I began cleaning the pottery studio on Wednesday. This room is normally filled with piles of clay in various stages of formation. Jim sweeps the floor daily, but that removes only the large grime. I was in the mood to get to the bottom of it, and spent the better part of the morning washing the floor inch by inch. After that, I obsessed over the utility sink, which I swear has not been attended to in ten years. When I was done, it gleamed.

What to do with a husband who’s been kicked out of his castle? He took his clay to the garage and made an elaborate mask while Debby Cason, Diane Kuss and I did our thing. He joined us for lunch, and then went back into seclusion. Debby and Diane visited him in his garage domain, ooohed and ahhhed over his finished pottery, which reassured him that everybody cared about him.

These two women said they were not artists. One of them had flunked art in high school. I said that you couldn’t flunk my kind of art because it’s not about creating a barn that looks like a barn. It’s about allowing Inner Wisdom to come through your fingers and draw what it wants to. It’s about letting go and allowing the body to move. In the photo below, Diane (left) and Debby (right) are doing Touch Drawing.

I drew along side of them. For an hour, we awere quiet, just rolling out the paint, laying tissue paper down, and moving our fingers on the paper to create the prints. Diane said that she would look at the design already present on the tissue paper when it contacted the wet paint, see what image it wanted to become, and then finish creating it. Here are several of Diane’s Touch Drawings.

Debby started each picture from scratch, which is what I do. We asked Inner Wisdom a question, and let the process produce an answer. Examples of questions I asked were, “Show me what Focus looks like,” and “Show me what Letting Go looks like;” and “Show me my heart.” When Debby asked, “Show me what going with the flow looks like, her hands drew a waterfall.

While, at first glance, a picture like the one below looks like a mish-mash of blue, upon closer examination, you can find many faces in it. Look closely, and you’ll even see a bear’s head at the top-middle and several human faces. This piece is speaking to the artist, and may be providing answers to the question she asked before starting to draw. This is one of Debby’s pieces.

In the afternoon, Diane took her favorite Touch Drawing and copied the design in oil pastels. This is her partly-finished piece—a striking design that relates to her practice of QiGong.

Meanwhile, Debby created this strong colorful piece based on her “Go with the flow” waterfall Touch Drawing.

Part of the experience I hope to impart is how to use the oil pastels for an effect that will please beginners. We are only together for five hours, and everyone takes home with them around 20 Touch Drawings, one oil pastel drawing, and one or two doodle drawings.

Doodling is a form of spontaneous art. I showed them a 3 x 4-inch one that I had recently done using Bic Ultrafine markers.

It’s important to ask for assistance before starting this kind of art. It’s a form of Sacred Expressive Art, which is co-created between your conscious and unconscious mind. Deborah Koff-Chapin says she always calls in the Spirit of Touch Drawing before starting a session. I do that too, and in addition, I call in the assistance of the Spirit of Spontaneous Drawing, plus my mother’s spirit (who works with me on all of my automatic art) and the spirit guides or artistic muses of the people who come to draw with me. On Saturday, that accounted for at least five spirits (or muses or guides) in the room!  I was astounded when, after drawing my final piece, I realized what was going on. As I drew this picture, I didn’t understand it. A couple of hours later, it hit me—I was being shown that the spirits-guides were indeed present. The one in the upper left corner is my mom.

We began by writing our intentions. My intention was to have my friend experience the spontaneous movement of her hands in an artful way. She claimed she was not an artist. One does not need to be an artist to do this. Touch Drawing (invented by Deborah Koff-Chapin) is similar to a six-year-old’s finger-painting, except that we allow the spontaneous movement directed by our subconscious to guide our hands. We sat at my dining room table and first wrote about what we wanted to get out of it. Then we each pulled a card from Doreen Virtue’s Healing with the Angels deck.  Next,  we wrote about what the angel message meant for us. Writing our thoughts set the stage for the art, because the drawing is guided by Spirit – one’s spiritual orientation doesn’t matter.

