artspace...A Journey Home through Intuitive Painting

 My very early childhood years were full of making mud pies, papiermache puppets, and turkeys out of pine cones and pipe cleaners for Thanksgiving.   And then it seems a void.   I don't remember a conscious decision to move away from the visual arts yet remember as an adult carrying a strong belief that I had no such "talent", that my sister had inherited that "gene".

Music was an integral part of my life growing up however, my father being a music teacher made that pretty easy.   It became the primary vehicle for my creative expression.   It was through singing that I found a way to move with, and express the complicated feelings and energies within me.

It is only in the last 20 years or so that I began, quite accidentally, to explore the visual arts once again.  I began tentatively, taking courses that I believed would carry creativity into other areas of my life, still not believing that I was creative and could actually create "something".   I had a longing to explore this part of myself and to express what was inside. 

 I was first drawn to process painting by a deep longing to express myself creatively in a place free of judgment.   I was unprepared however, to find that I was the one who carried this into the room.   My years of sitting with a meditation group helped me to deepen my understanding of the journey I had embarked upon.   I sometimes refer to process painting lovingly as "in your face meditation" because it is so alive and interactive with what is unfolding between myself and the painting.  My journey has allowed me to  re-experience the freedom of exploring myself and my world through the immediacy and compassion of this creative process. 

Painting has also become a way of going inward and re-connecting with myself.   It has asked me to stay present, follow my energy, listen to my intuition, and trust in the process.   It has challenged me to take risks, and has helped me move more comfortably into the unknown, thus reinforcing my connection to the mystery.  

As a therapist, I have been particularly drawn to the freedom of not having to understand, analyze, or find meaning in what comes off my brush.   I have instead learned to trust that the insights that may appear along the way emerge from what is happening inside of me...not what I put on the paper.  The painting process for me has truly become an active meditation which has brought more awareness, joy, and acceptance into my life.   

It is for this reason that I created artspace, a place where anyone can explore their creative impulses in a safe and nurturing environment. 

                                 "Kathy is a very intuitive, skilled facilitator.  I have been able to trust Kathy implicitly with whatever feeling or judgments inevitably arise for me while painting, and her wisdom and skill assist me in experiencing the rich creative freedom I never knew existed."

                                           - Andrea

"Kathy has experienced a huge life journey of her own and is a true teacher of the process.  She playfully teaches us how to come back to the moment,to where freedom lives. Painting with no story, sensing and trusting one brush stroke at a time, while allowing the painting to paint itself. In this place you can lose your “self”, trust your intuition, and be authentic. I call it a wonderfully healthy experience and one that transfers into life quite well."

                                                    - Nancy

I have been a therapist, group facilitator, and teacher for almost 30 years.  My classes and workshops at artspace are based on my deepening understanding and appreciation for the mystery of the creative process that has been interwoven with my trainings and experiences with Buddhisim, Shamanism, alternative healing modalities, traditional therapy, and a multitude of life experiences.  I have been teaching this process at my studio for just over 9 years and have painted and trained with Michele Cassou, founder of the Painting Experience, co-author of Life, Paint, and Passion, and author of Point Zero and the Point Zero method of spontaneous expression. 

• Certification as Shamanic Healing Arts Initiate, Shamanic Breathwork, Venus Rising,  2005
  
• Certification as Human Dynamics Facilitator, Human Dynamics International,  1994
• M.S.N, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Yale University School of Nursing, 1980
• B.A. Psychology, Albertus Magnus College