The Painting Experience Blog

Everything Changes: Impermanence and Process Painting

Photo of a process painting with faces and skulls

After so many years of painting, somehow it really hit me that from the moment we start a painting, impermanence starts, too. I began painting with The Painting Experience in the mid-1980s. After that, I […]

Boredom Is No Big Deal

Brightly colored paints and a cell phone on a table

While you are busy being bored—that is, not finding the excitement and stimulation you are looking for—often you will not be noticing how much you are abandoning yourself in the process. ~ Edward Espe Brown, […]

Expressing the Sacred

Kisei working on her process painting, including many faces.

We are delighted to offer this guest post by Amy Kisei Costenbader. Kisei is an ordained Zen priest who currently lives and practices at Great Vow Zen Monastery, where she has resided since 2010. She […]

Connecting With Your Own Energy

Jean Matlack working on a process painting

After creating a safe and spacious environment, working with energy is a facilitator’s primary tool. The energy determines how you move within that space -- for example, the questions you might ask and the suggestions […]

Process Painting Through Grief

Brightly colored process painting of a figure emerging from a coffin

My dear old 94-year-old Dad died in late September. After the initial grief and busy-ness, including helping my 91-year-old Mom resettle, I was exhausted. I noticed my mood fluctuating between sadness and grief and feeling […]

Safe Place, Sacred Space

Process Painting Studio at The Esalen Institute | The Painting Experience

“An artmaking space is a “mishkan” a portable sanctuary. Each artist working there is alone with her image and the message it brings as well as being in a subtle communion with others in the […]

Radical Innocence

Radical Innocence | The Painting Experience Blog

The first encounter with painting is often a delight and a surprise. Each color is a delicious revelation; strangely satisfying forms appear; we’re amazed and fascinated by the mysterious images that emerge. And the room […]

Don’t Paint Whale — Paint Whaleness!

Don't Paint Whale -- Paint Whaleness! | The Painting Experience Blog

Recently, Lisa Pedersen reminded us of this brief and very lively excerpt from a talk that Stewart gave at a workshop in Southern California. In the following conversation with a workshop participant, Stewart brings to life […]

Trusting Your Intuitive Intelligence

Trusting Your Intuitive Intelligence | The Painting Experience Blog

We’re happy to offer the following guest post by Jean Matlack of Rockport, Maine. Jean is a participant in our online course, Introduction to Facilitating Process Arts. She first posted these reflections as a comment […]

Facing Resistance in Painting

Facing Resistance in Painting | The Painting Experience Blog

“An important time to paint is when you resist it the most. The strength of the aversion means that there is something just beneath the surface, thinly disguised, ready to emerge. Resistance is a reminder […]