Kate Langlois-San Francisco, CA
In my pursuit for interconnection to the world I was surprised where I found it. Painting. I wanted this connection because I longed to take a stand for human rights. What I discovered, was that to serve the world community with my art, I would first have to take a stand for myself, by healing my own heart.
Finding interconnection to the world by cultivating love for myself was not something I thought could come from painting. Yet this heart connection from myself to canvas is exactly what has awakened within me. When I began painting images of those suffering in the world, I began to see the canvas take on the form of an energetic bridge between them and myself. As the paintings evolved and symbols emerged, I saw unexpected layers of the image-story, which seemed to be related to my own healing.
This intersection is what I’m exploring currently in my work as an artist and teacher using the Intentional Creativity Method. Out of my desire to take a stand for those suffering in the world, I paint images centered on love and this includes self-love. With self-love, we are sustainable, nourished and fulfilled. Reoccurring themes of hope, equality, safety and justice bloom right out of the under layers of the turmoil and layers of paint.
Letting the paintbrush dance with color and form, I move from fear of the unknown into wonder of the unknown. And in that unknown space healing happens organically that I am neither conscious of creating or making happen, it just happens due to the creative process.
Whatever life hands me, whether wonderful or difficult, I move through it with Intentional Creativity as my guide. I’m always fascinated with how malleable this method truly is. Each of us has who’ve gone through the training with Maestra Shiloh Sophia, imbibe the teachings and also create our own, in accordance to who we are as creatives. The capacity for intentional creativity to expand and adapt to a multitude of creative, transformative ventures is part of the magic and excitement for me. I never know what is going to happen which is part of why it is a tool that can reveal the hidden places.
As I find myself even decades after my own personal trauma of childhood sexual abuse, still navigating through the many layers of healing. For a long time I thought emotional healing could be a linear journey like when you get a cold and you recover and move on.
Traumas appear to be more cyclical or maybe its that the resulting patterns come over us in waves at high or low tide based on what is happening in our lives. For years I wasn’t aware of resulting behaviors and patterns until I became awakened to them and intentionally chose to meet them head on. Likely the scariest thing I’ve done! Although I still have moments of wanting to push them back into my subconscious, I’m reminded to take everything at my own pace and I am safe. By working slowly with my story on the canvas, I create a space for deep listening and paint through countless transformations along the way revealing powerful messages.
Working with our story and image over time with this method, we become awakened. We become our own witness to old stories, patterns and behaviors that no longer serve us. Taking these parts of ourselves to the canvas allows them to move beyond their unchanging state to a more dynamic and transformative nature . Recently, when I found myself in this space, it was the absolute discomfort of seeing myself so clearly, so transparent, combined with a fierce love for my own self that prompted me to explore change in this painting. Throughout my process, I asked for new information to flow in from my subconscious to my conscious, staying in wonder about how this might show up for me.
Sometimes it is from deep wounds like this that we find what we are passionate about. Just as in the midst of this journey of healing my inner child, came my desire to paint for children. I wanted to create images that hold space for children suffering in the world. In this way I envision them whole, healed and safe. These images then became my buoy, keeping me afloat in the darkest of times and giving me momentum to move forward.
“When we are creating – our conscious mind is occupied so our subconscious can bring us material to work with that it won’t otherwise. Due to the nature of the ‘canvas’ as a physical place in which to move a thought, represented by a symbol or layer of paint, the subconscious brings up what can be safely dealt with and processed within a given creative session. The one doing the creating becomes their own healer and the author of their own story’s transformation. We are able to bring something into physical visual form that exists in our internal experience. Then healing happens at a quantum level, in the seen and unseen.”
~ Shiloh Sophia
This interconnection of painting for my own healing and healing for the world as explored with Intentional Creativity continues to spark transformation that has allowed me to move far beyond the confines of my old limited beliefs. Taking a stand for human rights, for the children, sparked a deep journey that continues to unfold. I invite you to be in wonder about your own interconnection to the world. If you dare to, begin to explore what this looks like in resonance with your own heart. If you feel the call to do so, I offer you to try a free Intentional Creativity session that I created here. Allow the image and energy of the piece you create to reconnect you with your calm heart center. Even if you’re afraid to paint, just get to the canvas and start with color. Simply by dipping paintbrush in paint and moving it around the canvas soothes us, shifting us from the chatter in our heads, the tension in our bodies and into a place of new discovery.
Kate Langlois makes her home in San Francisco, CA where she is an Artist and Color of Woman Teacher. With Love at the heart of her paintings, her work reflects her passion to express stories with a social conscience and to shine a light on Human Rights with a focus on women and girls. Originally from Vermont, she has studied art in San Francisco and Healdsburg, CA for over 30 years. She teaches painting using the Intentional Creativity Method as a path for helping women and girls discover healing and transformation by using their own image. Find out more about Kate’s art and workshops at www.katelangloisart.com.
