Zen Painting Story - How my Zen Painting Workshop was born.

When I first started creating abstract art, I loved the fact that anything was possible. While I was painting, there was a sense of freedom and adventure. And the supplies you could use? The art store was your oyster! You could mix and match collage, paint, crayons, texture mediums and then wash, rinse, repeat. Fast forward to working on my book featuring over 20 exercises on creating abstract works of art and loosening up, I became exhausted. Not just because of the fury of creating in a manner where so much was possible, but from spending months writing a book that left me feeling quite vulnerable.

This took a toll on me physically and emotionally. Pretty much around the time I handed in my last draft for my book “Abstracts in Acrylic and Ink”, it became apparent that I had to slow down or risk having a stroke, heart attack, or worse… The conundrum however was that I was a working artist and a single parent. If I didn’t work, who would? How would we survive?

It was during that period of time that I found and created a new way of painting for me which I now refer to as the process of “Zen Painting”. I could work from my couch if need be while I recovered from my exhaustion. Most of my paintings in the beginning were all black and white, that is until I started to feel better and the colors came rushing back in like they had before. The process still remained slow and relaxing.

Over the next few months at the beginning of 2017 I created my first class in this series, “Zen Painting: Pathways and Connections” which has gone on to be one of my most popular workshops. It reminded me once again of a lesson in life I keep repeating for some reason, “The worst of times can lead to the best of times”.

I talk more about how this whole process came about in my workshop, Zen Painting, which is relaunching July 15th, 2020 on my new online classroom site. If there ever was a time that we need to have peace and relaxation, this is the time for sure. Our world has been tossed into chaos unlike most of us have ever seen. If you are like me, I can say for certainty, turning to art in times of chaos will help you navigate the unknown in a healthy way.

If you’d like to join in on the workshop, now is the time to sign up! I’m offering the class at a special price of $79, that is $30 off the regular price of $109. Class access is unlimited, meaning for as long as I have this site, you can enjoy this class.

To learn more about my Zen Painting Workshop, click HERE. I hope to “see” you in class!

Zen Painting Original Process of Black and White by Jodi Ohl