We moved into my art studio (our pottery studio cleaned up!). It’s pretty cramped in there and not the prettiest place to work. But the light is good and there are two ample work tables. Each of us had a masonite board to paint on, a roller, and water-based paints in an array of colors.

Yesterday was the first time I’ve used the water-based paint. I’m used to working with black oil paint or printer’s ink. Here’s one of my pictures from a previous day done in black oil paint on tissue paper. (I did not plan to draw a face–my hands made this spontaneously).

The process is a simple one – roll out paint on a board. Place a piece of tissue paper or newsprint on it, and let your fingers dance on the paper. After a while you get the hang of it–the hang of allowing your fingers to do what they want instead of making them move as you wish. Your body-mind knows what to do. Here is one of my friend’s finished Touch Drawings done on tissue paper. Each drawing has spiritual meaning for the person making it. Sometimes it’s the answer to a question. It can represent a release of emotion, or it can be given as a gift from your higher consciousness.

And here are some of mine done on newsprint.

After drawing for an hour, producing about 25 drawings each,  we took a lunch break. I told my friend how I discovered “automatic drawing”  30 years ago. It’s something my mother and I both did. I didn’t know other people did it and I was afraid of where the movement came from. Eventually I learned that many artists use this form,  and it has the dignified name, “Expressive Art.” This kind of art is used by art therapists to work with troubled clients. It has a healing component–allowing the subconscious to bring forth images that the person cannot express verbally. A therapist can interpret the images and guide the client to a healthier state.

I’m not a therapist, but I have discovered that drawing spontaneously can release my own pent up emotions. I like to use it for relaxation and to express creativity in a way that doesn’t require the skill of a trained artist.

After lunch, we went back to the studio and I showed my friend how I work with oil pastels using spontaneous movement of my hands. I demonstrated how I select the colors spontaneously, and then begin a picture. Many of my pictures are abstract. Below is an example of a recent one.

I had no idea what the picture above was about, until I showed Jim this morning. He said it looked like a bird. And then I saw it– a rooster!–the lavender eye, yellow comb and orange beak with colorful ruff of feathers below its head.  Nothing deep or mysterious here. We had been to The Rooster’s Crow restaurant for breakfast that morning, where I had admired one of their T-shirts for sale with a handsome rooster printed on it. I believe this drawing  arose from that experience.

I had suggested that my friend bring magazine pictures that spoke to her. Sometimes I look at a picture and that image translates into something quite different when I draw it spontaneously.  Both of us used magazine pictures to do our color work, and here are the results of my own. The image that captured my heart was a calendar picture of Canyonlands National Park.

The image I drew looked nothing like the photograph, but it felt emotionally like the Utah canyon country that I love so much, the twisting, winding canyons and a blue river running through it. That’s an example of how the subconscious can translate thoughts and emotions into something you can recognize, even though it is not representational.

We closed up shop at 2:00 pm yesterday, both of us tired after four hours of playing in the art. I’m planning to do another spontaneous session with friends  next Saturday.

This was a four-hour workshop, in which we drew continuously for 90 minutes. About 25 of us met in the Art Therapy building of Southwestern College.

After we had introduced ourselves, Deborah opened the session by guiding us through some movement exercises and voice toning. She also asked that the Spirit of Touch Drawing be present. In her Facilitator Workbook, she explains that calling forth the spirit of Touch Drawing brings a certain sacredness to the experience. Then Deborah sat on the floor with her chimes and Tibetan bowls and played and vocalized to us while we drew for an hour and a half. Here’s the photo I took of her “holding space” while we drew.

Deborah had brought about 40 sheets of tissue paper per person. She gave each of us a fresh, clean 20 x 16-inch masonite board, onto which we rolled a thin layer of water-based paint. Over that we placed one sheet of tissue paper. We let our fingers “dance” on the paper, making the designs that became our drawings. For me, the motion of my hands is automatic and intuitive, like mindless doodling. Each picture took about 30 seconds to a minute.

