Intuitive Painting Class

My Intuitive Painting class is for adults and teens who want to try something new. It is also for Artists who are creatively blocked. It is also useful for people who have never done art (or not since childhood) and are curious.

You can do 4 3-hour sessions, a 1-day workshop or a 2-day weekend, or a week-long Retreat, or a series of sessions, weekends, or weeks...I supply the materials.

We need a room where we can be messy: We use the walls for this class so the walls in the room must be floor to ceiling at least 8' high and there must be at least a 4' width for each student. I currently teach this class at my home-studio, and am willing to bring it to you as well.

It is possible to do this workshop on tables, also, if that is all that is available. The paint is washable. We need access to water and a sink.

I am teaching the method that I use and have used to create art since 1988. Some people call it process painting, others spontaneous art. I call it intuitive painting because, using paint as the medium, it has trained me to use my Intuition. I have been able to apply it to writing, video, performance, computer animation, and living.

Trusting, utilizing & following Intuition, especially during this time of uncertainty, is an invaluable skill. Of course, to glean the most from this method, one has to practice it, but many students take to it, as I did and make it a part of their lives.

I walk around and coach individually. Almost immediately we deal with the judging mind: "...this is terrible, I can't do it..." and I help students walk through that darkness using various techniques and questions that I have developed over the years from living this way and mentoring others.

There are no mistakes. Students are encouraged not to throw away and start over, but to work through their dislikes, incorporating them into something new that they had not planned.

Having more than one day allows students to go home and "sleep on it" and come back the next day, refreshed. This is a very important part of the process when working with the Intuition.

Letting time pass, allowing information to come in from different sources, allowing the ego to step into the background slowly creates a more complete integration of the process. This can be managed in a 1-day workshop with a break, although more time is preferable.

A week-long workshop allows for immense spiritual growth and a solidifying of the process in the psyche as the ego acquieses to the Intuition.

During a week-long workshop there is the cohesive bonding of family that takes place within the group and the natural push-pull of the individual ego allows the spirit to move to the foreground, supported by the now, familial unity.

There is time taken at the beginning and end of each session for discussion. This builds an experiential understanding of how to challenge oneself as an artist, with group encouragement & support.

My purpose is to create a space for the spirit to express itself freely and for the individual and the group to learn to interact with it in a supportive and encouraging way. The class becomes an experiential, transformative process that can be life-changing.

"I am still painting and having a wonderful time. Last Friday I came home from work and with minimal interruptions spent six hours in my art room. I feel like your class was inspiring in an 'intuitive' sort of way ... life changing for those that are receptive."

Lynn Eschbach, Denver, CO

After not seeing her for 5 years, Jessica Dunks, my student from Sangre de Cristo Art Center, called out of the blue to ask me to come down to Pueblo to teach Intuitive Painting in May 2011 for their Jungian Collective...

"I had the privilege of attending a painting workshop given by Joanna Whitney and was impressed by and grateful for the level of insight that Ms. Whitney possesses. Also, I admired the ease with which she is able to impart her knowledge of the painting process she utilizes when teaching. As a result, I was able to allow my creativity to blossom because of the freedom I was given to express myself in the workshop. I would recommend Ms. Whitney as an art teacher without reservation."

Anne Cahill, Armonk, NY

"I loved it- enough that I now do it weekly with Laura and a few others from Columbine UU Church. The process is filled with opportunities for insight and growth- freeing what is inside to manifest itself on paper."

Ruth Cowger, Denver, CO

"...Joanna is an incredibly generous artist and teacher. Over the course of 2 days, she created an environment of safety and creative freedom that allowed me to strip away some of my artistic barriers. It took time, but she never hurried me. By not telling me how to see-feel-paint, she encouraged me to access my own impulses and express them on paper. At first I hit a wall of resistance from within myself, but over time, her patience and encouragement began to wear down some of my defenses...By the end of the weekend, I felt that although I had just begun to express myself, the possibility of artistic expression might actually be accessible to me..."

Sarah Safir Albany, CA

"At the onset, my classmates and I expressed our apprehension in expressing ourselves in art due to previous unpleasant experiences...It wasn't long that were all painting away and enjoying it. We painted and by the time we knew it the day had flown by. She encouraged us, gave us individual assistance if we needed it and then. let us experience the opportunity alone..."

Gloria Mora Pueblo, CO

I took Joanna's intuitive painting class a couple of years ago. It was everything I was looking for and more. Most people don't understand how intimidating a blank canvas can be. In this class we broke through the intimidation and had fun with the medium. I would whole-heartedly encourage anyone to take this class. It is powerful for artists who are stuck as well as those of us who yearn to "do" art, but are afraid and not sure where to begin. Joanna's caring guidance allowed me to do and see more than I thought I could.

Karen (mom), Denver

My experience with Joanna's Intuitive Painting Class was difficult but inspiring. She would not let me "slide by". She truly pushed me to try expressing myself in ways I had never done. As a result, I have continued with my art work and truly learned to let myself "go".

However, the really fantastic outcome from Joanna's class has been the amazing progress of a friend who attended with me. She broke through all previous limitations and is now a successful artist with an extremely unique style which she has turned into both wall art and beautiful fabrics.

Within two years of completing Intuitive Painting, she is on display in several galleries and looking at other outlets for her previously undiscovered and unleashed talent.

Karen S. Denver, CO

Supply List for students who want to do this at home.