Wild Heart Painting Online with
Chris Zydel & Tim Lajoie
Monthly sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays
Have You Been Nurturing Your Creative Intuitive Soul?
Tim and I have an important question to ask you, which is how have you been nurturing your creative soul lately? How much attention are you giving to developing your relationship to your intuitive self?
Like many of us, we imagine that you tend to put your need to express yourself creatively on the bottom of your to-do list if it even makes it on the list at all! And you’ve probably gotten into the not so great habit of ignoring your intuitive wisdom as well.
But our intuitive creative being needs regular attention and a place to be held and seen and supported in order to bloom and thrive. And one way we can give our creativity and intuition the attention it needs is by developing an ongoing intuitive creative practice.
Which is one of the main reasons that Tim and I created The Wild Heart Intuitive Painting Online classes.
Fall in Love With Your Creative Self!
How It Works…
We offer Monthly sessions of 4 weekly classes that start at the beginning of each month on either Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. The weekly classes are three hours long giving you the time and space to dive into your intuitive painting process in a deeper way.
Each class will include a sacred sharing circle where you get to be seen and heard without judgment, a time to set intentions for your individual painting journey and the opportunity to create a sense of compassionate community with other people in the class by being witnessed at a deep soul level. Each class will also include teachings about the intuitive painting process and meditations to help you connect with your soulful embodied self.
After the circle sharing and teachings everyone will begin to paint. Either Tim or I will be in the circle with you all the whole time we are in class together, witnessing you as you paint and taking time to connect with each of you individually in a soul conversation about your painting process. These conversations are designed to deepen your connection to your intuitive wisdom, help you when you feel stuck or lost and to keep you on track with your creative flow.
Sometimes we will be providing you guidance, other times it will be unmitigated creative support. We will be there to help you get unstuck if you’re floundering, to motivate you when you feel like you’ve hit a wall and to encourage you to step into the mystery and the unknown from a place of joy and trust.
You will also be part of a dynamic creative community circle where you are GUARANTEED to inspire each other with your boldness, your daring and your creative courage.
The purpose of the circle is to create a space where it’s safe to be brave. Where your vulnerability is treated with the greatest kindness and tenderness. Where freedom, spontaneity and untamed self expression are rejoiced in and celebrated. Where you will be encouraged to ALWAYS be yourself and held in a place of deepest honor and respect for your wonderfully unique and individual creative brilliance.
We see this Wild Hearted Intuitive painting process as a spiritual, creative and intuitive practice. And by participating in this class you will be strengthening and deepening your relationship to those practices and bringing them into your life in a more fully embodied way.
If you would like more info about how we think about the intuitive painting process read my Intuitive Painting Practice Paint-ifesto!
There is also a private FaceBook group set up for anyone who participates in these Wild Heart Painting ONLINE LIVE classes so that you can connect and share with other wild hearted painters.
What You Need To Participate…
One thing you DON’T need to be part of this class is ANY experience with painting or art.
This process works if you’re a seasoned artist or if you haven’t picked up a paint brush since kindergarten. You absolutely don’t need to have ANY art experience at all to participate in and to benefit GREATLY from this class. However, you WILL need a computer or some other electronic device, a high speed internet connection, some paints, paper (or canvas) and brushes and a place in your home or studio where you can set up to paint.
Once you register for the class you will receive a letter from us with instructions on HOW to set up your studio space, where to connect with the online platform (we will be using Zoom) tips on some studio practices and recommendations for supplies. Although, you are MORE than welcome to use whatever art supplies you already have on hand.
Class size will be limited to 16 participants which means you will get PLENTY of attention and guidance from us and it will also create a cozy atmosphere of creative support with the other painters.
Our vision for this class is that it will be a way for you to build a sense of creative sanctuary into your week where you can go on your own private mini–painting retreat. We’ve set this up so that is easy, accessible and FUN! And we’re SO looking forward to going on this soul journey with you into your own intuitive painting process.
Meet you in the virtual studio!!!
