start with what you have: excavating the breakthrough in the layers of your art

Dec 26

You know that moment when something clicks in your art practice - when the music playing in the background perfectly aligns with the marks you're making, and everything shifts? That's not just coincidence. That's the magic that happens when we create space for both intention and intuition in our art practice.

I discovered this truth while kneeling on my studio floor, working on what would become my Ophelia series. As I painted and listened to my carefully curated playlist, something powerful emerged. The algorithm served up a song I'd never heard before - Kesha's "Praying" - and everything shifted. In that moment, through tears and paint, with an unexpected groundedness, what had started as a series about the disposability of women transformed into a powerful exploration of survival and triumph.

This breakthrough wasn't just a happy accident. It was the result of a process I now call Spiritual Archaeology.

From Processing to Practice

I didn't intend to create a new approach to art-making. What I needed was a way to process Big Feelings - the kinds that overwhelm me if I don't find healthy ways to express them. Art became my way of exercising the demons I couldn't exorcize, of exploring emotions too complex for words alone.

I discovered something interesting along the way–when I combined my natural tendency to collect meaningful materials with my need for emotional catharsis, patterns started emerging. Anyone with a pattern-recognition kink knows that patterns (by definition) aren’t random, but revealing - they are clues, leading me deeper into understanding both my art and myself. The more intentionally I followed these threads, the richer my work became.

From Classroom to Canvas

As an educator, my teaching philosophy has always been grounded in the work of Paulo Freire and bell hooks - a pedagogy of hope, a pedagogy of love. I believe in meeting students where they are, presuming competence, and creating spaces where both hearts and minds can flourish. When I transitioned from teaching English and Reading to teaching art, these principles came with me.

Spiritual Archaeology emerged from this foundation. It's an approach that honors both intention and intuition, both careful planning and deep listening. Just as I once helped students discover their voices through literature and language, I now guide artists in uncovering deeper meanings in their creative practice.

What Makes Spiritual Archaeology Different?

Traditional art instruction often focuses on technique or theory alone. Spiritual Archaeology goes deeper. It's about creating a framework where meaningful breakthroughs can happen - not by chance, but through the intentional marriage of planning and intuitive exploration.

The process begins with embracing what you already have. As mixed media artists, we're natural collectors. Maybe you have a stash of old dictionaries (like me), or perhaps you're drawn to vintage botanical illustrations, antique maps, or even the blister packs from your medications. Even artists who work in a single medium have collections: preferred brushes, a characteristic set of marks, a signature color palette, artists they like and follow, a manner of curating their space. These aren't just materials - they're clues to your artistic archaeology.

The magic happens when we start making connections. During my Ophelia series, I worked with old love letters and botanical symbolism - seemingly disparate elements that created rich layers of meaning when combined. Add in music, literature, and contemporary concepts like the multiverse, and suddenly new possibilities emerge. What if Ophelia didn't die? What if her story could be reimagined?

Why This Matters

In a world that often pushes artists to focus on productivity or perfection, Spiritual Archaeology offers a different path. It's about creating work that resonates deeply, both with yourself and others. It's about finding your voice not by following rigid rules, but by excavating the rich layers of meaning already present in your life and work.

This approach isn't just for Shakespeare nerds or traditional artists. Whether you're fascinated by crow symbolism, vintage ephemera, Greek mythology, your local vistas, or contemporary pop culture, Spiritual Archaeology helps you see the possibilities in what you already love and collect.

The Spiritual Archaeology Course

The Spiritual Archaeology course brings these principles to life through structured exploration and guided discovery. Over twelve sessions, we dive deep into:

Developing your personal symbolic language
Creating meaningful connections between diverse influences
Building a sustainable creative practice that balances intention with intuition
Transforming personal experience into themes that resonate with a wider audience
Finding breakthrough moments through deep listening and intentional exploration

Each session balances theoretical knowledge with practical application, helping you develop not just as an artist, but as a meaning-maker and storyteller.

Your Journey Begins Here

If you're ready to transform your art practice from surface-level creation to deep exploration, to move beyond technique into meaning, Spiritual Archaeology might be your next step. This isn't just about making better art - it's about making art that matters, art that processes those Big Feelings into something beautiful and true. It's about creating work that tells your story while connecting to themes that resonate beyond your individual circumstances.

Join me in exploring the layers of meaning waiting to be discovered in your creative practice. Your breakthrough moment awaits at the intersection of intention and intuition.

Learn more about the Spiritual Archaeology course and secure your spot in our next session. We begin January 21, 2025! For details and enrollment, click below!

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