Welcome to my blog page! I love writing about the healing power of the creative process. Here you will find a collection of all of my writing from all the way back to 2005! Enjoy!
I don't really watch television, (well OK, except for LOST which I only watch on my laptop so somehow that doesn't seem to count), but I know that there is a show out there called Britain's Got Talent. I THINK it's one of those shows kind of like American Idol (which...
In my intuitive painting classes the first thing that I tell people is that there are no mistakes when you are painting. Everything that shows up on the paper is something that needs to be there. This idea that you really can't do anything wrong is a concept that most...
I am somewhat addicted to personal growth. I can't even begin to tell you how many thousands of dollars and thousands of hours I have spent attending workshops, reading books and talking with my friends, husband and various paid professionals about the complicated...
In this next chapter of Gail McMeekins 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women she is talking about the issue of creative collaboration, and I realized as I was reading this that my professional creative life has been one long journey of collaboration. I really couldn't...
This post is in response to chapter 7 of 12 secrets Of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin and the topic this week has to do with guides. The question posed is " How are we guided, who guides us and where does guidance come from? What kind of creative guidance do...
I recently came across a fabulous group of women blogger artists who are being organized by Jamie Ridler and are working with the book the 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin. Each week whoever wants to reads the assigned chapter and then crafts a...
One of the things that I love about the creative process, at least most days, is how it keeps me honest. The truth is where the juice lies and as long as I'm "keepin it real" I am continually blessed with an abundant sense of energy and aliveness. However, aliveness...
My husband is very anxious when we travel because he is always afraid that we are going to be robbed while we are out of town. Not too long after we first bought our home, we went away for a weekend and before we left we asked our new, friendly next door neighbor to...
In a recent article that I wrote I talked a lot about being willing to accept whatever shows up in your painting, even if it doesn't match up to your hopes and expectations about what you want it to be. One of my students got back to me and said "Yes, that...
When I'm writing my creative process looks like this... 1.) First, the inspiration. I get what seems like a genius idea to explore something or another. Then I hook up to wherever this stuff actually comes from and begin the process of downloading words and phrases...
The other night I was headed to my studio in my car to teach a painting class. My route to work is along the freeway and I am normally a speed demon behind the wheel, but for some reason on this particular evening I was driving at a reasonable, non breakneck pace in...
I have been doing something interesting in one of my weekly women's groups as part of our commitment to creativity. In my Thursday evening group we spend an hour each week engaging in some kind of creative process, and we have done many kinds of things over the...
When I am needing some cheap and easy stress reduction I take a couple of minutes to visit a website/blog called www.cuteoverload.com. This site is filled with absolutely adorable photos and videos of all types of critters from doggies to donkeys doing whatever...
I was at a woman's writer's workshop in Taos, New Mexico last year, and found myself at dinner sitting across from a riot of a feisty old woman who was talking about these children's books she'd written. Her main character is a rascal and an adventurer, a boy named...
Recently I was shopping at my local art store. Now when I go shopping for art supplies I buy LOTS of stuff because I have the excuse that I am buying all these great things for my students and classes. It's actually one of the best parts about being an intuitve...
by Chris Zydel, MA A few weeks ago I came across an astonishing lecture that was given by a woman named Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD. also known as The Singin' Scientist. The talk she gave was titled My Stroke of Insight and she presented it at the TED (Technology,...
One of the places where my students will often find themselves getting stuck or stopped in the intuitive painting process is when they encounter the common fear of ruining a painting. One moment they will be happily painting away and then they get an...
People paint for a lot of different reasons. To relax, to express themselves, to create beauty and meaning, to make money, because they have a passion to create, to gain approval, to stay sane, to make sense of the world, to play and have fun. All of the above are...
“We’re lost but we’re making good time.” Yogi Berra As I walk through my painting studio on any given day I am sure to hear at least one plaintive cry of " I hate this painting because it doesn't make any sense!" or " I can't believe that I've spent so...
Over and over again, I hear a common complaint from students in my intuitive painting classes that goes something like this... “My painting doesn't look the way I want it to because I don't have enough artistic training . I can see this perfectly formed image in my...
What is it that allows you to wake up in the morning feeling energized and inspired? The particulars are going to vary, but I think the majority of us feel most alive when we experience being aligned with some greater purpose. That purpose is often related to becoming...
Chris Zydel, MA The creative process is a journey, and like any journey there are times when things are going smoothly and you are just humming along. And then there are the times when everything feels frustrating, blocked and in a tangle. The sticky times are never...
by Chris Zydel, MA In my work as a creativity coach I talk with many, many people who want to be more creative, either as a way to deepen their spiritual practice of self nurturing or who have a specific dream that they long to manifest, like writing a book or forming...
I'm standing in my studio, watching twelve women painting in silence with exquisite focus and concentration. And the energy is just humming. All of a sudden I hear a groan from one of the women and the words "Oh no, I hate it. It's so...
by Chris Zydel, MA I came across a startling statistic recently, which is that more than 90% of all children consider themselves to be creative yet only 10% of adults see themselves as having any creative capacity. So what happened? How do so many of us lose our...
by Chris Zydel, MA How many times have you told yourself, “I want to be more creative in my life” and how many times has that ended up on your New Years resolution list along with wanting to exercise or eat better, with similar disappointing results. Well, I have good...