From our wild heart to yours,
Chris & Tim
Monthly Sessions of
4 Week Classes
Mondays 6 – 9pm
Wednesdays 10am – 1pm
Thursdays 10am – 1pm
Fridays 10am – 1pm
(All times are Pacific Coast time zone)
Location
Each class will be held in our own private online video chat room for 16 people! Details and links will be emailed to you when you sign up. We will be using the Zoom video conferencing platform.
Technical Requirements
Before signing up for Wild Heart Painting Live Online please check to make sure that the computer, phone, or device you will be using to access the Zoom video conferencing platform meets their minimum requirements. You can find that information by following the link below. At a minimum you will need:
- An internet connection
- A webcam (the one built into your computer or device should work fine)
- A pair of headphones or speakers
- A microphone (the one built into your computer or device should work fine)
Supplies & Materials
Whatever supplies you already have at home (art supplies, journal, etc) are PERFECT since it’s what you are familiar with. Really – you can have a super elaborate painting studio or just a piece of paper and a pencil. There is NO way to do this wrong. However, you can also see the list of supplies that we recommend but realize that you are not obligated to use these supplies or buy from the vendors listed. This list is just to give you a starting point if this is all new to you.
Reconnect With You!
Cancellation Policy
The tuition fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, so please shop mindfully. Credit or refunds will not be given for missed sessions. We also do not offer refunds for technical issues, limitations of your computer, devices, or internet connection so please be sure to check the minimum requirements before registering.
Upcoming Sessions…
We offer sessions on a monthly basis and you can checkout the schedules for the next couple of months below. All times listed are in the pacific time zone. Please note that most sessions are 4 weeks long. However, due to holidays and vacations, some sessions may be 5 weeks long. Please check the upcoming schedule below for the length of each session.
November 2024 Session
Monday, 6pm – 9pm on November 4, 11, 18 and December 2, 2024. 4 classes. $180
Wednesday, 10am – 1pm on November 6, 13, 20 and December 4, 2024. 4 classes. $180
Thursday, 10am – 1pm on November 7, 14, 21 and December 5, 2024. 4 classes. $180
Fridays, 10am – 1pm on November 8, 15, 22 and December 6, 2024. 4 classes. $180
Wild Heart Painting Online Future Registration List
If you aren’t able to attend a session this month then please add your name to our future registration list to be notified when registration opens for the next session. We will send you an invitation to register about a week before the start of the next session.
Gift Certificates for One Monthly Session
of
Wild Heart Painting Online
Now Available!
This gift certificate is good for attendance at one monthly session of Wild Heart Painting Online (4 weekly classes). Once purchased you will receive a receipt including a link to view the gift certificate with a custom code that can be printed or emailed to whomever you choose. Please note that gift certificates cannot be transferred to another event or service and are not refundable.
Nourish Your Creative Soul!
About Us…
Chris Zydel
Wild Heart Expressive Arts Facilitator & Founder of Creative Juices Arts
My muses are love, mystery and magic. Color and music. Paint. Luminous language and wild, wiggly words. Turquoise jewelry. My various creative tribes. Glitter and glue guns. My totally supportive and completely adorable husband. Cowboy boots. The red rock desert and, as always, my deep and abiding connection with spirit and the sacred heart. I also adore my work madly and I am never happier than when I am helping people to find their way back to their authentic creative source.
I have been running my own business teaching intuitive painting and expressive arts classes, leading sacred circle women’s creativity groups and facilitating workshops and retreats in some of the most beautiful places in the world for over 40 years and I love what I do. Even after all these years, I wake up most every day filled with gratitude and excitement for the opportunity to work with dynamic, interesting and soulful women to support them in being all of who they are through the magic of authentic creative self expression.
Tim Lajoie
Wild Heart Expressive Arts Facilitator & Founder of Creative Juices Arts
I am a healer, artist, and maker who has been creating my entire life. As a child I would spend hours with pens and paper creating magical worlds and going on grand adventures in addition to building model airplanes, making forts, and painting whenever I could. I believe deeply in the healing and transformative power of creativity that flows through all of us and connects us to a deeper sense of self.
