ABOUT WORKSHOPS
INSPIRATION
SOULFUL DANCING
I AM CREATIVE
THE ARTS HEAL
I OFFER EXPRESSIVE ARTS WORKSHOPS
“Expressive art therapy integrates all of the arts in a safe, non-judgmental setting to facilitate personal growth and healing. To use the arts expressively means going into our inner realms to discover feelings and to express them through visual art, movement, sound, writing or drama. This process fosters release, self-understanding, insight, and awakens creativity and transpersonal states of consciousness.”
Natalie Rogers - The Creative Connection: Expressive Arts as Healing
I CREATE…
Workshops and healing arts experiences that bring empowering benefits of the creative process to individuals and groups.
My practice has always included the salve of crayons and watercolors. I combine my expertise in the visual arts with Expressive Arts Workshop initiatives, and implement arts-based programming as a visual arts educator and working artist. I believe that throughout the course of life and its hardships, the arts offer a unique and invaluable invitation to healing.
In my workshops personal expression is supported via my facilitation of slow stitch embroidery, fabric and paper book arts, and mixed media collage.
I approach studios and other forms of creative space as healing and life enhancing environments for safe and authentic self-expression. Any physical space becomes a studio of sorts when ‘making’ takes place!
MOTHER DRUM - Art Quilt visualizing the spirit of the Expressive Arts.
I PROVIDE…
Safe welcoming spaces for personal exploration and inner growth.
The expressive arts are multimodal, healing based experiences. Arts processes are fluid and respond to and transform the needs created by the individual or collective group.
I embrace the field of expressive arts as an Artist, Educator and Counselor. My background enhances my sensitivity to the needs of my clients and the medical and psychological aspects surrounding their life situations. My arts career affords me vast knowledge of materials, process and mediums, as well as an intimate knowledge of personal expression and how to tap into and develop one's creative intention.
As a facilitator and co-creator, I am uniquely positioned to develop and lead healing arts experiences for individuals and groups. My workshops are suitable for ages 15 and up. Participants with special needs will be provided accommodation in order to ensure a successful workshop experience.
I EMBRACE…
The field of Expressive Arts as an educator and professional artist.
I completed a B.S.Ed. in Art Education with a Minor in Drawing and Painting from the University of Georgia (Athens) in 1982. Post-graduation, I pursued a career in Visual Arts Education for special needs students.
In 1985, I completed graduate studies at Georgia State University's (Atlanta) School of Community Counseling. After completing my M.Ed., I spent time in public sector Community Mental Health as a Mental Health Clinician, Rehabilitation Counselor and Disability Case Manager. Since 1983, I have worked in the human service and visual arts/special education professions and have delighted in implementing community visual arts initiatives.
A love of the arts has deeply informed many of my life decisions and choices. As an educator, facilitator, and professional visual artist, I hold true to many of the ideas of Julia Cameron, Howard Gardner and Shaun McNiff. The Appalachian Expressive Arts Collective, founded by Sally Atkins, has informed and guided my Expressive Arts Facilitation practice.
I facilitate workshops with a deep well of compassion and empathy.
For more information please see my Expressive Arts Vitae.
The International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) Code of Ethics
IEATA supports artists, educators, consultants, and therapists using multimodal arts processes for personal and community transformation. We provide a global forum for dialogue, promote guiding principles for professional practice, and work to increases recognition and use expressive arts as a powerful tool for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellness.