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(Visit our Schedule Page for workshop dates and times.)

You will re-ignite your natural childlike passion and enthusiastic impulse to try new things, experiment, make mistakes, make things up -- in other words you will awaken your sense of creative audacity and wonder using paint, brushes and paper.

When you paint with no concern for the outcome you feed that place inside that is hungry to create for the sheer joy of expression without having to achieve or accomplish anything. And finally, painting in this way can transform not only your relationship to creative blocks around artistic expression but also transform those attitudes and habits that keep you from meeting with imagination and courage the challenges of your daily life.

These classes are appropriate for all levels of painting experience. People come who have never picked up a brush and who have told themselves "I'm not creative" or "I can't paint," only to find their inner painter alive and well. Experienced artists with years of training can also benefit from this approach when they find themselves mired in a creative block or have lost their passion for painting.

The classes are held in a warm and inviting studio space and class size does not exceed 10 students. All materials are provided, including a vast array of brushes, non-toxic tempera paints and high quality paper. Classes are held year round and meet weekly, except for the Saturday workshops that happen once a month. Painting from the Wild Heart also offers residential retreats for those who would like a more intensive painting experience.

Comments from Wild Heart Painters

This painting class has helped me to let go of my verbal, analytical, critical self. I feel like a new part of me is blooming, expressing itself without words. Colors, images and shapes flow out onto the paper continually surprising me. It's like I'm coming to know myself in a whole new way.

    -- Louise Howlett, Minister

Through this class I'm learning to loosen my stranglehold on my urge for perfection.

    -- Stella Allison

Today, my friend Teri West, took me to a painting class in Oakland that was like no other you or I have ever been to. The object wasn't the end result of the picture, but painting your emotions -- like a psychology painting class. You use only tempera paints and her brushes (all sizes) and can paint anything you want. She must have had 100 colors for you to choose from, and you could use as much, or as many colors as you wanted. She told me to paint like a 5 year old -- complete abandon -- and not EVER to worry what the finished painting looked like. Finished product was -- nothing. Emotion was all of it.

    -- Carole Rock

Chris Zydel is a nurturing and insightful facilitator. She creates a safe environment in which all aspects of the self are encouraged and accepted. Process painting with Chris is helping me uncover my authentic painting voice. I feel the benefits of radical self acceptance (as Chris calls this painting process) in all areas of my life and in the silk painting I enjoy doing at home.

    -- Karen Damien,
       Artist, Teacher, Craftsperson

I have come to think of Chris Zydel as a midwife to my creative process. Her manner is gentle and direct and her intuitive ability to ask questions that open students to their own unfolding is truly a gift! She is able to quickly create a safe space that allows the expression of deep feelings through the painting process. Her lively sense of humor makes the process very enjoyable.

    -- Laura Holmes,
       Social Worker

Thank you so much for what you do... painting in this way has been for me such a place of discovery and of joy.

    -- Debby Ostlund

Painting with Chris is great fun. She is unflaggingly thoughtful and supportive. She has a great laugh and a great spirit. Don't miss it.

    -- Janet McFarland,
       Architect

Joining one of the Wild Heart ongoing painting groups was the best and most healing thing I have ever done for myself.

I have always carried the belief that there was only black or white, right or wrong, perfect or screwed up. When things were right and perfect, I was a good person. When things were wrong or screwed up, that meant I was a bad person and felt deeply ashamed. The painting process helped to changed my belief system, and became a guide for my internal process of healing and self examination so that I could begin to create the life I wanted externally. I found that I began to stop blaming others for my negative experiences, see the part I played in them and began to heal my shame -- I hardly ever feel ashamed now, and certainly don't feel the need to beat myself up anymore over what I consider a ‘mistake' whether it be a mistake in my current painting, at my job, or in my relationships. I am definitely not ashamed of my paintings, and have actually grown to love them and be proud of my art.

