“Carolyn, thank you, thank you, thank you! I had such an expanding, opening experience in the painting weekend. I truly believe those two days painting in your studio have changed my life! I love looking at my paintings. I just looked at my bicycle painting again, and it just makes me smile every time I see it!” Deborah LMT, Acupuncturists, Portland Oregon
“Ahhhh.. so wonderful.. Love Love love the workshop and the opening of my creative heart and mind. such a wonderful experience.. when I got home Sunday.. I sat at my Piano and played played played. I so enjoyed the whole experience. Your awesome. You rock!…… and your laughter!.. such a delight……. sweet dreams.” Samuel, Portland Oregon
I cannot tell you how much I appreciated your kindness and guidance this weekend. I love the work that we did. I hope to do some more work with you in the future. Thank you!
“It was a great experience that I would recommend to anybody interested in letting go. Carolyn leads you through this experience very gently.” Paula Austin, Web Designer, Portland Oregon
“Carolyn’s enthusiasm for process painting is contagious. She presents the information in a clear and effective manner, then “gets out of the way” so that each participant can move through their individual journey with their piece. She facilitates the workshop with an attitude of openness, non-judgment, and gratefulness for each person’s individuality”. I just finished adding my pics and description of my experience of the workshop to my blog, so I’m giving you a link to it: http://www.eyeconart.net/blog/ Thanks so much for a wonderful adventure. Robin Urton, Artist, Portland Oregon
What a treat to see how the painting evolved!! I can’t thank you enough for the experience. I feel calmer, happier and much more in touch with my joyful 6 year old self. It was so freeing for me to find that place of pure joy, no expectation, and just play. It was also so instructional for me to feel the energy sink to my feet when I started to develop an agenda/judgement about what I was doing. Honestly, Carolyn, it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a looooong time (and the best $160 I have ever spent) and I look forward to working with you again soon. Linda Klein, MD, Portland Oregon.
As a ‘non-painter’ I found the workshop was a great opportunity to explore and challenge some of my beliefs about not being able to paint, let go and find my natural style of painting. The materials were designed for spontaneity and just ‘going with it’ and the emphasis was on going with my instinct and letting it happen. I took away from the workshop an appreciation of my ability to paint and recognition that I have a unique, definite style of painting that comes about when I just ‘let go’. Jon Willis, Life Coach, Portland Oregon
I took your Workshop because I certainly believed in your approach of emphasizing process rather than product. I still believe this is a very valid approach for teaching art and helping people tap their inner creativity. Michael E. Sikes, Ph.D., Portland Oregon
I was drawn to your flyer both for the opportunity to paint and for the possibility of developing my intuition. I had that excited feeling that told me this would be a good thing to do. I was hoping to breakthrough my own resistance that keeps me from creative endeavors. It was an absolutely marvelous weekend, and I would recommend it to anyone. Sharon, Portland Oregon
I took Carolyn Winkler’s weekend class on finding your authentic self in January of 2007. It was a wonderful experience. We periodically took breaks to check in with everyone, and to talk about what blocks there were. We all semed very invested in a perfect look, a “good” “finished” “product”. What was so liberating was doing layer after layer *on top* of one another. So we had the chance to let go of the outcome, and just go with the process, and experiment.
The final piece is very different from anything I’ve done before or since (this is the only time so far I have used this method). At the time, I thought I was randomly making shapes and pleasing myslef with patterns (paper cutouts) and textures (*very* wet gloppy swirls). But when it was put up on the wall, I began to see clear shapes, that have meaning for me in my inner landscape (one shape turned into a warrior, for instance, done in a huge, open way I would not have been brave enough to do, had I been setting out to make a warrior). There are areas of the piece that look abstract still. Over time, different shapes have become apparent. For awhile, one puzzled me; then after a time, I realized what it meant.
The whole thing is like a spiritual metaphor for my values and worldview, and for what is happening, and what will happen (there’s a promise predicted there too). It feels like a validation from my concept of the divine saying “I see you, and I know what’s going on. And I’ve got you covered – though it may not seem like it.”
Need I say, I am so *very* glad I took the class. 2007 was a hard year for me, and this piece has sustained me. Thank you to Carolyn for doing this work, for love, especially when she could be putting her feet up instead. Zoe Bell, Portland Oregon
I have spent most of my adult life trying to build a house for my soul. Through counseling and relationships I had collected the boards, the pipes, the wire, and the nails. But no matter how many times I stacked these materials together the best I could do was build some kind of lean-to. It was a good enough place to weather a storm but nothing like the house I wanted. The Intuitive Painting class I took with Carolyn gave me the stone I needed to build a strong foundation. And the Journaling class gave me the saw and hammer I needed to not only build a house for my soul but a home I am proud to share with the other’s. Tammy, Portland Oregon