The inspiration to paint healing art…

came to me in 1996 as a way to cope with debilitating  stomach problems that later developed into chronic fatigue syndrome.

My desire was to create art that would be uplifting to my spirit. In order to paint this kind of art, I first had to examine the areas of my life that needed lifting. So I would ask myself questions, such as, “What is bothering me? Why does it bother me? Where does this feeling come from? ” And then I would reflect upon my gained wisdom through life and my spiritual studies for advice to see how I could look at life differently, and then that advice was what I painted once I could choose the symbolism to get that message across.

When I first began to paint nurturing art, I didn’t know that my art was going to be about self-love. In fact, I didn’t know what self-love was. I thought I had known what it was before getting sick, but afterwards when I lost the ability to do the things that I use to be able to do, I stopped loving myself and realized that my self-worth had been conditional.

Then one day in 2005, I had an epiphany.

After years of painting, I could suddenly see that my creative process was teaching me HOW to love myself and my art was a reflection of that journey. The way the creative process taught me this was that it created a SETTING and a REASON to:

• Slow down
• Make time for myself
• Look inward without judgment
• Ask myself questions
• Look for healthy answers to my problems
• See life in a more positive way
• Process my thoughts and feelings
• Be kind and patient with myself
• Believe in myself
• Trust in my intuition and ability
• Value my opinion and sensitivity
• Allow myself to have a voice in this world.

Now that I could see what self-love was, at least within the boundaries of creating my art, I wanted to learn how to incorporate self-love into all areas of my life.

So I did a personal study on the subject of self-love and from what I learned, I wrote my book, Unconditional Self-Love: What It Is, Why It’s Important and How to Nurture It In Your Life.

I now feel that I know the “recipe” for unconditional self-love and when I apply that recipe to my life I am able to shift from a place of negativity and defeat to a place of healing and empowerment.

I am grateful

For what started out as a path to self-healing has grown into a business that allows me to share my tools for nurturing self-love with others. And it is so rewarding to hear from the people who have received inspiration from my work.

Unconditional Self-Love: What It Is, Why It’s Important, and How to Nurture It in Your Life

The second edition of my book contains four sections: the story of how I became a painter of healing art and how the creative process taught me to unconditionally love myself; a colorful collection of my art and affirmations; what I have learned about unconditional self-love (including what the difference is between ego-based self-love and spirit-based self-love); and fourteen therapeutic exercises that will help you incorporate unconditional self-love into every aspect of your life. order it here (scroll down for 2nd edition)

I can honestly say that I understand what it feels like not to love yourself and to search for its meaning.

I hope you find meaning here. I hope you find inspiration to begin, continue or to return to the path of unconditional self-love.

order Unconditional Self-Love here (scroll down for 2nd edition)