Won't you join me?- "Newsletter" Reflections on Art, Music and Life!

I am working on a new project that I am getting very encouraged and excited to share! Beginning next month I will launch a monthly newsletter that you are cordially invited to be a part of! My hope is to offer creative encouragement through writing, poetry, journaling exercises, reflections on the healing journey and other musings on art, music and life! I will also use this newsletter to have a monthly giveaway and showcase new work for sale, upcoming therapeutic collage and art journaling workshops as well as other special events and happenings on my website! If you would like to receive this newlsetter please sign up on the right sidebar in the aqua-colored box marked "Healing Expression's Newlsetter". If you would be kind enough to share the news on your blog, let me know and I will add your name twice to the first month's giveaway!



Thank you to everyone for your overwhelming response to the One World One Heart Giveway! Thank you to Lisa Swifta for organizing another wonderful event! I so enjoyed participating again this year and am happy to announce the winner of my Glass Butterfly Necklace is "Julia at Vintage With Laces"!

Please stop by and visit Julia's beautiful blog!



I was thrilled to receive my "Decorative Art Girlie" from Kelly Rae Roberts new collection this week! I adore the spirit behind her work. The words really spoke to me:

Listen to Your Life
DREAM BIGGER
unleash your joy
embrace vulnerability
WHAT IS CALLING YOU?
love with abandon
get quiet...just be
REDISCOVER YOUR PASSION
Nurture Your Soul
Allow the blessings to sink in and stay awhile
Surround yourself with good people
HONOR YOUR INTUITION








ART JOURNAL REFLECTION:(Click image to enlarge) What does it mean to risk the leap for you today? What do you need to let go of to take the plunge? What might you be afraid of? Where might it take you if you dared? What is the one, small "next thing" you could do just for today?

Body Reconciliation.......

So much to share. Its been such a week of deep emotions...I have needed time to just process all that is being woven around, under, over and through my heart. But first, I am so sorry for the delay in announcing the Art Blessing Giveaway winner! All of your names were gathered in my butterfly box and it gives me great joy to bless Susan Baldwin (Blog, "JensmeresJoy") with the little handmade journal. Please take a moment to stop by her inspirational blog! Thank you to everyone for your sharing and encouragement! Although I may not always be able to respond to all of your comments, please know each are cherished and I am honored that you took a few minutes to share your hearts!

This is a very special week in watching the seeds burst through the soil of a dream that I have shared with several woman who have traveled the long journey to recovery from sexual abuse and to healing our relationship with our bodies. Many years ago, there were several of us whose paths began to cross, hearts were shared, tears shed and journeys traveled. Over time, and difficult years of each indivually working through our own painful pasts, we began to share a vision to see our creative energies and gifts brought together to offer a safe place where those who had been hurt could come and experience healing in heart, spirit, body and soul. Tonight marks the opening of the Non-Profit called "Body Reconciliation" that I am so blessed to be a part of. My dear friend, Cristi Dillon, is founder of this sacred place and she and several other dear friends have partnered together to begin to offer workshops, resources, speakers, and other events for those in our community who seek healing and a healthy relationship with the bodies they call home. We all took part in a recently filmed news story by Tracy Barry of our local Channel 8 News. The story aired tonight and can be seen here at the KGW.com website (Giving Back: Healing Abuse Survivors). It was a huge step of faith to reveal ourselves this way but we each know God has been leading this process all along and we are simply stepping into our part of His larger redemptive story.


So tonight I sit in awe of how God is redeeming what was painfully stolen from each of us as little girls. My deepest prayer is that by sharing this message of hope we might be able to touch one other "little girl" out there who suffers in silence and is needing to find a safe place to reveal her heart, heal the shame...and come home to her body. If you would like to encourage our vision your prayers for this place would be greatly appreciated. For those who would like to financially support this new non -profit, information can be found on the Body Reconciliation website link above!

Upcoming Seminar......

I am honored to have been asked to present a seminar for therapeutic professionals this month to share creative processes and tools for clients who struggle with the dissociative effects of severe trauma and abuse. If you or someone you know is a therapist, counselor, or works in the mental health profession, and would be interested in attending, you may find all the information here on my website. This opportunity is at the heart of my deepest passion and I am so looking forward to speaking and sharing art that promotes the uncovering of painful secrets and soul healing!

Custom Journals....

