This was something completely new to me ,

I’ve never painted anything except a wall, and I am challenged in almost every artistic skill set. 

Michael made me feel comfortable, relaxed, free, and accepted for whatever I wanted to bring to the session.

 And I loved it !

The process, the challenge, the way of thinking and feeling that brought color to canvas. And being a little on the technical side, I really enjoyed learning how to use the tools to make art. In all of the above, I thought my second canvas, done with Sandra, was an evolution from the first. 

Now I can’t wait to go do my third ! 

Everyone should do this.

Sandra and I grew closer from sharing this experience – – collaborating, co-creating, editing, adding, subtracting – – it became a part of our life together that enriched us. 

We want to do it again ! 

David Behar

Deputy Assistant General Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

___________

Driving, working, clients, renovation, kids, laundry, busy. Did we even have time to do the workshop?

Not really, but having already experienced 2 previous workshops with Michael, (and a 30 year friendship) I said to David ( the other painter in this picture ) we need to ” make it happen”. 

I did not know if my really smart, intuitive, but very action driven fiance would feel about taking 3 or 4 hours to be quiet, introspective and within the moment. 

He took to it like a duck to water. 

As Michael guided us thru our workshop, I felt the familiar urge to cry right at the beginning. It’s the cork of my emotional wine bottle, ready to spill forth my emotions and feelings at the moment. 

The fascination of the oil paint, the texture, the colors and their meanings, and the power that comes from putting it on a canvas, or a wall or my hands, is what I enjoy most. 

It becomes a pure vehicle, a river, that pours forth, of what I am and what I’ve experienced up until then. My brain turns off, my thoughts float, and i don’t question what my hands end up creating, just let the message come from my center, my heart, throat and gut. 

Doing this kind of exercise, with my partner, friend, lover, created it’s own entity, complex, vulnerable, and open, without judgment. 

It opened levels of feelings, and allowed a peek into the mind, heart and soul of the other person in the room. It created another strand of bond with our already multifaceted relationship, and gave us more hours of very open discussion of where we are at the moment, here.

 And that also includes Michael, our guide, our friend, in that circle of openness and exploration, without him, we would never get to that level, he is the catalyst. 

Sandra Lee

Stylist / Dancer /Singer / Animal Rescuer / Kombucha Maker