In creative painting, the defining moment is when you face the fertile white void. Your openness and your courage to step into that void with the spirit of exploration are all that matter. The power of painting lies in the creative process itself, not in the resulting product.

Almost all traditional art endeavors are concerned with producing "art." The product of creative action is put forth, subtly or not so subtly, as the final fruit of the creative experience. Creativity is equated with its results, and therefore must be justified by explanation, analysis, critical evaluation, and superimposed meaning.

It is the basic tenet of this book that the creative process is enough. It is not only enough, it is a doorway into a direct experience of the essential life force which is at the root of the urge to create art. It is the process itself—in the creative energy it releases, in the new perceptions it brings, and in the deepened connection with oneself it fosters—that is at the heart of the desire to paint. To make this the whole point of painting is a simple yet radical act.

This book is the outcome of nearly thirty years of intensive work with painting as a process. It has grown out of our own personal journeys into the creative process, and out of our interactions with many students as they overcame creative blocks and discovered in themselves the wonderful freedom to be found in painting. In the classes and workshops at our studio, we have created a space where there is absolutely no compromise with the creative process. No importance whatsoever is placed upon the finished product: we do not critique the paintings or interpret their meaning, and we do not encourage their commercial use in any way. The inner experience of creating is the touchstone for everything that happens. Once this groundwork is established, something deep within relaxes and the real life-transforming work can begin.

Life, Paint and Passion is a book about unlearning. It is not meant to be used as a textbook, or even as a course in creativity, but as a catalyst. It is essentially meant to open the space for you to paint—to arouse your curiosity and your desire to create, and to show you how readily available your creativity is. The tools to paint naturally are already within you; they need only a simplification, a clearing of the ground, to manifest. The suggestions presented here are designed to challenge your self-imposed barriers to creativity; they are a departure point into your own experience rather than rules to follow.

It is our hope that as the chapters unfold, you will discover a growing excitement about painting, an instinctual urge to play with color and form as you did when you were a child. Play is one of the most basic primitive elements of the human psyche, and ultimately art is simply a deep and essential play. Tools for playing with brushes, paint, and paper are presented in a simplified and accessible way in the appendix at the end of the book.

Our experience, after working with many different types of people, is that a hidden wave of passion lies just below the surface of most people's lives, a passion yearning to be liberated from the paralyzing myths of talent, skill, inspiration, accomplishment, success and failure, and just plain not being good enough. This book is about daring to let that passion speak. It is time to throw off the shackles, to reclaim that which every child knows and is taught to forget: the essential right to create without interference or shame.