Every once in a while she interjected suggestions about things we could draw. Some of these were pictures of our face from the inside out, pictures of our body parts, pictures of someone else that we were thinking about. Many of my pictures in the beginning were expressions of how I was feeling. Here is Drawing #4–a lot of nervous energy:

I thought drawing would be a piece of cake since I had done so much of it at home. But I was wrong. I had not drawn any pictures for at least six weeks. For the first 30 minutes all my drawings were “crap.” That’s what I thought, even though Deborah reminded us not to judge the results.

Around drawing #18, I became very frustrated. Here’s my Frustration drawing. (Note the face with eyes, nose, and mouth. Above that is my brain with strange impulses wheeling out the top!)

And then frustration yielded to sadness, with drawing #21.

I even wondered why I was there. This wasn’t working. (But of course it WAS, because I was transmuting various emotions through the art.)

After 23 drawings, I walked over to the pile of Soul Cards that Deborah had laid out face down. (Deborah has created two decks of Soul Cards). She suggested we might pull one whenever we felt like it. I pulled one at random. It depicted an angel (or some unseen being) whispering into the ear of a human. The photo below shows  three of her soul cards from the deck I have at home. The specific card I pulled was from the other deck, but the idea was similar—I was not alone in this exercise and I was being whispered to and helped.

Pulling that card and realizing I was being helped shifted my experience. As soon as I began to draw again, the pictures changed from “crap” to reflections of my inner being, and answers to my inquiries. To my question, “How can I connect with my guidance?” I drew picture #24—No surprise, it indicated I should be out in nature (the leaf motifs in the drawing) and then the Higher Self (the top Eye–I– in the picture) would provide insight to the small self (the bottom Eye–I– in the picture). Deciphering symbols from the subconscious can be fun.

“Can I use Touch Drawing with others, showing them how to gain their own insights?” I asked, and received picture #28 of flowers and leaves, an affirming answer.

But when I asked, “What is the path of my book (I’ll Be There to Write the Story: A Mother-Daughter Journey Beyond Death) ?” I received a less enthusiastic answer—picture #29–a snail. Or is it a hot air balloon just beginning to rise up from the ground???  (I love this double message!)  We shall see.

By the end of the session I was on a roll. My hands were finally “talking to me.” I made 33 drawings in all.

Here are some of the things I learned from Deborah’s class:

• Drawing with tissue paper is a lot more economical than using newsprint, although newsprint and most any other kind of paper can be used.
• Tissue paper drawings can be mounted on foam core or other hard backings (she told us how). Once adhered to a solid backing, they can be embellished with other colors and media to make real works of art.
• Drawing with different colors is more interesting than using only black. You can keep adding new colors.
• You can draw with palms of your hands, finger tips, finger nails, knuckles, wrists, elbows or even feet, if necessary.
• With water-based paints, you can wash the boards off with soap and water after you’re done.
• Deborah had us write a log of our feelings as we were drawing our pictures. The log might “tell a story.” My ” story” indicated a progression of emotions, and it was useful as a record of my process. My “aha moment” happened when my drawings shifted after I pulled a particular Soul Card.
• Deborah said that size didn’t matter. We could draw on smaller boards and get excellent results.
• She told us that if we were to take a two-day workshop or longer, the messages of the drawings would build from day to day.
• Best of all, I met the woman who invented Touch Drawing and observed how she facilitated a large gathering.

Moving ahead from here, I want to keep drawing, using different paper sizes and paint colors. I want to draw for myself and introduce more people to the process. I find it helpful for releasing stuck emotions such as anger and anxiety, sadness, depression, and of course, for expressing joy and love. Touch Drawings can answer questions. They can mirror what is going on with internal organs and body parts. They can reflect upon relationships with other people, and the relationship we have with ourselves. They can even give us validation that our unseen helpers are nearby.

