letting it slide.  Still these critical voices would come […]