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Body Jewelry Fashion Trends of Piercings

While some people consider body jewelry to be a recent fashion trend, the truth is that body piercing dates back to ancient times. Body Jewelry was a way used by ancient civilizations to designate social class or standing. In addition, Body jewelry was also part of religious practices.

The first recorded incidence of body jewelry via piercing comes from the evidence of nose rings recorded over 4,000 years ago in the Middle East. Further evidence is found within the verses of the bible where in Genesis there is reference to a gold nose ring. Nose rings in the Middle East and India are used to denote social standing and family wealth. Nose piercing appears to have came to America in the 1960s when the Eastern religion and enlightenment swept across the nation.

Additional types of body jewelry have equally fascinating beginnings. Ear piercing is unarguably one of the most common forms of body jewelry. With the history of earrings going back as far as 3000 BC in parts of Asia, it appears that this form of body jewelry was used as an expression for both cultural and decorative reasons. Mummies dating back as far as five centuries have been noted to have piercings and body jewelry in their ears upon burial. These cultural adornments of body jewelry have lost some of the symbolic roots, and based upon current trends has become more of a fashion accessory.

Tongue piercing is another common form of adornment and body jewelry. Tongue piercing was part of the ritual of many tribal societies including the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Tlingit and the Haida. The blood that was drawn during the piercing was thought to appease the gods.

There are, of course, many other types of body jewelry that have their roots in ancient rituals and lifestyles. From nipples to much more personal locations, body jewelry is a current fashion trend with very old ancestry. In some cases today, body jewelry may be the result of seeking a way of honoring familiar heritage. For others, it is the attempt to find a way to make a personal statement.

Body Painting Fashion

The World Body Painting Festival currently taking place in Daegu, South Korea is currently the largest art event in body painting, and you can see why.

Its goal is to spread the art of body painting to thousands interested in it. And, as you can see, body painting is truly an art. The work done takes hours, but in the end models bare an uncanny resemblance to tress, various animals and mobile works of art.

Artistic Body Painting

Body art is extremely popular all over the world and includes anything that consists of the human body. Some of the most popular types of body art are tattoos, and piercings but other types of body art involve air brushing, scarring, branding, scalpelling, shaping with corsets and lace and body painting. In addition, body art encompasses nose rings, dydos, bangles, rings, makeup, studs, nose pins, and lip plates.There are more extreme types of body art involving mutilation, or pushing the physical limits of the body. Marina Abramovic is a body artist and her exhibit involved her dancing until she collapsed from tiring out. Dennis Oppenheim is another example of a body artist where he suntanned until he burned while holding a book to his chest – thus he had an outline of the book on his chest. On a less extreme level body art is a form of decorating the body, and emphasizing or showing off a certain feature.

Artictis body painting in great demand by art workers and all who love the body painting will this if you want to get a recommendation of this body painting please look ok on this blog.

Amazing Body Painting

The World Bodypainting Asian Awards were held in Daegu, South Korea from August 25-31 and renowned body painting artists such as John Vargas who has been featured in Lunatica before, was one of the many artists who participated in the colorful event.

Other really amazing body painters we have featured here are Emma Hack and Emma Cammack. Check out their fantastic work.

"Since 1998 Europe's most colorful event has taken place in Seeboden Austria. The "World Bodypainting Festival" is the largest Art event in the Bodypainting theme and spreads the art form to thousands of interested visitors each year.

Now the Festival is expanding with a vibrant and dedicated team in South Korea to host a second event.

The World Bodypainting Festival with the Asian Awards was held in the Daegu Stadium(World Cup Stadium), in Daegu from 25 - 31 August 2008 for the first time.

- international contest with the Asian Awards in 4 categories
- Asian Facepainting and Special Effects Make-up Awards
- Semi-professional contest
- Festival Academy with workshops classes and demonstrations
- BodyCircus, the shrill and magical fantasy ball in the "Novotel" hotel(Downtown Daegu)
- Extensive exhibition area with audience contests
- Music & show performances, evening concerts
- International photo contest
- Festival TV with interviews, live broadcasts and web streaming"

Airbrush Body Art Vs Traditional Application Methods

Body art has been around for centuries, and is only gaining in popularity. With the advancement of technology, the methods of body art application have adapted and changes as well. For the purpose of this article we will focus strictly on temporary forms of body art, namely sponge and brush application, and airbrush application of body art.