It has always been my deepest pleasure to create pieces that are specially ordered by one person to be sent to bless another who might be a friend or loved one. Many times, when I have these requests, the work is for someone who is going through a difficult time. This custom journal was created this past week for a customer of mine who wanted to give something special to a family member who had lost their mother. She hoped to offer a place for words, memories and even the grieving process to be expressed amidst the pages of the journal. I truly enjoy creating pieces that have such a special purpose. I love being the messenger in the middle...a bridge for one soul to reach across and bring encouragement to another.I always smile when I get to write the special card attached to the piece that says', You are being specially blessed today by____"!While creating the journal, I remembered a beautiful song I had the honor of singing at a service for my dear friend's father called "With Hope" (By Steven Curtis Chapman). The words are so meaningful for anyone who has lost someone so I thought I would have it playing with this post.

You can see other journals that were given as gifts too on my website. I hope to have a few more available soon and am also taking special orders for the holidays now. A custom journal might just be the unique gift you have been looking for to give this holiday!

Art Blessing Giveaway!

Its that time again! I have assembled a sweet fall-themed offering for my art blessing giveaway for the month of October. As the season of Thanksgiving is fast approaching, I was reflecting on how grateful I am for the support and encouragement so many have sent my way and for those I am fortunate to be walking alongside in spreading a message of hope through creative healing. The winner of this giveaway will receive a print of my original collage "Love, Hope, Believe" framed in an 8x8 inch wooden frame and a pumpkin spice candle with decorative ring of leaves and fall colors! If you would like to have your name included in the drawing for this "Art Blessing" just leave your name and email in the comment section. If you would like to share one thing you are thankful for today... please do! Then on Sunday, Nov. 2, I will draw the name of one who I will be happy to bless with this fall ensemble!

I had a such a meaningful time this weekend sharing my artwork at the "Betrayal Redeemed" Conference at Mountain Park Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The conference was sponsored by Dr. Earl and Sandy Wilson of Tuff Stuff Ministries. I was side by side with friends and fellow "soul travelers", Florence McDavid of Journeys Rest, Meg Wilson author of "Hope After Betrayal" and Traci Nelson from "Still Waters". We each shared our hearts for the wounded at vendor tables for about over 100 woman who attended the conference. Although the source of my own woundedness and betrayal was not found in my marriage, I was deeply impacted by the many speakers and counselors who brought hope and resources to encourage and give support for any woman who has been impacted by intimate betrayal at the hands of someone she loved. I was humbled at what God does when you just show up, offer who you are and your own story and then let Him do the rest. When I am tempted to give into insecurity, fear, or feeling inadequate and not equipped to be of any help to those He brings my way.....He will bring an encounter that reminds me I can release my human frailty, take hold of God's hand and not be any more than I truly am in that moment and time in my own journey. It always helps me breathe in more deeply of what He is doing in the hearts of those who are hurting around me...and breathe out more fully and I hope... authentically who I am. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you'll join in the fall giveaway!

Creative Invitations.....

I came across this video earlier and thought I would share it with you. I am always moved by stories of how art moves pain that has been hidden and contained within the body and soul...how the imagery transforms that pain and slowly over time offers healing. What the artist shares in her paintings is raw...and real...and honest. What emerges is images and symbols that have personal meaning in her own story. The imagery of pain is stark and can be graphic and bold...maybe disturbing to some. Reaching in and spreading it across the blank page is an act of redemption. It is the taking hold of something unspoken inside and giving it a voice. Sometimes those voices need to question...or scream...or weep...or just reach out to the external realm and be validated. I think you have to live outside the world's box to risk exploring as this artist has done. You have to be willing to not have things all clean and tidy...or pretty or neatly explained. You have to be willing to listen and then hold in your hands the images that greet you. There in lies the risk.....

Be sure to pause the music playlist on my blog on the lower left hand sidebar before viewing)


I find myself drawn to painting lately. I should say "the idea of painting". I haven't braved the bare canvas very often myself. I move in, dabble a little, then move on to what is more familiar...and safe I suppose. There is a letting go required it seems. I keep waiting...for what I am not sure. I collect every color of the rainbow in fresh, crisp new tubes and containers of paint. I buy paintbrushes and sponges and texture tools. I hoard every new book that peeks into the lives of those who seems to have crossed the threshold into discovery and creative bravery. I line them all up nice and organized, stand back and admire how rich and inviting they all look. Then I wait. I imagine what I might create with them. I am not sure why I hesitate. Maybe I am afraid of the revelation. But something inside is gearing up...getting ready...wanting to make time to see what it is I have been missing...what healing is waiting to be released through the trying. I think deep inside I know there is more to my own story. Maybe all this preparing and collecting and arranging is my soul's way of clearing a path...of slowly and gently offering the invitation. But thats the thing about creative invitations...you are the only one who can finally take the step and decide to accept them!