As the other half of Creative Juices Arts, I have worked with Chris for 20 years co-creating everything from workshops, art studios, and the Creative Juices Arts Expressive Arts Teacher Training program. For the past several years I have co-taught the Teacher Training with Chris and love supporting everyone to step into their own power and strength. I am trained in the Hakomi method of somatic psychotherapy.
Amy Alaman
Wild Heart Expressive Arts Facilitator
I am an artist, maker, whimsy chaser, and champion for radical self-love, social justice, and joyful liberation. Growing up I staunchly identified as a “non-artist” because my inner critic and self-judgment was so all-encompassing, but finding my big, bold, colorful, authentic self in the intuitive painting process has completely shifted the trajectory of my life’s path.
I discovered creative, artistic expression as a spiritual practice in a class with Chris 9 years ago, and have been painting with her and Tim ever since. In 2019 I went through the teacher training certification and founded Sacred Paintbrush Arts, where I lead intuitive painting classes and workshops, with an emphasis on creating circles for women of color. Being a soft, safe place for people when they are in their vulnerability is the greatest feeling on earth, and my life’s work is to lovingly witness and foster healing in those moments.
Follow Your Intuition…
What People Are Saying About
The Wild Heart Painting Process!
The breakthroughs that I experience again and again at the Painting from the Wild Heart retreats continue to stun and amaze me. Chris creates a safe, nurturing and loving environment that overflows with unconditional acceptance and trust. In painting as well as processing, the participants are encouraged to hold nothing back and all that pours forth from us is witnessed and held as the sacred offering that it is. The painting process has a mysterious way of bypassing the mind, the censors, the ego, the defenses, and what comes through is astonishing in its purity and wisdom. I have experienced an enormous amount of healing and growth in the two years that I have been painting and processing with Chris. She is a modern-day shaman and a great gift to those of us on the path toward healing and wholeness and yearning to live in the fullness of our creativity.
It’s been over a week since I was at the Wild Heart Painting Retreat, and I finally think I am able to begin to put into words what happened…what I experienced…AND how I became awakened and enlightened all in one big wave. I think. I think I’m ready. The thing is…I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect ANY of this. I thought for the most part I would go to this retreat and get my paint on. I had intentions to paint BIG and that’s about it. Well, maybe I didn’t have expectations…but I knew. I knew that this would be a weekend of more then getting my paint-on. More then painting big. But I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect that I would have such a deeper understanding of myself that I would have to come back home and rearrange everything–to better fit this new Creative Juicy Life I have decided to finally possess completely. You see, I learned a few things. I learned that number one–I am always guided. Seriously. Always guided. And this guidance is so simple–so easy–so present–and so damn loud–that I don’t know how I’ve missed it before. This guidance is the exact thing I’ve been looking for for years when it comes to my Art and my painting. For some reason–this guidance–this voice I heard became fully alive when I was at the Creative Juices Arts studio–that at times it became overwhelming, even frustrating, and sometimes frightening. This guidance…this voice…this Queen…this Goddess guided me to paint..and through painting….everything began to unravel and reveal itself to me. For one thing, I learned that I am by heart, by soul, by life–a painter. This is the one and true constant that has been with me since my youth. This is the one and true thing I know about myself. For as long as I live, I know painting will always be a big part of who I am–and why I was placed upon this planet at this time. And when I say painting, I mean the sacred act of picking up a brush and letting the color, line, pattern, images, and story become an honest expression of who I am at that moment. And as I spent the weekend painting in silence, I examined how I felt about painting–instead of examining my painting itself. And this made the world of difference. This was groundbreaking. This is how I began to awaken. I learned that enough is enough. I have purpose here on this planet. That what I do has purpose. Even if the monetary “value” says differently. I learned that I believe…yes, deep down, with all my heart, believe in Art–especially painting. I believe in it as a bridge to the spirit world–to that juicy part of my existence that I struggle finding connection with sometimes. I learned that I madly, passionately LOVE the part of me that longs to paint and draw and create wildly that I am willing to take a huge risk to see HER live her dreams completely. I am done with pushing HER in the corner and waiting for the right moment, time, or place for HER to spread HER wings. I am ready to let HER go crazy–and to paint–live–and breathe each breath into HER truest self COMPLETELY. On my last day of the retreat, all of us dangerously, wild heart women sat together and talked about our experience so far. I broke into tears and said that I felt fucked! Because now I had to go home and rearrange everything to fit this new Creative Juicy Life I have discovered.