There are pros and cons to both airbrush and traditional sponge and brush body art. Obviously, the more skilled the person applying the paint or ink, the better the end result is going to be, regardless of the application technique used. However, the end result will have a distinctively different look to it based on which technique was used.

Sponge and brush painting is a common way of applying face paint and other forms of body art. This technique allows the artist to create from scratch each new design. The artist can accommodate designs to fit the face or area being painted, and can incorporate as much detail as his skill level and tools allow. A negative to sponge and brush painting is that the brush actually contacts the skin of each client, and is then dipped back into the paint. This can create problems if proper sanitation methods are not used. Sponge and brush painting generally takes a decent amount of time to complete each design as well.

Using the airbrush is becoming increasingly popular for makeup and body art applications. While the airbrush can be a fickle tool to master its use, it provides many advantages for the body artist. First, the airbrush never touches the skin, so it is much more sanitary than sponge and brush applications. Second, by using stencils or templates, the airbrush body artist can produce a dramatically higher volume than sponge and brush painters. Finally, the airbrush makes it possible to complete many types of different strokes, shading, and lines without the need to change brushes or tools.

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Body Painting Festival

Bodypainting is all about embellishing the beauty and mystery of the human form in a provocative, competitive and we've got to admit, a titillating environment using paints, props, music, and above all imagination.

"Body Gras!™", the host of the Canadian Bodypainting Championships, was set in motion in the summer of 2002 when its founders convinced nearly 20 artists, and just as many models and stylists, to compete in a new body painting competition staged in Nanaimo, B.C. – a tough, yet artsy former coal town graced with one of the most amazing harbours on the entire West Coast of North America.

During the debut competition, nearly a thousand people over the span of three nights took in the spectacle! Three evenings filled with rousing, often boisterous entertainment, artistic fineness - and certainly the most provocative feature of this extravaganza - body painting teams competing for prize money and the chance to be in the well-covered spotlight.

We invite you to enjoy some of the unique creations we have had the privilege to showcase in our "Body Gras!™" shows since 2002.

This week-long festival is a mixture of live bands, DJs, dance and the art of body painting. With five or six live acts on during the day, a Ministry Of Sound tent and acts in the Red Bull Academy there should be plenty to choose from before a two hour presentation of some of the best body art in the world.

There are also musical workshops that can teach festival-goers percussion, didgeridoo, how to DJ and much more.

The main days of the festival are from Friday to Sunday, 16-18 July, daily from 10.30 am in the "Bodypaint City". The artists start painting in the public park and later in the day the artwork is judged by a professional jury. The models are then presented to the audience on the main stage. During the day lots of music and show acts are presented. There are music concerts on program till late...

Body Paint on Women

With the recent photos of Michael Phelps’ girlfriend Caroline “Caz” Pal hitting the Internet, I am reminded of the allure of body art on women. In this case I’m not talking so much about permanent body art like tattoos (which also can be nice), but instead the use of body paint. It’s so versatile. You can use it to dress up like your favorite character, pretend like you’re wearing a swimsuit, support the local sports team, advertise, or simply go artistic. There are even competitions around the globe where people compete for prizes.

To the right I picked out one of my favorites, The Invisible Girl. For your viewing pleasure, here are some examples of women of all ages that you might enjoy...

The Steps

1. Buy paints from Mehron, Inc., 45 E. Route 303, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, (914) 268-4106. They have a semi-reasonable brochure and provide some technical support. They can also direct you to dealers.
2. Mehron's "liquid makeup" is water-based and comes off easily, although red stains skin a bit. Plan on using three 4oz. bottles to completely cover a 5'7" tall, 120 lb woman. This stuff tends to be streaky and cracks a bit when it dries. It is also not good if your model sweats. However, if you want a "non-slick" look, it can be pretty effective. Best of all, you can shower it off.
3. The most convenient grease-based makeup from Mehron comes in 0.75oz sticks in dozens of colors (mostly slightly varied flesh tones unfortunately, but also plenty of colors). To use this you first apply it, smooth with a damp sponge, then put on translucent powder with a powder puff, then brush the excess powder off with a powder brush. Mehron sells sponges, powder, and powder puffs. Also, many women use grease-based makeup on their faces and understand this procedure.