I showed the women my early artwork to make them feel okay about drawing like an amateur. This was not about doing professional-level artwork. It’s about letting the muse or our intuition come through. Speaking of the muse, it never hurts to call upon her. I often do that when I’m stuck writing poetry. So at the beginning of an art class, I open sacred space. These women understood what sacred space was, and I didn’t need to explain it. I had brought rattles for everyone. We opened the six directions (South, West, North, East, Below and Above). We set the intention that the Spirits of Touch Drawing and Co-creative Drawing (our drawing muses) would be with us .  And then we began.

Here’s a picture of the table prepared for Touch Drawing. It shows the masonite boards with brayers, a tube of black paint, our rattles for opening space, and  Soul Cards.

Set-up for Touch Drawing

We each selected an Angel Card. (Mine was Education!) and a Soul card from Deborah Koff-Chapin’s deck. Soul cards are amazing intuitive paintings that come with no interpretive booklet. You’ve got to figure it out yourself. Each of us understood the meaning of our card as soon as we drew it. Mine represented the co-creative process—a man with one eye open (conscious awareness) and one eye shut (subconscious). Weird how that works!

We started by doing Touch Drawing (Deborah Koff-Chapin’s process) for an hour. Our medium was black oil paint on masonite boards. We use brayers to roll out the paint on the boards and we laid newsprint on top of that. Then we allowed our fingers to dance on the newsprint. Each picture took about 30 seconds to a minute to complete. Each of us made about 25 of these prints.

After lunch we switched gears. I gave each woman a sketch pad and a box of oil pastels. I demonstrated how my hand selects the colors and sets up the picture. Here are pictures of my fellow artists at work with oil pastels.

I read selections from my book, I’ll Be there to Write the Story, which described my early encounters with this kind of drawing. Between 2002 – 2004, I was engrossed in my mother’s poetry. That’s when I began reading her poems and drawing spontaneous pictures based on their content. Instead of drawing to poetry, my Saturday workshoppers used personal intentions. We thought about our intentions and fixed them firmly in our minds. Then we drew intuitive pictures that represented the essence of those intentions. Since intentions are generally written in abstract language (love, compassion, balance, transformation, release, etc.), the pictures came through in symbolic imagery. The results were fascinating and even emotionally moving. Here are the results of one hour with the oil pastels.

The fourth picture is my own, started as a demo piece. I will continue giving these workshops as long as there is interest. I give them to myself to keep the insights rolling and the juices flowing.

For a five and one-half day intuitive art workshop, I highly recommend “Accessing Inner Wisdom: A Playful and Profound Immersion,” offered by the duo of Lindsy Teresi of Santa Fe and Molly Stuart of Buena Vista, Colorado. It will take place in Santa Fe, May 24-29. I attended last October and the workshop was a peak experience for me. Click on this link, and then go to the May 24-29 workshop for the pdf file.

Card 17, Gallery 1

Sister To Trees  (Birthday Poem)

Traveler adds another ring
to her circumference.
Although, only a seed dropped
long ago, from beak of a hawk,
knows herself firmly rooted.
In past, put out tender tendrils
to hold her in place, ensuring
space for ever greening.

Soft bark to protect inner
realms from happenstance
of life lived one moment
at a time, breathed in deeply,
then expelled to make room
for more. Bent in high winds,
twisted to breaking point,
yet never truly broken.

Always extending reach
toward broader sky, making
friends with birds who sought
shelter in her tresses, learning
words of their songs, often
humming along, nodding head
to rhythms found in their wisdom.

Knows herself to be sister
to trees, surrounded by others
in a forest filled with colors
of different hue. Sucking up
whatever nurture from ground
and air around her. All of it
used to feed leaves that fill
her branches with life, seeds
of a fruit she names Poetry.

Elizabeth Crawford  4/9/11

Notes: Lucille Clifton used to write a birthday poem, every year. I admired that and although she is at the top of my list of favorite poets, I never felt the urge to follow suit. I did write one on my fiftieth birthday, mainly because it sort of fell out on the pages of my journal, and I felt compelled to finish it. You can find it here, on this blog, under the category At Fifty. I wrote another one when I turned sixty-one. That is posted at my other poetry blog which is titled the same as the Poem, Unraveling. It can be found here:
http://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/   This image from the Soul Cards has long been one of my favorites and speaks to me deeply. I chose it for this poem because the poem has been dancing inside my head for a very long time. It was time. And birthdays must be celebrated in some fashion.

