Synopses & Reviews
Life, Paint And Passion is a deeply involving approach to using the creative process as a tool for self-discovery. With vibrant and contagious enthusiasm, the authors liberate the reader's urge to create freely and spontaneously, as a painter or an artist in another medium, purely for the process of exploration, not for result.
With eloquence and simplicity, the authors encourage the reader to journey inward toward his or her authentic self and discover the unique intuition awaiting there. It is this intuition that provides all the tools the reader needs to crumble the barrier between the innermost self and its uncensored manifestation.
Through lively interviews with students, the authors explore painting as a practice that facilitates the ecstasy of unfettered expression. With simple brushes, a few dishes of paint, and this book, the reader will be able to coax the hidden self out of the heart and onto a paper.
Life, Paint And Passion is the result of nearly thirty years of intensive work with the painting process. It provides powerful insights into the act of creation, a solid base for facing and transcending creative blocks, and brings fresh perceptions and healing to life.
About the Author
Michele Cassou was born and raised in southern France. As a young adult she moved to Paris where she studied law, literature, and art. Inspired by watching children paint, she discovered a way to express herself spontaneously and without need for conventional training. By her early twenties painting had become her fulltime passion. A unique approach to creativity grew out of her many years of "just painting for herself" and her intense desire to share her work led her to work with other people and to lead groups in the creative process. In 1976 she founded the Painting Experience Studio in San Francisco where she has touched many people's lives through ongoing classes and workshops, as well as in centers throughout the United States. She continues to paint and teach in the San Francisco Bay area.
Table of Contents
the right image
if it's already painted in your head, why paint it?
be careful, they might teach you something!
the wisdom of the child
chaos, the soil of creation
beauty
the "I want"
just play
pick only ripe apples
awaken your image maker!
sensing
exploring the unknown
what is ugly?
the mind is a thief
do not kill the void
abstract forms or concrete images?
don't trample the flowers
creative destruction
feeling and painting
interpretation vs. insight
the body knows
if you do not listen to your intuition, it will stop talking to you!
on second thought...
dark shadows
on finishing
welcome to the earth
self-discovery
a little life left
resistance
to create is to be a little lost
the brick wall: creative blocks
a horse is a horse is a horse
to care and not to care
break the rules!
follow your brush, but don't follow your brush
tricks and crutches
repetition, compulsion, and indulgence
feeling vs. emotion
monsters unleashed!
is it therapy?
erotic images
painting god
going toward the light
levels of completion
a good comment is a bad comment
the process is the teacher
dark or light?
you are not your painting!
creativity and the spirit
art process as spiritual practice
if painting were just about painting...
appendix: brushes, paints, and paper