Although the powder is supposed to "set" the makeup, I've found that the stuff still tends to rub off. So be careful if the model touches bare skin with painted skin -- you'll get a smudge.

You can take off grease-based makeup with baby oil rubbed into the skin then paper-toweled off (plan on using 1/2 bottle of cheap baby oil plus a whole roll of towels to do an entire body). This is the cheapest method. Also, Mehron sells makeup remover lotion that works a little more easily (use this if you just want to wipe off a smudge or work on the model's face). Finally, you can use some cold cream-type cleanser then regular soap and water. Once again, red stains just a bit. The stain should fade in time, however.

Allegedly, a person will die if his skin is completedly unable to breathe. However, a spot the size of a quarter left unpainted in the small of his back is allegedly enough to prevent this undesirable event in the photo studio. Caveat paintor.
4. If there is a lot of unpainted Caucasian flesh in the picture, stay away from Fujichrome Velvia. I've had good results with EPX (Ektachrome 64X "warmer"). As far as negative film goes, Reala is pretty nice, although Gold 100 and Ektar 25 are probably better (punchier). I've had bad luck scanning Reala onto PhotoCD.

Beautiful Body Painting

Body painting is a work of art that the scratched bukandi kanfas but in the human body taken to his art. Body painting art work is very good as a tattoo, but this body painting can be removed if the tattoo can not. Body art skelter also deviate from the teachings of religion in the body because of this peinting off fashion, therefore this skelter body also called naked naked. Actually this body painting about?? Why always women so object deviates artwork by painting on the human body.

Some call it modern art where the artist menorekan in the human body with paint colors that are basic berbayan watercolor, body painting is mostly in pertontonkan at night and mostly in the evening, because it did body painting in the paint half way daengan nude or naked, porn artwork is often on the pertontonkan in night clubs and also very many in Indonesia, to show off body painting.

Most of this body painting enjoyed by the upper class, to relax in natural kesetresan viewers or also to hallucinate about sex that are less harmonious in their families.

For the dancers body painting also became a victim to it in because of karyaseni they appear naked and sexy in front of visitors who enjoy the spectacle of an important body that sendiri.karena less money compared to what he saw.

Face Painting Party - Birthday Ideas For Children

Arranging a birthday party for your child is a great way to make that day very special for him. These days, when everyone is so busy in their routines, these kinds of party arrangements bring few hours for kids to have fun.

There are many ways in which you can plan a birthday party. You can ask children, who are invited in the party, to come in the costume of their favourite cartoon characters. Or, you can have a theme; for example, if you are arranging a party for your daughter, you can have the theme of royal family; all kids will be wearing gowns and crowns etc. and your daughter can be the princess.

Although there are many other options available for birthday parties but face painting is a great activity for birthday parties of kids. Your child will feel special by having his/her face painted, and it will also help him/her to engage in creative imaginary play. Such birthday parties make people feel that it is a special experience for everyone in attendance.

Face painting includes whole face painting, partial face painting or simple designing. Well, if you paint the whole face of a child, it can help to create a mask effect, allowing him/her to take on the character of an animal, cartoon character, princess, or other popular character. You can hire a person for face painting or you can do it yourself as well. If you are willing for this, begin by practicing various designs on a paper so that you know how you are going to execute each design. It will be a great thing if you consider learning to paint a cat, dog, butterfly, princess, favourite cartoon character of your child and a clown. One important thing when painting faces is that you will have to do it fast, because children do not like to sit for long periods of time.

As kids have very low level of patience, you can have partial face painting activity as well; it takes less time. In partial face painting, eyes of the kids are painted to look like the character of their choice. Boys can get cat eyes instead of a whole face painted like a cat, and a girl may like to have fairy or clown eyes.

If you want to save time for other activities as well then there is also an option of simple designing on the face; you can paint anything from balloons to hearts, to animals, to cartoon characters. It is not at all difficult to learn these things, but you should practice before hand so that you can make the event special for your child.

If you want to have more fun and attractions, you can also use safe cosmetic glitters to make things more interesting. Give options in a copy or on the board to select their favourite design; this would be a great time for all.