The painting process has accelerated my healing process. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. It has shown me that there is no right or wrong way to paint, and this has carried over into my other daily life experiences and the way I react to them.

I have read tons of self help books, which were terrific, but not tangible or tactile. The painting and the process Chris teaches are physical manifestations of healing -- proof right before your eyes, that YOU created, that you can heal and are doing so in the moment. Thank you very much Chris for showing me that it is possible to get to the other side of pain, fear and loss, and live to tell about it!

    -- Lisa Sheridan,
       Sales Representative

Painting from the Wild Heart has made a profound difference in my life. Chris is an extraordinary human being, undoubtedly the most compassionate person I've ever met. With great gentleness and wisdom she helps you tap into unknown parts of yourself. She empowers you to empower yourself, create without restrictions and go on a journey of discovery. You don't have to "know" what you are painting or "how" to paint it! Touching into your heart, soul, intuition, the mystery or just playing, It is always an adventure. Chris has made a place for us to share to trust and just be who we are in all our variations. It is powerful.

    -- Jean McVay,
       Clay Artist

Painting from the Wild Heart has changed my life. It's a great way of exploring complicated issues from the gut instead of from the head. So it's ideally suited for working on "nonverbal" or deep seated psychological issues. I've used it to grieve for a dying pet, prepare for family visits, and deal with physical illnesses. The ability of a piece of paper to contain contradictory, confusing and mysterious feelings all at once never ceases to amaze me. Chris Zydel does a great job of creating a safe and welcoming space in which I can express joy, sadness and confusion. It's also just plain fun! Each week I leave class feeling lighter, happier, more optimistic. nothing stops me from going to paint class.

    -- Sandra Whisler,
       non-profit CFO

In my painting workshops with Chris, I learn to trust and follow my own energies. This I share at home with my pre-school grandchildren. I hope they never lose their trust in their own selves.

    -- Anne Ziebur

First, Chris Zydel's Painting from the Wild Heart class helped put me in touch with the sometimes delightful, sometimes difficult (read, tortured o:)) flow of the brush against the canvas. What a bold feeling! -- Paint dripping off your brush, moving your body any way to get the flow of what is uppermost in your mind that day, the shapes and colors, out on the canvas.

Then, when I would get stuck, Chris' refrain, "What happens next? What would like to happen next? Name three things." Which mantra I have been using in my writing life. It helped ground and keep me in the moment, moving forward, taking small bites instead of huge world-sized-ego bites. Chris taught me to recognize the voice of the censor when it raises its ugly head and how to laugh at and then banish the beast.

Chris trusted and allowed me to listen to my own heart, my own inner guidance, my own wild intuitions, hunches, dreams -- and to trust myself in those places, in both my artistic and personal lives. What a hugely alive gift!

I've discovered a poetic, moody, cartoon-like, amusing, amused, whimsical, ultra-fun side to myself. Who is this? I used to think in my early days of the Wild Heart classes, moving my brush or pen or pastels across the canvas. Is this really who I am? Now I think, How wonderful a journey, what a wonderful kid/girl/woman/soul I am!

Under Chris' gentle and accepting eye, I have come to love the flow of my own moods, my extravagances, pet peeves and follies, the ebb and flow of being a woman. Chris taught me to go into the dark blues and greys and black, colors whose heaviness I had long been afraid of and shunned. Once I came to embrace those wild, deep parts of myself -- "That's where the aliveness is, the juice," Chris reminded us -- then I could fall in love with myself and take steps in both my artistic/public life and my personal life with confidence.

Sometimes, often, overhearing her counsel to my classmates, I felt as if her calm words to others were meant for my ears as well; the synergy and camaraderie and friendship/support in the room is terrific. Who would know that I would come to love our sharing at the beginning of class so much?

The limitlessness of this painting life is amazing and awe-inspiring. I always wish classes were just an hour longer.

Thank you, Chris, for being such a grand teacher & first-rate muse!

    -- Kat Steele,
       Writer