Art as Spiritual Practice and the Wisdom of Not Knowing

Transcript, including graphical montage, summary, questions explored, and key takeaways

Summary
This conversation explores expressive painting as a spiritual practice that bypasses the verbal mind and opens direct contact with feeling, imagination, and truth. It also looks at how solitude, confusion, and letting go of control can support authentic creative and inner exploration.

Questions This Interview Explores

• How can creative expression become a doorway to self-discovery and spiritual insight?
• What happens when you paint without trying to control the outcome or impress anyone?
• How do solitude, wilderness, and inner silence shape a person’s creative and spiritual life?
• How can confusion, fear, and the inner critic be worked with rather than avoided in the creative process?

Stewart Cubley is founder of The Institute for Art & Living, dba The Painting Experience. His work has carried him throughout the world to work with groups in a process of inner exploration using the tool of expressive painting to access the potential within the human heart and imagination. For more than three decades he has taught his unique approach to literally thousands of people at growth centers such as Esalen and Omega Institutes, multinational corporations, programs in prisons and countless other public forums. Stewart lives in Fairfax, CA. He is co-author of Life, Paint & Passion, Reclaiming the Magic of Spontaneous Expression, Tarcher/Putnam 1996.

Interview recorded 11/16/2013

YouTube Video Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction and Retreat in Alaska
• 00:03:58 – Early Spiritual Interests
• 00:08:07 – Obsessiveness and Yoga in Solitude
• 00:11:44 – The Compelling Force and Higher Purpose
• 00:15:33 – Recognizing the Potential in Approaching Painting
• 00:20:27 – In the Presence of Truth
• 00:23:56 – Exploring the Nature of Self and True Being through Painting
• 00:28:38 – Artistic Expression and Authority
• 00:32:14 – The Importance of Spontaneous Creation and Non-authority
• 00:36:25 – Creating Freedom in Art and Spirituality
• 00:41:25 – Embracing Confusion and Being Lost in the Creative Process
• 00:46:11 – Getting Out of Your Own Way
• 00:50:04 – Embracing Chaos in Art and Life
• 00:54:19 – The Authenticity of Being Yourself
• 00:59:42 – Attaining an Experience of the Self
• 01:04:41 – The Power of Community and Working with Difficulty
• 01:08:52 – The Space of Freedom
• 01:12:35 – Stabilizing in a More Expanded State
• 01:15:55 – The Evolution of Artistic Expression
• 01:20:39 – Wendell Berry and Deep Connectedness to the Earth
• 01:24:02 – The Development of Refinement
• 01:28:28 – Standing in Fear: Expressing and Overcoming Judgement
• 01:32:27 – The Importance of Emphasizing Authenticity
• 01:36:40 – Apprenticeship and the Power of Individual Expression
• 01:40:56 – Nurturing the Sadness Through Painting
• 01:44:46 – Dealing with Edgy Moments in Art Therapy
• 01:48:27 – The Influence of a Suffering Artist
• 01:52:22 – The Holiness of the Heart’s Affections and the Truth of the Imagination
• 01:56:21 – Tapping into Imagination and Energy
• 02:00:32 – Perceiving through the Lens of Feeling
• 02:04:07 – Conclusion and Next Interview Announcement