You can also ask the other parents to help you out in this party. You can have a small competition as well for the interest of all attendees.

Women, Painting and Power

I'm standing in my studio, watching ten women painting in silence with exquisite focus and concentration, and the energy is just humming. All of a sudden I hear a groan from one of the women and the words "Oh no, I hate it. It's so ugly". I smile, feeling a sense of great relief and dread.

Relief because another woman has just blindly stumbled into her gateway to creative freedom. Dread because I know the resistance and arguments I am going to be coming up against as I try to talk her out of destroying what she deems ugly and to even to begin to take the radical step of accepting what she has created with curiosity and compassion. I have to be quick here because women are nothing if not stealthy and crafty and will waste little time in eradicating the evidence of what they consider unattractive art.

This is a class in what's known as intuitive painting or process painting. The purpose of this kind of painting is to learn to listen deeply to yourself and to then courageously express what you find,without censoring anything,in a spirit of spontaneity, surrendering to the creative process.It's very different from typical art classes where the primary focus is on developing technique and ending up with a pleasing product. This type of class uses art and painting as a way to get more in touch with the inner world of soul and psyche. The focus is exclusively on exploring and expressing that internal process.

This road is difficult for most women, because even though many of us have done some kind of self investigation and recognize the value inherent in that search, we are still fighting an uphill battle against a very strong cultural bias that teaches us to place the greatest value on what is outside of us. We are taught that feelings and an inner life are fine as far as they go, but what is truly worthwhile is how we look, what we own, who we know, and where we find ourselves on the economic and status hierarchy.

The mysterious stirrings of our soul, the needs of our hearts, the messages from our bodies,and the genius of our intuition, are STILL, even after all of the battles for liberation that we have fought, denigrated and considered trivial and unimportant, unrealistic and immature. But in the world of the process arts the realm of psyche and dreams, imagination and feelings are staunchly defended as sacrosanct and even given center stage.

The women in my painting class know the rules of intuitive painting, one of which is that they are not to destroy anything or cover up what they have done just because they don't like it or have a negative reaction to it. They know what they are attempting here is an exercise in radical self acceptance which means embracing everything that comes out of them especially if it makes them uncomfortable because there's "gold in them thar hills" of the psyche that they can mine to great advantage if they are just willing to stay with the discomfort. But the urge to disavow the abomination of a perceived ugly painting by making it disappear can be overwhelming.

There are four words in the English language that you should never use in reference to a western 21st century woman if you don't want to get your teeth knocked out. Those four little words are ugly, fat, bitch and selfish.

Each of these four words addresses an issue of great importance for a woman, and what they all have in common is that they are keys to unlocking the door to our forbidden feminine power. And one thing you can count on is that each of these four issues will show up eventually if a woman seriously gives herself over to making her own art. Which is one reason that women often shy away from the creative process.

These words have extremely negative connotations for a woman and have been used to denigrate and control us for a very long time.The charge around them is so intense that as soon as we hear them we throw up our hands, recoil into a place of shame, close our eyes and back away from them as if they were Kryptonite and we were Super Girl. Since we are unwilling to be curious and explore them, we never get to see that in actuality these four words describe very positive qualities and archetypal energies that we desperately need if we are going to be complete, whole, actualized and effective feminine creators of our own lives.

One of the biggest internal obstacles to reclaiming our power is a potent archetype at work in most women's psyches that can be called the Inner Good Girl. The Good Girl lives for approval and she garners that approval by keeping women small and safe and non-threatening. She is not interested in growing up and is content to remain eternally young. Ultimately, she is the one that keeps a woman from being able to develop and flourish as someone who is strong and potent,gutsy and capable of taking authority over her own life. And the Good Girl never wants to risk being fat, selfish, ugly or bitchy.

If a woman takes her creative life seriously, if she makes a commitment to herself and devotes herself to her creative work, she will eventually reach a crossroads where she has to confront the Inner Good Girl and the list of Good Girl rules if she wants to continue creating with passion and authenticity.

We all know what those rules are.Smile, smile, smile, be sweet and nice, never get mad (or even annoyed),look pretty (which of course includes being thin), smell good, be clean and neat and always be pleasing and accommodating. Don't be loud and stay in the background. What you think or feel is not really all that important. Don't upset anyone. And never, ever make another person uncomfortable. In the Good Girl world perfection is an attainable goal and you need to work relentlessly, tirelessly, exhaustively, to be the absolute best mother, daughter, wife and friend you can be, all the while berating yourself because you inexplicably and continuously fall short of the mark.

