works in progress

Why can painting be healing and transformative? Within the safe and sacred space of the studio, placing paint onto canvas is a way of reclaiming the fragile self from its own destructive forces. The fragile self doesn't know its true value nor power. It often expereinces feelings of being alone, rejected, unworthy, ashamed, inadequate, and abandoned. It often wants to slip away and die. Painting as a creative act like writing poetry or dancing is a tool and focal reminder of a much truer and supportive reality- that of the pleasurable joy of color and sound, freedom from judgment, and the warm familiarity with the grand mystery of life. There is a heightened sense of ones being which is illuminated by the creative life force within; the coming of the Kingdom of God within the heart. Painting as a process of self-inquiry moves the emotional energies within the body and soul, shifting and settling the subterranean earth of the unconscious into new conscious manifestations, and capacities to act. Excavating the heart as a process of self-inquiry opens new possibilities for managing, coping with, and growing through life's woundings.