Thursday, July 23, 2015

Stepping Into A New Dream

When I decided to scale back my card business a few months ago to make room for new creative projects, I had no idea how quickly and powerfully that space would be filled! It was challenging to let go of something I had built that had brought me satisfaction, confidence, and a sense of identity. 

Two experiences over the last month have left me knowing that I've stepped powerfully onto a new path, into a new dream.
At the end of June I travelled to Portland, Oregon to attend an Intuitive Painting worksop with renowned artist Flora Blowey.  I have followed Flora via her blog for years and was inspired by her creativity and how she empowers people to be brave and bold and trust themselves artistically and in life!
Flora, Pearl dog and I in front of her paintings
The minute I walked into Flora's colorful, light-filled studio, I felt like I had stepped into a place I had been dreaming of. Flora demonstrated techniques she has developed over 20 years of painting, and also shared many wise insights about how to stay free and open while painting. One of my favorites was: 

"Make bold commitments while staying open to change." ~Flora Bowley

My Paintings are the three on the left
Close Up 
Hummingbird Spirit in Progress
In Progress
It was thrilling to play on such a large (36"x36") canvas after five years of painting small (8"x8") for greeting cards. I loved using my whole body to dance across the canvas. One day during the workshop Flora invited a Kora (African 21-stringed harp) player, Will Dudley, to come and serenade us as we painted. I let the music flow right through me onto the canvas. I also had a chance to receive some feedback from Flora about my paintings and a great tip about turning the canvas in all directions to see what orientation "sings" compositionally. Flora demonstrated a variety of techniques using fluid acrylics to produce washes of color, stamping and etching. If you are interested, Flora has a great book, Brave Intuitive Painting, and she also offers an online e-course, Brave Intuitive You.
Photo by Zipporah Lomax
Photo by Zipporah Lomax
I fell in love with Portland and painting large-scale, and just bought an easel so I can paint BIG in my home studio! I appreciate how generously Flora shared herself and how wonderful and supportive her studio assistants Katie and Anya were~ I'm looking forward to attending the level 2 workshop soon!
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Classroom Under the Cedars at Mosswood Hollow
I just returned from a Dream Teacher Training in rural Washington State with Robert Moss, world-renowned dream teacher and author. It was an in-depth study of Active Dreaming techniques that Robert developed, including Lightning Dreamwork, which is a quick process of dream sharing with a partner or group that helps you get to the essential message and energy of a dream and apply it to your life. We also practiced Dream Re-entry and Tracking. Dream Re-entry is a technique used to go back into a dream using shamanic drumming to learn more about a dream and explore within the dreamscape. With Dream Tracking, a partner (or a group of dreamers) enters the dreamer's dream (with permission and the aid of drumming) to explore and support the dreamer. These techniques are simple and potent. Robert has published many books on these techniques, and one of my favorites is Dreaming the Soul Back Home. He also has an e-course beginning 8/5/15 called Dreaming into the Dreamtime: Tapping the Power of Seven World Traditions for Transformation. 
At the Faerie Gate with wonderful new friends
The training was fast-paced, far-reaching, and challenged me in deep and powerful ways. From the start, Robert encouraged us to act as teachers, leading Active Dreaming techniques for the group and discussing our dreams and telling stories as if we were sharing them with the public. Robert stressed the importance of telling good engaging stories! I had an opportunity to lead the group in Lightning Dreamwork as if they were workshop participants in an art and dreaming workshop. Although I was nervous, I trusted myself and stepped into the role of teacher, which felt natural, like what I was born to do. 
Newly Graduated Dream Teachers
My name, Tenaya, means "to dream", "dreamer of wisdom", or "he who dreams" in the native language of the Ahwahnechee of Yosemite. My whole life I have felt like I needed to live into it, to honor my name as a path in life, and I feel like I have taken a definitive step onto this path. As a dream teacher I will lead workshops that bring together the practices of Active Dreaming and Expressive Arts to bring the potent energy and imagery of dreams into tangible form to inspire and empower waking life. 
Robert and I under the cedars
I will have a chance to study with Robert again in November at Esalen, and next July for Teacher Training Level 2 and Level 3 after that.

I'm so grateful to be walking this path~ I give thanks to my dad (who made this possible financially) and who showed up powerfully in a journey last week~ He encouraged me whole-heartedly on this path~ Feeling his love and support from beyond~  











2 comments:

Philomena said...

Congratulations Tenaya!!! So happy for you.
Philomena

Tenaya Amelia said...

Thank you so much Philomela! Hope to get artsy with you again soon! :-)