When a woman starts her creative life she brings these same attitudes and expectations to her art. She only allows herself to paint pretty paintings that are perfect in every way. Paintings that are nice and make people smile. She is unwilling to risk disturbing or intense color or imagery; nothing that is too strong or stands out too much. But painting in this way eventually leaves her feeling bored and stifled. Pretty can be wonderful as part of a larger repertoire, but if it's all you are allowed to do it eventually becomes both a noose and a cage.

At a certain point in her creative process a woman needs to be willing to ditch the Good Girl by breaking the Good Girl rules. But breaking those rules leads a woman into the territory of the shadow side of the Good Girl, the dreaded yet fascinating BAD GIRL!

The Bad Girl is alive and well in most women's psyches and is the part of us who is sick and tired of the long list of restrictions that hem in her wild and juicy self. She is feisty and bold, full of audacity and unafraid to go for what she wants. She is adventurous and courageous, and enjoys the excitement that comes with taking positive life-affirming risks.

But our relationship to her has a strong shame and shadow element so she often gets expressed in way's that end up hurting us. She is the one who eats the whole container of the mint chocolate chip ice cream in one sitting, who doesn't return necessary phone calls to annoying family members, who spends money that she doesn't have on clothes or shoes, and who has inappropriate relationships with men or women that aren't good for her.What I am presenting here is a way to reclaim the Bad Girl energy, through painting, that is affirming and positive. To recognize that what we have been calling bad are disowned parts of ourselves that need to be brought back home.

THE SELFISH GIRL: Unafraid of putting herself first, of being needy and proud of it, of nurturing herself, of conserving her own energy, of filling her own well, willing to have limits, making her own self care her first priority, willing to be her own good mother, willing to take time just for herself, willing to confront and overcome her guilt about taking care of herself.

This is the first Bad Girl to show up when a woman attempts to have a viable creative life, and the first one I see when a woman walks in the door of my studio to attend a painting class. I hear over and over again from these women how much they have lost themselves in taking care of everyone else. How tired they are of putting everyone else's needs first and that they have come to this class because they want to do something that has no visible benefit to anyone else.

For a woman to be creative she needs to be willing to take time just for herself. She needs uninterrupted periods when she is able to enter her studio, sit down at her computer or her easel, and see what wants to come. She needs to let herself get dreamy, do nothing, stare out the window, and be seemingly unproductive. During these interludes in which she drops into a creative trance she is inviting the muse to enter her and inviting the often secret and mysterious movement of her soul to express itself.

In these moments, she begins to face herself through her art. She is able to get quiet enough so that she can listen deeply and start to ask some essential questions such as "What do I think? What do I like? What do I really want? What moves me, brings me pleasure, makes me feel alive.?" It is a me, myself and I time, a time that needs to be treated as sacred and inviolable in order to allow those creative juices to flow unimpeded and to eventually turn into a raging, rushing river.

However, it's usually not long before the telephone rings or someone taps (or sometimes pounds ) on the studio door with the cry of "I need you! And I need you RIGHT NOW!" It could be a friend, a child, a mother a husband, a work obligation, or a pipe that has just sprung a leak. All of a sudden, somebody else's needs become more important than her need to be creative, and the woman is faced with the eternal female question." Do I once again close the door to my studio and turn my back on the needs of my own soul? Do I once again prove how reliable, dutiful, compassionate , caring, self sacrificing, available, loving, responsible I am, at the terrible price of my own creative self? Knowing that I have the small, and getting smaller consolation of being able to say "Well at least no one is going to be able to call me selfish!"

THE UGLY GIRL: Willing to buck the tide, to be her own unique self, to not always conform , to step away from the need for approval, to be willing to risk censure, to step outside of the box of what is acceptable as a woman in this culture, willing to be weird, different, unique, outrageous, bold.

The most common lament or desire that I hear from my women painting student's is "But I just want my painting to be beautiful."

