Now that I’ve completed my 10-month Expressive Arts Teacher Training certification, I’m thrilled to share the magic of intuitive painting with you!

If you’re in the Bay Area and are yearning for some creative freedom and authentic self-expression, please come join me for some intuitive painting playshops in Oakland this summer. (For those of you not in the area, I’m also working on an self-paced e-Course based on the Playtime with Your Inner Muse session I led at the wish*full virtual art retreat, so stay tuned for that).

Intuitive Painting Playshops

I’m offering two classes this summer in Oakland (near Lake Merritt):

• Saturday, July 17th from 10am-1pm
• Saturday, August 21st from 10am-1pm

In this playshop you will:

• Unleash your inner artist
• Give yourself full-permission to make “ugly” art and get messy (it’s actually quite fun and cathartic!)
• Come face-to-face with your internal world of imagination, creativity, and personal growth
• Allow yourself to take up space! There’s plenty of room to paint BIG
• Enter a safe, sacred space to work through blocks, emotion, and the unknown
• Receive support and guidance from a certified expressive arts facilitator and experienced coach
• Surprise yourself with how much fun it is to become a kid again!

“Jenn sparkles with creative force! She led me into a magical place where all my dreams were possible. Her attention to detail and solid presence created an exquisitely safe container to try on new and expansive aspects of myself.” — Danielle

Visit ArtizenCoaching.com to read more testimonials and playshop details and to register.

Featured Article on Expressive Arts and Coaching

Also, I was recently featured in an article about using expressive arts and creativity in coaching on The Coaching Commons. You can read more about how I incorporate creative approaches into my coaching and you can watch a short video.

I’m excited to announce that the next Right-Brain Business Plan e-Course starts on May 17th. Finally get your business plan done and have fun doing! This visual, intuitive, and accessible approach will help you create a unique and empowering road map that lets your head know where your business is going AND inspires your heart to sing with joy.

During this eight-week interactive online program you will:

• Clarify your business vision
• Paint the picture of your business landscape
• Create your marketing plan
• Develop your financial plan
• Identify the action steps needed to bring your plan to life
• Craft a visual business plan for your entrepreneurial success

“I thought the whole course was terrific, I loved doing the vision board work and felt it helped me create the business I wanted. I love the feel and creativity you created for the course. The course material was inspiring and so enjoyable to work with. I felt motivated every week. You rock Jenn! I have recommended this course to many. It has helped me focus and enjoy the process of putting a business plan together.”

— Marlies Venier, owner of love this place

Click here to read more of the buzz from past participants.

What you can expect from this e-course:

• Detailed, easy lessons… that tackle every thing you need in a business plan
• Creative exercises and strategies… so your creative wisdom can infuse the practical business side with a spark of joy and fun
• Support… from the course facilitator and an online forum where you get to learn from the practical experience of your peers

Find out more and sign-up here. The early-bird special ends on Tuesday, May 4th, so register now!

I’m excited about the fabulous creative entrepreneurs who will be joining me in the Right-Brain Business Plan e-Course that starts next week. I hope that you’re one of them! Check out my video above and sign-up here. The early-bird special ends soon. Finally get that business plan done and have fun doing it!

The fabulous wishstudio hostess, Mindy Tsonas, has dreamed up a yummy event full of art, connection, and inspiration. The first ever wish*full virtual art retreat takes place April 30th-May 2nd. Join like-minded souls from around the world for a refreshing, creative weekend, all from the comfort of your own home!

Online workshops will be led by fourteen artists/teachers including: Kimberly Wilson, Christine Mason Miller, Leah Piken Kolidas, Susannah Conway, Hope Wallace, and me. Course descriptions are now up and early registration is open. Would love to see you there!

I had a blast on Sunday at my the Right-Brain Business Plan workshop. Here are Britt Bravo and Gretchen Wegner collaging up a storm! Throughout the day, we had fun shaking, howling, and twisting with our MuseCube moments. Gretchen’s MuseCubes are such a great way to connect back with the intuitive wisdom of your body.

In-person gatherings are great for building off of each other’s creative energy, getting fresh perspectives, developing relationships, brainstorming ideas, and knowing that you don’t have to go it alone as a solo-preneur.