Soul Cards: both galleries can be seen by clicking on the image. They were created by Deborah Koff-Chapin, and her site is located here:  http://www.touchdrawing.com/

For NaPoWriMo – day 8

Card 87, Gallery 2

Time Out

Traveler knew it was time
for time out. One of those
weeks: people asking
personal favors, some
needing band-aids, sutures
for infected, festering wounds.
A few lacking spoons
with which to feed themselves.

Had found herself racing,
pacing tight confines,
chasing future, while
running from past, triggered
by contact with others.

Memories nipping at heels,
leaning in to haunt, taunt
with pain-filled mistakes made,
others yet to find resolution.

Words spit with intention
of hitting raw nerves:
my words,
your words,
his words,
hers.

Knew it was time to stop.
Time to let go,
find release,
time to just
breathe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8rtJRlLdI8&feature=fvsr

Elizabeth Crawford  4/8/11

Notes: Because the Traveler here, is first of all me, I am following the signs and symbols as they appear. This blog is titled Soul’s Music because music has been, and always will be an integral part of the synchronicity that often swirls in and around my person. I have wanted, since the blogs inception, to share some of the music that has shaped and formed my awareness. The poems are my truth, the songs a directional reminder of that truth. Ron recently gave me a new word:  earworms. Meaning the song lyrics that climb into our heads and weave in and out of our thought processes. But worms are an essential part of basic ecology because they aerate the landscape through which they travel, bringing breathing spaces and air, as well as creating channels for nurture to the life that already abides there. Thank you Ron, for being a part of my signs and symbols.

Song: 2a.m (Just Breathe) by Anna Nalick.

Soul Cards: both galleries may be viewed by clicking on the image. They were created by Deborah Koff-Chapin and her site is located here:  http://www.touchdrawing.com/

For NaPoWriMo – Day 3

Card #67, Gallery 1

Finding Strength

Some nights our traveler might sleep
‘neath a tree, cradled by roots which
curve gently round. Like strong
loving arms of long ago Mother, she
misses right now.

At first, sleeps only lightly, startled
awake at every sound, even a leaf
falling to ground. Fearing wild things
that creep close to see, just what kind
of creature, this new creature might be.

Somehow knowing without knowing
how, wild things are of kind, in some
way her own. With bit of patience might
even be honed, into stalwart guides,
companions who could choose to abide.

With one hand holding freshly penned
notes, the other curves gently at quieted
breast. Smiling softly she speaks,
“Come join me, my friends, together
we will continue, will finish this quest.”

Elizabeth Crawford  4/3/11

Notes: This one gave me fits, until I remembered what Natalie Goldberg once wrote. She tells us if we truly want to write, we must first dig a very deep hole, then climb down in it, and call all the wild creatures to join us. Thank you, Natalie.

Soul Cards may be viewed by clicking on them. They are the creation of Deborah Koff-Chapin and she can be found here:
http://www.touchdrawing.com

Journey Stone #59  Stress

Too much of anything:
people, work, demands,
needs, wants. Each pulls
on emotions and energy,
making for dis-ease, definite
low-grade something is wrong feeling.

Signal: it is time to step back,
remember to breathe.

Elizabeth Crawford  3/31/11

__________________________________________________________________________________

Attention:

April is National Poetry Month. I will be doing the NaPoWriMo challenge of writing one poem a day through the entire month. You can find those poems at http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/   With the poems, I will be attempting to create a Soul Journey, using The Soul Cards for inspiration. The cards are created by Deborah Koff-Chapin and may be found here: 
 http://www.touchdrawing.com/3SoulCards/SC1/SC1gal.htm

Deborah has graciously given me permission to use her images for this project. She uses a technique she created, called Touch Drawing and facilitates workshops where she shares her expertise and explains how Touch Drawing is a healing, creative, experience. Her Home/Main page can be found here: http://touchdrawing.com/

 On her site, the viewer is invited to use the Soul Card images to make and send E-cards.