For most women, beauty is a need, a deep irrational hunger, and an unconscious compulsion. Our identification with the need to be beautiful is so great and so ingrained that we rarely, if ever, question it. Beauty is the key to the magic kingdom of well- being, happiness and success. It is the source of our value, the guarantee of love, our only legitimate access to power, and on a very deep level has meant survival itself. Because so much is at stake, the pressure a woman feels to be beautiful and to create something beautiful is enormous.

Our whole relationship to beauty shows up painfully and clearly in the painting process. While she is painting, there is always some beauty standard- whether she is aware of it or not- that a woman is trying to live up to. Maybe the ideal is of a painting that is neat and flawless where no mistakes or messiness, no drips or uneven lines are allowed. Or the idealized vision may be one of a painting that is balanced and symmetrical, a paragon of elegance, grace, and impeccable good taste. In this version of perfection, all the colors must match, and can only be in the range of muted pastels with the overall effect being soothing and pleasant, like a well put together design in a home and garden magazine.

Whatever the ideal, the energy put into achieving it is relentless. When I watch a woman paint I am always amazed by the passion she has for endlessly fussing over and fixing her paintings. Spontaneity is out of the question. She just takes it for granted that her painting must be well thought out, planned, and organized , and under as much of her control as is humanly possible. She is used to not trusting in her own innate beauty, and expects that the quest for beauty will entail nonstop work. She never questions the ceaseless dieting and exercising, the hours spent shopping for just the right outfit and the worrying over her skin, her hair, her nails. She always has and always will fall short of the beauty mark and just assumes that beauty is something she will continually struggle for and rarely, if ever, achieve.

The really sad thing is that she sees nothing wrong with this fretful and anxious approach to her self and to her artwork.This ceaseless and ultimately hopeless striving for the unattainable ideal is just the norm. It's really the only thing she has ever known.

These narrow constraints of beauty that a woman finds herself tangled in are always some variation on the Good Girl creed. These socially accepted standards are based on a definition of beauty that is related to being nice and non threatening, to not standing out too much and conforming to an established norm that is pleasant but not powerful. Beauty is related to compliance and convention, to following the rules and to fitting in. The Good Girl beauty ideal means that it's not OK to just be herself, warts and all. She needs to clean herself up and make herself acceptable.

When a woman is painting, the Ugly Girl often sneaks in as a mistake or imperfection, a smear or a smudge, something messy or uncontrolled.When the woman tries to clean up the mess, she finds with increasing horror that the muddle only continues to grow. She is constantly having technical calamities. The paint drips or runs, she can't control her brush, chaos reigns, and it seems like there is nothing she can do to make it stop.

She is desperate to get back to pretty. In risking spontaneity, she has found, to her horror, that she has created something that appears harsh or loud or imperfect. Or,even worse, something grotesque or malformed. She frantically tries painting more safe images, more flowers, rainbows, peaceful landscapes . But the flowers develop sharp edges and dark colors and grow completely out of control , the rainbow colors become wildly fluorescent , and the landscapes becomes populated with darkly mysterious shapes and figures .

At this point she has stepped out of the confines of charming and attractive, and into an unfamiliar landscape of the wild, the untamed the unkempt and disheveled. This is often the beginning of a relationship to the inner Wise Old Woman archetype, also known as the Witch. This is the face of the deep feminine that doesn't care about appearances . After all, the Witch walks around with missing teeth and warts, and obviously doesn't care what other people think. This is an awakening of the aspect of a woman's soul who is no longer a slave to approval and who has begun to walk down the long road away from woman as product and commodity.

THE FAT GIRL: Willing to be big, be visible, to come out of hiding, to be a woman and not a little girl, to take up space, to be hungry, to say what she wants, to know what she wants, to be full of herself, to be too big for her britches, to be a full adult, unafraid to say yes! A fat girl isn't afraid to take up space and to take her place in the world.

In my studio I offer high quality paper that is of ample size, but students can tape the sheets together to make even larger paintings. It's a heady time when a woman can let herself spread out and take up some real space,when she can make a HUGE painting, one that can sometimes cover an entire wall.