Each participant’s visual plan and business truly reflected their own values, vision, and special gifts. I loved seeing what amazing things these ladies are up to in their work.

You can read a little bit more the day and see additional pictures on the Right-Brain Business Plan blog.  While you’re there, check out the latest featured business plan and interview with Sara Ortiz. Her colorful visual plan and business are bursting with creative goodness!

Kimberly Wilson, Lisa Sonora Beam, Britt Bravo and I were on a call the other day talking about how fun it would be to put together an event for creative women entrepreneurs to connect, create, and learn together. We came up with our own description of what an event like that would look like, but we want to hear your thoughts and opinions, too.

We put together a six-question survey to find out what your ideal creative women entrepreneur event would look like. By providing your feedback, you can enter in a raffle to be one of four winners to receive either a half hour social media consulting with Britt, a copy of the Right Brain Business Plan e-Book by Jennifer, a copy of Creative Entrepreneur by Lisa, or a copy of Hip Tranquil Chick by Kimberly.

Click here to take the survey by November 16th.

Thank you very much for your input! We’ll be designing an experience that caters to you and is what we wish we had along our journeys. That’s why we’re excited to create it!

It’s hard to believe that we’re already in the 4th quarter of the year!  Are you and your business ready for 2010? Get a head start at the Right-Brain Business Plan Workshop on Sunday, November 15th in Oakland from 10am-4:30pm.

At this fun and engaging workshop you’ll:

• Clarify your business vision
• Paint the picture of your business landscape
• Create your marketing plan
• Develop your financial plan
• Identify the action steps needed to bring your plan to life
• Craft a visual business plan for your entrepreneurial success

This workshop is perfect for you if:

• You’re a creative entrepreneur, artist, health and wellness professional, educator, coach, designer, freelancer, writer, photographer, non-profit leader or all-around creative soul wanting to make a positive impact with your entrepreneurial endeavors
• You hate the idea of writing a business plan, but you know you need one
• Numbers numb you out

What past participants had to say:

“Your cheerful, optimistic and generous attitude really lifted my spirits and got me going into action mode. I felt I gained so much practical information as well as inspiration from the course. Having a visual reminder of my goals is really helping to keep me focused on achieving my goals for the year!” — Michelle Casey, Professional Artist

“The workshop presented a fabulous tool for accessing the non-linear wisdom and creativity that only your right brain has, and using this brilliance to fuel your entrepreneurial aspirations. If your business needs some creative fire, check it out!” — Laura Parker, MFT, Creativity-Centered Therapy and Coaching (her Right-Brain Business Plan is in the photo below)

Find out more and register here (Early-bird special ends on November 1st).

While you’re there, check out the Right-Brain Business Plan site’s fun new facelift and the latest Right-Brain Business Plan spotlight featuring Danielle Grinnen of Deliante Designs.

I’m loving my visit to Washington D.C. so far!  Today was filled with dreamy and inspiring adventures.

I kicked the day off with yoga at Kimberly Wilson’s gorgeous studio Tranquil Space.  The class was challenging and grounding.  Just what I needed to decompress from all the travel.  I love the quote on the wall of the yoga room.  The studio is brimming with so many beautiful details like the gold stars on the floor…

And a yummy selection of tea.  I could’ve stayed in the studio the whole afternoon browsing the book shelves and admiring all the TranquiliT wear!

Later on in the day, I met up with a friend that I hadn’t seen in more than 15 years (gotta love Facebook for that!).  She’s doing really awesome and inspiring work with animals and I really enjoyed catching up with her.  I’m so glad that we reconnected!!

In the evening, I went over to Kimberly’s pink palace to lead my Dream Box workshop with a group of wonderfully creative women.  It was so cool to meet a bunch of people in person for the first time and also to see some familiar faces from Kimberly’s March yoga retreat.  There’s Tiffany at the left, Kimberly, Chai, Ana, Lauren and Sharon.

Here’s Sharon with her twin sister Sherry.  They both have the most endearing laugh.