Note: Given the word/stone I blindly pulled today, I hope you will understand if I do not make it here on a daily basis through the coming month. Thanks for understanding,

Elizabeth

I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to paint and draw in some amazing settings. Several years ago I spent two weeks in the Umbria region of Italy studying watercolor painting in little villages through the art school La Romita. www.laromita.org.  The La Romita grounds were themselves a works of art with plenty of plein air sketching material and bird song!

Olive oil jugs at La Romita Art School, Italy

Painting plein air in Italy with latte in hand!

After a delicious breakfast each morning we would set off for a tiny hilltop village or Roman ruins and spend the day sketching or painting. While setting up an easel sometimes felt awkward (especially with townspeople gawking or traffic concerns), keeping a sketch book handy felt very freeing. I started to get into the habit of having it with me at all times. I also felt less attached to the outcome of what I drew because I told myself it was just a quick sketch and no one had to see it! I used my sketch book as a sort of visual journal…private, uncensored, full of insights and personal metaphors. While I have a couple of paintings that I like from that trip, it is the sketch book I most cherish because it has an intimacy and immediacy that takes me right back to the richness of sitting under a 400 year old olive tree and drawing what I saw and felt.

"Empty Vessels Waiting to be Filled" at La Romita

Sometimes sketching along the way can be a great excuse to rest, enjoy the sun and soak in where you have been. One technique for doing this is to create an “Event Map” of a journey. At the top of a particularly steep hike on the Oregon Coast I paused to put on paper the experiences I had over the course of a couple hours. This wasn’t meant to be an accurate rendition of the hike or the landscape, but a visual journal of different moments along the trail that were particularly inspiring to one or all of my senses. In the Event Map is the encounter I had with a troop of Cub Scouts as well as the smell of spicy herbs underfoot. Represented on the map are all aspects of the trip, from the dark fern forest to the steep ridge at the edge of the ocean. I lay in a meadow below that ridge, ate an apple and re-created the hike on paper while it was still fresh in my mind. It was helpful that it was one of the most glorious April days I’ve ever experienced on the Oregon Coast and I wanted to linger. Having this small Event Map reminder of that day brings back to me the sweetness of the apple and the grandeur of the view in a way a photo can’t quite accomplish.

Event Map from Hike at the Oregon Coast

Last summer I went to a very special Touch Drawing™  retreat called the Gathering on Whidbey Island at the Whidbey Island Institute http://www.touchdrawing.com/5Events/Gather.html . The setting is spectacular (100 acres of woods, meadows and wild beauty) and we were encouraged to work outdoors whenever possible.  Touch Drawing™ requires a board, paint, tissue and brayer (roller), but a log or lap can substitute for a table. My favorite day of the week-long retreat was a trip to the beach where I spent several hours alone on a driftwood log in the sun looking over the Puget Sound to the Olympic Range and creating one Touch Drawing™ after another. There was no wind and the day was spectacular. As I tuned into the glorious environment, I felt myself shift into my own place of wildness and beauty. My drawings became freer and bolder, and I let myself fully enjoy the sensuality of the experience. It was really hard to leave that spot when I had to meet the rest of the group to get a ride back to the Whidbey Institute. Later I spent more time alone on the property at the edge of the woods and the labyrinth drawing and again found myself reluctant to go back to the studio. There was something about being out in nature that brought out my own nature in my work.

Touch Drawing at the beach

Kirsten at 2010 Touch Drawing Gathering

Touch Drawing Class in February:

http://lths.revtrak.net/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=joiorme0&sess=4b4917e26efedcea7a021b0b09b84218

scroll down to paper arts.

http://www.tlddesigns.com/pagethree.html#kat

In addition to such a wonderful event, we are trying to get a bathroom finished and every step along the way there has been a slight glitch.  Nothing we haven’t been able to overcome, but it is sure slowing down the process.  We wanted the bathroom to be extra special for our visitors, but so far, that has not been the case.  We have a while yet before our second set of children arrive, so we are hopeful…..