Chris created a safe space to let my painting tell me what it wanted! As a Virgo, I love order–this process allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and surprise myself with more pleasure!
The Wild Heart weekend painting workshop is still with me and I do want to thank you for an incredible experience. You really freed up something in me — to just go inside and trust and not worry about how it looks. AND the weekend has inspired me to start painting on my own. I look forward to doing it again!
Thank you so much for a wonderful workshop. It was so great to have the space to explore my inner world … I learned a lot from what you said before the class started — the fact that this type of painting is about UNlearning — deprogramming ourselves, removing the conditioning and deeply imbedded core beliefs that limit us from moving forward. And I loved the part about feeding the intuition and starving the Critic — I have found lately that I need a lot of alone time to really tune in to my intuition and ask myself if what I am doing is what I want to be doing. What struck me most about what you said was about BEING as opposed to PERFORMING. I used to work as a professional singer and, although I enjoyed it a lot of the time, a change occurred in the last 2 years of my career, and I stopped loving it. You helped me to understand that I lost my voice because my body was tired — tired of constantly having to be someone else in order to be seen, recognized and acknowledged. Thanks again, Chris — your workshop is always a powerful experience.
After my first Wild Heart painting retreat at Chris’s magical and funky studio in Oakland, I returned home in a state of exhaustion and amazement. For the first time since then, I just unfurled the paintings I made during that weekend, and am once again stunned at what the intuitive painting process elicited from me. In the inspiring company of several other Wild Heart painters (some new to the journey like me, some seasoned veterans), guided with sensitivity, compassion, and respect by Chris, I was able to slip out of that seemingly relentless verbal and analytical state of consciousness and into the shadowland of the subconscious, where images and symbols flowed from paint to paintbrush to paper. There is something tremendously liberating about being able to spend two and a half days painting and attending to one’s own emotional and creative needs minus the usual and multiple distractions of daily living. Chris makes it so easy to do just that. I can’t wait to come back.
God(dess)- For Chris Our voices are calling. Siren song drawing beckoning embrace Come! Lay your head and heart safely here. Sisters shine a beacon. Gleeful giggles or solemn sighs are welcome, welcome Stomp inside the moist cave, juicy myth drum your feet awaken Mother let her sing out from our hands from our eyes from our baying throat head thrown back and mouth open to the stars. Have we lured you to the rocks? So be it. It was never about you. –hatt kelley
It was a fabulous workshop. I had no idea that I could survive all weekend painting (now, at 66, I try to schedule naps!) but the energy of the process carried me. It’s the first time in my life, for a long time, I’ve felt free of analysis and production and that freedom was precious.
What a wonderful weekend experience you created! When I look at my paintings in the order I did them, I am amazed at how I was able to increasingly take risks to attempt things I didn’t know how to do and then to experience awe and curiosity about my work, rather than judgement or criticism. And I didn’t need to be perfect!! One of my last paintings came from a very emotional situation I find myself in…allowing myself to paint my feelings brought incredible insight and clarity and I feel far more peaceful, even though nothing has changed (except me)! Always the answer, isn’t it? Thanks so much for a very sacred experience. Blessings to you.
When I got home with my paintings I put them on the wall in my studio and marveled at the energy in them, compared to the rest of my work. I’m a believer.