Hope brought some of her Paper Relics goodies which the girls just ate up!  Next to her is the Danielle who took my Right-Brain Business Plan teleclass earlier this year, so it was cool to meet her in person.  And next to her is Lauren who made the super cool mobile Right-Brain Business Plan.

Kimberly’s cat Bonnard was hilarious.  He got cozy on the magazines and stared us down as we crafted and collaged.

Aren’t these dream boxes lovely?  One of my favorite things is seeing how unique and beautiful each person’s boxes and dreams are.

Here’s another dream box.  On the inside of the lid behind the window she collaged a garden.  What a great idea!

And here I am kickin’ it with Kimberly after my huge post-workshop TranquiliT shopping spree!  Thank you Kimberly for being a wonderful workshop host and a big inspiration.  I’m looking forward to another amazing day in D.C. tomorrow.

I had so much fun in Boston this past weekend visiting with Leah Piken Kolidas.  Our Creative Play workshop on Saturday was a blast and it was such a treat to finally meet so many creative souls and online friends in-person.

Carolyn Rubenstein of A Beautiful Ripple Effect and her co-worker Whitney got crafty.  I was so happy to have Carolyn sign my copy of her new book Perseverance.

I met Kerry and Dayna on Facebook through my Right-Brain Business Plan page and was thrilled to hear that they were coming!

Creative goddesses Julie and Margaret collaged up a storm.

Leah’s friend from high school, Judean, joined in the fun, too!

There’s Mindy Tsonas of Wish Studio in the gray next to Janet O’Connor of Dolci.  Mindy shared a bit about Saturday here.

After the workshop, Mindy, Melba McMullin (who braved a hellish commute from Cape Cod), Leah and I did a road trip up to New Hampshire to catch the Squam art fair.  I’ll share more about that exciting adventure later!

Here are the pieces that I put together.  We used small cards to encourage quick collaging.  Since we gave permission to be messy and silly and to make bad art, I found it so much easier to make some wacky things that I probably normally wouldn’t do.  It didn’t need to make sense or look good, but boy did some of my images make me laugh!

I have much more to share about my trip, so stay tuned.

When you were a kid, what were some of your favorite playtime activities?  Did you enjoy building forts out of blankets?  Playing a game of tag with your friends?  Putting on talent shows for your family?  Stuart Brown, author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul invites us to bring more play into our lives by conducting a play history.

Here are just a few highlights from my play history: When I was little, I enjoyed drawing, painting, coloring, making things like books or games, playing with my stuffed animals and Strawberry Shortcake dolls and pretending I was Pipi Longstocking.  When I was about seven or eight, I used to do “fashion shoots” with my friends.  We’d get dressed up, put on frosty pink lipstick and sparkly blue eyeshadow and strike poses for my Kodak disc camera.  In college, I got a kick out of passing scribbles back and forth with my friend Julie.  As our environmental studies professor droned on about eutrophication we’d create funny pictures out of each other’s doodles.

Reflecting on my play history and on what has always brought me joy, it’s pretty clear to me that I have The Artist/Creator play personality perhaps with a dash of The Storyteller.  While I’m not great at telling stories (and am even worse at telling jokes!), I have The Storyteller’s emotional connection and vivid imagination.  Stuart describes eight play personalities including: The Joker, The Explorer, The Kinesthete, The Competitor, The Artist/Creator, The Director, The Storyteller and The Collector.  Your play personality may be a combination of a few of the types.

While Brown doesn’t like defining play as it’s more of a state of being, he describes play as not seeming to have a purpose, something we engage in voluntarily and want to do again and again, where we lose a sense of time, we become less self-conscious and we experience improvisation.  Even though play seems to have no purpose, Brown asserts that play, which combines emotional, physical and intellectual experiences, is essential to our continued growth and development.

Check out his TED Talk below to hear his brilliant insights firsthand including amazing examples of play in the animal kingdom and how play in the workplace increases innovation.

If you’re hankering for some creative playtime and are near the Boston-area, then please join Leah Piken Kolidas and me for our Creative Play workshop on September 19th.  And, if you can’t make that, then come play with us over at the Creative Juicy Living podcast with Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio as Leah and I talk about Creative Play today at 3pm PT.