I have also been working on actually painting one of my touch drawings.  I am inspired by my good friend Lori, for it calls to me with her voice.  I will post it at some time and hopefully it will do her spirit justice.  (She doesn’t know this – SURPRISE MERMIE!)

Now off to enjoy the rest of a spectacular weekend. 

Whatever you do, MOVE.  Don’t stand still because life will surely pass you by.

I started the day a bit agitated.  We arrived later than anticipated, all the good seats were taken, and on and on and on…..just the little things in life that always want to drag you down.  I watched the demonstration that Deborah did and I was skeptical given my state of agitation that anything would come of my drawings.  Imagine my dismay when my first drawing did not even show up on the paper!

As time progressed and I allowed my breathing to slow and my heartbeat to beat more rhythmically, I was amazed at the process.  I was amazed at how my mind, my heart and my soul seemed to respond.  I went through a number of emotions on this day.  I peeled off drawing after drawing, placing them in a pile on the floor.  One caught me eye and I found it somewhat disturbing.  I had a hard time shaking the image from my mind.

I realized at point this drawing would be so valuable to the at-risk students that I teach.  The value of letting go with no judgement is so powerful.  It was then I knew I needed to take the steps to learn to facilitate this process.  I thank Deborah from the bottom of my heart for showing me a way to see things differently.  For showing me the value of mediation.  I will be forever grateful.

By the afternoon, I knew I was letting go of pent-up anger and frustration.  Still, many of the drawings meant little to me on that day.  It wasn’t until I came home and looked at them in a different environment, with different feelings, that I could see they told a story.

Here I share my afternoon sessions.  I have not photographed my morning sessions yet, but that will come.  I know Touch Drawing is now a part of my life.  A very, very good part of my life.

Click on the link below:

Touch Drawing

All of this activity is on time and on purpose….every day I make more and more progress towards the realization of my dreams.  Sometimes that progress is purposeful and planned, like applying to graduate school and applying for jobs that support going back to school.  And other times it’s not planned.  Instead, the serendipitous arrival of joys, passions and new interest surprise me along the way and fill me with gratitude knowing that while I push in my meager human ways…I’m simultaneously being pulled by something higher and bigger than myself, something that already knows the amazing reality of those dreams.

That is what happened with my recent discovery of Touch Drawing.  One of my greatest dreams is to use the creative arts in conjunction with traditional therapy and new thought spiritual principles to touch the lives of those who are hurting, to walk along side those on their healing journey and show them new doors of personal expression and wholeness.  While researching schools and creative arts certificates, I came across an amazing woman,  Deborah Koff-Chapin, the creator and founder of the Center for Touch Drawing.  I immediately knew that this form of expression was something I wanted to explore and share with others.

So today I did my first touch drawing session….and it was amazing!  There is something very primal inside of me that desires to express with my hands, and I love that there are no tools, no rules and no standards like you would find in taking a traditional painting class.  I just closed my eyes and let my hands move with my soul.  There was no attachment to the images, no ideas in my head of what I wanted things to look like….just pure soul-expression.  I felt so alive and so grateful for the opportunity and the experience.  I know that I will continue doing these sessions and I look forward to sharing it with my friends and exploring the therapeutic applications.  I see so many possibilities!

The process was very intimate and personal…however, one thing I will share with you is that about half way through the session a song came to mind and has been going through my head all day.  It’s called “Angels Among Us”.  I feel like my session today reminded me that I’m not alone, that there are seen and unseen guides, angels, if you will, in front of, beside, above and below holding sacred space for my unfoldment in this world.

Here is a slide show of my drawings in the order they came out of me.

I hope wherever you are, whatever you are doing this day…you know you have angels watching over you!  Happy creating everyone!