Nina Ross, PhD

Inspirations

Nina — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:48:59 +0000

During their painting process last week, golden nuggets of wisdom fell from some participants lips:

“This is not about aesthetics, this is about dialoguing with the psyche” LF

“The unknown is more freeing than the known. Wow, that’s a surprise!” DV

“I’m lost for good, I hope.”

What is so refreshing about being lost, or about being in the unknown zone? Many things! We are less attached to what we are doing, so we take more risks. We experiment more, feeling that because we are already lost, we have nothing left to lose. We may even lose some of our identity, even momentarily, which frees us from thinking we have some kind of a style or method that we have to follow.
Freedom, even briefly, is what many people want and need to keep their art , and their lives, refreshed.

More Testimonials from Last painting Group

Nina — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:19:57 +0000

FREEDOM! SAFETY! Thank you for witnessing and flowing in and out of the process. I love the embodied way of painting. Standing up with my heart wide open. Thank you for your gentle support. LF

A creative awakening. Fun and free! A walk away from the everyday. SH

At first it was difficult to get out of my own way…thinking too much. Each time I began a new painting I felt like I had to paint “something.” The last class I was able to clear my mind and just paint. Nina comments that there’s a childlike quality to my work. That makes me laugh because I can’t paint any other way! BS

Discoveries

Nina — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:11:22 +0000

Here are two images by the same person who painted Me Exploded. He went further in his feeling of wanting to let go and not know where the painting was taking him. It seems that he was able to capture feelings of spaciousness and spontaneity. He is very happy with the feeling of these two paintings and cannot believe that he thought he had to “know much more” before he was able to express himself through painting.

Me Exploded: A Painting Experiment

Nina — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:06:26 +0000

A painter, who had never painted before coming to the group, noticed that he thought his painting should "look like something." His mind, like most of our minds, think: art = product. In this particular day that this painting was painted, the painter decided to let go of these concepts completely, and see what would happen. Color exploded, as his concepts of what a painting "should look like" also changed. He felt the freedom to let go and follow what his instincts really wanted to do.He really wanted to see color and a kind of unstructured movement. I think he really achieved it here! He felt joy about both the painting and the process.

Intimacy

Nina — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:40:34 +0000

We “know” so many theories, ideas, and concepts. What we’re not as familiar with, however, is what is closest and most intimate to us.
How our body feels, how our breath moves, what brings us joy and wakes us up. How do we move closer to knowing ourselves in these ways?
I’ve found that stopping and listening is very important. We have to stop listening primarily to our thoughts and ideas and listen more to the rhythms and sensations that move in us in very specific ways. For example, yesterday I worked with someone who was fidgeting and rubbing her hands often while we were speaking. She was telling me that she feels cut off from her body. So, I suggested that she turn her attention to her hands. She had had a broken wrist many years previously, and had generally worked her hands very hard her whole life. “What do your hands and fingers want to do now?” I asked her. The hands wanted to rub her sore shoulders, and then hold her. There was a sweetness and a slowing down, an appreciation of herself that was new found in these movements.

Testimonials from the Last Painting Group

Nina — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:27:27 +0000

“This is one of the safest places I’ve ever experienced.” V.F.
“This is wild shit! You never know what gifts may come. The painting answered is the prayer. The prayer answered is the painting.” V.F.

“It’s such a relief to see that there is a natural healing process which happens when I pick up the paintbrush, drop into my body, and let the journey just happen. It reaffirms to me that “I” don’t have to figure everything out with my mind……that there is safety in letting go.” JB

“This painting..I never know what I’m going to paint. I don’t even know how to paint/ But when I open to the way my body wants to move, somehow emotions arise and painting happens. It also allows all my fears to come forward to be greeted and welcomed into the whole of me.” WL

The next 2 painting groups begin on February 16 and February 17. Experience joy, come paint!

Letting Go Painting

Nina — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:00:35 +0000

A person came to painting group who, I discovered upon talking with her during painting time, is extremely hard on herself. Her father was quite critical of her, and she, as a child, just swallowed all of his harshness into herself and believed all the words. In the painting process, she was judgmental towards what she was doing much of the time. Sometimes, she would cry after realizing just how critical she had become. She’d take a step back, take a deep breath, and go back into the painting with more gentleness and softening.
Finally, she had had enough, and she just let go. No planning, no trying, just painting, which for her at that moment, looked like smushing the colors together. She found some freedom here. And, at the very last moments, she took a piece of paper, and glued it on top of the painting. The painting really did take on a feeling of looseness. Sometimes, we have to clear what’s in the way, fully engage with it, before letting go happens.

Intuition, Action and Risk

Nina — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:35:04 +0000

I met with a friend last night who is a sculptor. Her interest is in making molds of birds that are endangered, especially of vultures.
Last night she told me a story. She was watching a PBS special on vultures in Africa. A woman was being interviewed that runs a sanctuary in Africa. My friend was riveted. After watching the show, she went online and got information about where this sanctuary was , and who to contact. She went online and began a correspondence with the woman who runs this place. To make a long story short, my friend has bought her ticket to Africa. She will be molding vultures, eagles, and perhaps other birds that are being saved especially for her.
My friend trusted her intuition, took action, and a large risk. She followed her passion up to the very last detail. It takes alot of courage to do this.
What is calling to you? Where do you need to trust and act? What will you do, as Mary Oliver states, with your one precious and wild life?

Relief From Not Thinking

Nina — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:21:44 +0000

One of the things that makes art-making so healing is that we “forget” to think about ourselves! Art-making, bringing attention to images, takes the focus off of our usual self-obsession. This is usually felt as a gigantic relief. Hours go by, and where have we been? We don’t know, we’ve been so immersed, that we’ve been outside of time as we know it. The “I”, with it’s usually constant self-reflection, doubt, worry, and just plain imagining the future, slows down, and with it, thoughts slow down, too. I believe that it is this slowing down, and caring or paying attention to something else besides the contents of our thinking, that gives us a cool drink of water, a pleasant refresher.

Keeper of the Secrets

Nina — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:41:51 +0000

When talking about image-making and images with a friend over tea, I admitted that I don’t look for meaning when I make my art. How ironic we laughed that, as an art therapist, I keep quiet when it comes to my own work. My friend said that she understands this. She stated, “We as artists are usually the keeper of the secrets.” Ah, I liked that term immediately. How fun words can be to play with!
We are such keepers of the secrets, I stated, and sometimes, we don’t even know what secrets we’re keeping. Perhaps the art itself plays hide and seek with us., sometimes revealing itself fully, sometimes not. Whatever the case, though, we hold as sacred both what we know, and what we don’t, just being pleased and honored to keep the mystery and aliveness of the images close by.