Recently, I went to a class held by my friend Cola Smith at The Art Parlor in North Hollywood. The clas was originally titled “Inspirational Painting,” but she changed it to “Intuitive Painting” midway through the session.

It’s about getting everything in your mind out on a paintable surface, working through various materials and layers to completion. It’s what another friend and I used to affectionately call crap art, a dumping of the mind and an exercise for the soul. Here’s what we did together:

In my own world I have been at the height of frustration, struggling to connect to my realistic work, struggling to find artists 60 miles North of LA to connect with, struggling to learn and grow through my work without the synergy of being enveloped in a vibrant art community. I’m spitting nails.

I decided to make a change and emptied my craft closet of everything that was physically between me & my supplies. Most of it was trash.

Once it was clear, I made myself a space inside to sit and make things that are not subject to judgement unless I remove the from the space and make them so. The space is in the walk-in closet in my studio/office, so I’m not impeding my fine art with what could be crap as it releases itself from my body and through my hands. I don’t have to change my identity from oil painter to mixed media artist. I can simply do whatever the f*k I want.