The weekend non-residential retreat was a good way to spend a quiet, meditative weekend after a hectic work week: time with oneself, painting in an environment shared with others who are on a similar journey inward. Great people, great food, and Chris’ support on a wondrous journey into putting colors, shapes, images and glitter on paper.
This past weekend allowed me to stop and get in touch with those parts of myself that are hidden by the busyness of life. I got in touch with both the joyous parts of me and the parts that are painful and need nurturing and love. It is only through taking time for myself through retreats such as these that I can truly explore my life journey and how to live each day with full appreciation. Chris, I can’t thank you enough for the work that you do and support that you provide to me along the way. I am blessed to have the opportunity to paint in your presence.
This past weekend with Chris was a pure treat. She invoked and held sacred space for us to expand into our authenticity in both painting and personal interaction. Her joyful laugh was there to lead us back to our own joy, while her depth rooted us in our own experience, whatever that was in the moment. Chris’s warm heart radiated light and love all weekend long, and the glow inspired us all to open our hearts too. It had been a long time since I had basked in the glow of a group of women on fire, and I have to say I feel dedicated to seek out more of this in my life, because life is so much more fun when lived in this open way! Thank you Chris for your grace and your commitment to sharing what you know.
My experience in Chris Zydel’s weekend workshop was beyond delicious! As a professional writer, I’m very familiar with the creative process, but by partnering with Chris under her mindful guidance, I opened to my creativity in ways I’ve never experienced, and didn’t know possible. Her availability to each painter is respectful and mindful. She’s intuitively aware of each painter’s individual approach and needs–she met me exactly where I was and encouraged me to stretch myself. I did so because it was safe. What a gift the whole experience was. And I can’t believe how much fun I had! I can’t wait for the next opportunity to paint with her. Five words: Love it, highly recommend it!
I came all the way from Ohio for this painting retreat since we have nothing like it in my area. It was exactly what I was hoping it would be. The studio, Chris, and the women in the group … I felt so at home and comfortable and supported the whole weekend. I have found myself expanding in so many ways as a result of this process. I am more gracious with myself, more forgiving of myself, and much more open to adventure and possibility. I have been practicing this process on my own in Ohio since I have been back. I have found myself looking at the world in more vivid color as I allow myself the time to create just for creation’s sake. The painting doesn’t have to make sense, it doesn’t have to mean anything … the freedom that I have felt in alot of other areas of my life has been such a gift. It has been teaching me that I am free to be ME and that ME is a good thing to offer to the world. What a breakthrough. I can be who I am regardless of what other people think. I am becoming comfortable with being me. It is amazing how putting a little bit of paint on a brush and applying it to paper can transform your old thinking patterns into beautiful new adventures.
Dear Chris, I would like to share with you why I love the non-residential retreats. The people who seem to come to these retreats are the people who know from the inside out the true meaning of creativity … that for me means being accepted along with my art for exactly who I am, where I am, and what it looks like with all my frailties hanging out all over the place. You create a safe environment that nourishes the soul and heals the heart. The group process allows the critic to dissolve like butter. When I see art flowing out of others that reveals their true spirit, I know I have come home and I am in the right place. Your painting studio is warm, inviting, and comfortable and I appreciate all the natural light. I love having so many varied mediums available to me including the pastel crayons, glitters, and acrylics as well as the tempera paints. Having a young child of my own makes the non-residential retreats perfect for me because I can check in at home yet still take the time to nurture myself … something I don’t do often enough. Thank you for providing me with so much love and encouragement to become who I am today as an artist and as an individual, for they are too intertwined to separate. My deepest gratitude and love.
I feel that the Painting from the Wild Heart Weekend definitely helped me rekindle my creative spirit and allowed me to engage in other types of creativity and not just painting. Writing is something I’ve done throughout my career; research, journalism, etc. and I’ve played around with fiction. The weekend gave me ‘permission’ to further explore my fiction writing. I think that the therapeutic aspects of the weekend were most helpful to me, in helping me to realize and accept my passage into later life without fear and in fact, almost with a sense of joy.