Creating a giant painting is a dizzying and terrifying prospect, and a woman often needs lots of encouragement and permission to take this step. In fact I usually need to nudge her a little. She will start with saying something about MAYBE needing to go a little bigger with her work. She feels something pushing on her, wanting to come through, and so she will ask if it's OK to use two pieces of paper instead of one. I generously offer to get the paper for her but come back with four pieces of paper, instead of the asked for two. No matter how "nice" she is, at this point she is more than willing to make a fuss, to strenuously object about how it's too much, she could never fill up that much paper, she doesn't have enough to express, she couldn't possibly take up that much room in the studio.

But as I continue to calmly pin the four pieces to the easel, nodding supportively, yet ignoring her increasingly frantic protestations, I see the gleam in her eye. She wants this opportunity to take up space, to proclaim herself in living color, to be unmistakably seen, but is trained to not give voice to this desire. I watch her as she struggles with the forbidden excitement of the challenge, the possibility, the sheer daring of it. The door to a secret longing is creaking open on long unused and rusted hinges, opening to her hunger to be big, to be bold, to be outrageous, to be visible as completely and utterly herself.

THE BITCHY GIRL: Willing to be fierce and powerful; unafraid of her own anger, unafraid to speak up, to take a stand, to have limits and boundaries, unafraid to say NO! Unafraid to combat abuse, refuses to be treated badly, willing to break connections and walk away from toxic relationships if it means protecting your own wild and precious self.

Another major crossroads occurs in the painting process when a woman realizes how angry and enraged she feels and she lets herself express it on paper for everyone to see. However, the feeling of anger is so taboo and so threatening that it will usually sneak in the back door as just a little color. Some red or black appears on the page and then slowly or by "accident" grows larger than the woman had intended .

As this continues , the artist begins to feel a little uncomfortable. She will stand back from her now unruly painting with a puzzled frown and turn to me , saying something like " That looks awfully angry," followed quickly by, "You know, I'm not really angry. I don't get angry. A little frustrated maybe, but never angry." This is a very precarious moment in the process. I have had women actually walk out of the room to get away from this intimation of anger, put on their coat and announce that they really must leave now. I am generally able to coax her back to the painting for the rest of the class, but once she leaves I will often never see her again. The reality of her own angry feelings is just too scary, the prohibitions too strong, and all I can do at this point is hope for her that someday she will be able to feel safe enough to take that deep plunge into her own passionate and furious heart .

For the woman who is ready to take that terrifying yet thrilling dive, admitting that she is indeed angry can allow an amazing intensity of feeling to come flooding out. All the years of saying yes, yes, yes when she wanted to say no, no, NO to unreasonable demands, to abuse, to putting her own needs on a perpetual back burner, come out on the paper in a frenzy of paint , of color, and of image.

For one woman it comes out as a bright red background, with black words painted simply and starkly to read "I AM SO PISSED OFF!'". For another , it is a large image of a woman with wildly flying red hair, bellowing open mouthed and brazen " What the $#%@ about me!!!"

A 60 year old woman, who has been married to a Methodist preacher for 40 years, surprises herself by painting a warrior goddess in hot pants, with a Colt 45 in one hand and a cake spatula (to be used as a whacking weapon when necessary) in the other.

The paintings sometimes depict images that are recognizable out of myth, such as a snake haired Medusa, and sometimes are expressed as a whirl of color and chaos, populated by weird, otherworldly creatures sporting very large, VERY sharp teeth. But what they all have in common is that they jump off the page with the ferocity of emotion portrayed. There is no mistaking the intent behind these paintings which is some version of " I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

I RECENTLY READ an article in a marketing journal that was warning advertisers away from using the words power or powerful in ads directed towards women. The writer of this article was not questioning the issue of women's fear around power, just stating an obvious ( to him) fact that women won't buy things that are associated with the language of power.

We have a long history as women around being disempowered and victimized, and we have internalized this fear of power, of our own power, for way too long. We are living in times of great change and uncertainty and it is critical that we reclaim our birthright of strength, authority and creative vision to take advantage of the opportunity that we have to recreate the world as a place where our most treasured values can survive.

There are many ways to face and to heal this power wound, and approaching it through our creativity is just one of them. But it's a good place to start. As my women student's and I have learned over many years, it's quite possible to experience courage, transformation and self love by wielding the business end of a paintbrush. And breaking our long allegiance to the Good Girl and allowing the Bad Girl an honored place in our lives is not only healing, but makes life a lot more interesting and fun!