Expressive Arts Workshops and Classes
Start the new year with creative expression!
Winter Remedy: Watering seeds of the new year
Saturday January 10th 1-3 pm
A new offering at the PenBay YMCA!
A 2 hour expressive arts workshop to infuse joy and wonder in the dark of the winter while exploring how the depth of winter creates the new light and life of spring. The natural world will be our guide as we engage in creative processes to promote health and wellbeing, self compassion and community building. While the dark and cold months can be challenging, winter has gifts to offer if we open ourselves to her lessons. Using a mixed medium and multi-modal approach we will explore topics of shelter and rest; grounding and connection; all while nourishing the quiet inner growth of winter. Together we will engage in visual art making; personal writing and guided imagery. A new offering at the PenBay YMCA!
Art materials will be provided.
No art experience needed to participate.
You do not need to be a member of the Y to participate
Appropriate for anyone 16+
To register through the YMCA click here: Registration Link
Or visit their website at www.penbayymca.org
If you have any questions or have trouble registering please
reach out to me at BarbaraDavisLCSW@gmail.com
Wash Away you Winter Worries with Watercolor
Wednesday December 3, 2-3:30 pm
at the PenBay YMCA
Let’s come together and experiment with the fun and versatile medium of watercolor paint!
Using a variety of techniques we will explore how playing with color and water and “going with the flow”
can help reduce tension and stress. Our goal is to find a place of ease within ourselves as
we prepare for the winter months.
This is a great introduction to the calming and healing benefits of creative expression.
No art or painting experience required.
This is not a “how to paint” class but rather focusses on creative process as a vehicle to whole health.
All materials will be provided*
To learn more and to register for the class click on this link : Register for Wash Away Your Winter Worries
Or visit the PenBay YMCA website: https://www.penbayymca.org/
Click on the Register Button. The class is listed under "Speciality Programs."
You can also call the YMCA at 207-236-3375 to register.
You do NOT need to be a Y member to participate!
Nature Based Expressive Arts and Journaling will be starting up again in March 2026!
Ignite Curiosity and Creativity through Expressive Arts and Journaling
With Nature as our guide, together we will explore how engaging in creative expression supports our health and well being through transitions. We will invite the rising energy of the emerging spring to ignite our curiosity and creativity as we prepare for the new growth of the coming season. Using natural objects in concert with basic art materials, we will make two- and three-dimensional collages, paintings, and drawings, and use these creations as prompts for spontaneous writing and personal exploration. Classes will include a combination of reflective writing, art making and mindfulness based activities. Participants are asked to bring a writing journal for their personal use to each class
Registration is through the Five Towns Adult Education Program and will begin early in 2026
** In case you haven’t heard, the Adult Ed program is instituting a new registration system
so if you have trouble registering please call or email the Adult Ed office for assistance.
207-236-7803 or email adult.education@fivetowns.net**
Touch Drawing for Self and Soul
Sunday afternoons 1-3 pm for 4 weeks during the fall of 2025*
Learn the process of Touch Drawing and how to combine Touch Drawing with collage and journaling to support personal growth and soul work. Open to folks who are intersted in exploring ways to use the arts to support their personal and spiritual development. No Touch Drawing or other art experience necessary. However folks with knowledge of Touch Drawing are welcome as Touch Drawing is a practice - like yoga and mediation - that develops over time as we learn how to best use it for ourselves.
Time and place TBD
What is Touch Drawing?
Touch Drawing is a simple process accessible to all, artist and non-artist alike. Participants are first guided through a brief meditation and visual imagery to help them settle into and access their felt sense. We begin by rolling wet paint out on a board and placing a piece of paper on top. We draw with our hands on the dry side of the paper and watch forms and images appear. There is no advanced planning about what to draw, no copying of images or attempting to draw something specific. Rather, the hands move in response to our internal sensations, feelings and impulses opening a channel to our creativity and bypassing our ego and critical thinking. We create several drawings in each session, as if documenting our moment to moment experience with lines, shapes and images. The process tends to bring about a state of calm and wonder as unexpected images begin to appear. Participants will be encouraged to engage in free or spontaneous writing to aid in the integration process. In later classes participants will learn how to mount their drawings, and have the option of going back into certain images with drawing materials should they choose to do so. Optional personal sharing in small groups will be encouraged as well. For more information visit the Touch Drawing Tab on this website
For more information and registration for all workshops,
please email me @ BarbaraDavisLCSW@gmail.com
Finding Beauty in What's Broken
TBD - late fall 2025
This workshop is a metaphor for finding beauty in what is broken and finding the seeds of new life in the dark of winter. This is an experiential mixed media class focused on impermanence and finding joy and beauty in unexpected places. Participants will be invited to metaphorically "let go" of something through breaking and repairing a ceramic object,opening up to new possibilities through intention setting and the creative process.
All art supplies will be provided.
For more information and registration for all workshops,
please email me @ BarbaraDavisLCSW@gmail.com
Comments from previous participants:
Being able to put feelings onto paper by either writing or painting, makes the process of examining and understanding them more “real.” It is enjoyable to be an artist of emotion. I am amazed at how my feelings evolved during the class.”
“Even if you think you are "unartistic," it's amazing how much personal insight you can gain by working in a creative medium that is unfamiliar, even scary,...and how much fun you can find it to be!”
“The Expressive Arts class got my playful, creative sap flowing more freely. I had wonderful body memories of creating at summer camp, in grade school, and at home with my sisters. It also strengthened my self listening and gentleness.”
“All those wonderful colors in an art store are so captivating - paints and pens and pastels. But you're someone who wasn't "good" in art, so you look, but don't touch, and certainly don't buy. Here's your chance to play with all those bright goodies - all the colors in the rainbow -- and see what you have to say about yourself without words.”
“I love my time with Barbara. Through her sensitivity and art training and I find a part of me emerging that I wasn't aware of ---I can cover so much up in my daily, "noisy" life and some things need to be set free.”
What is Expressive Arts Facilitation?
Expressive Arts is a relatively new field and while it shares some principles of art therapy, it is separate and distinct from art therapy. Most importantly if you are attending an Expressive Arts Workshop or Class we are not “doing therapy.” The “leader” functions as a facilitator, not a teacher and not a therapist.
While engaging in the Expressive Arts does help reduce anxiety, improve mood and form connections, in a workshop such as these, there is no diagnosis or defined problem to work on. The “goal” in an Expressive Arts Workshop is to help participants access their own creative spirit to explore their inner world and their innate ability to grow and heal in a safe and supportive environment. Most people find the experience pleasurable, inspiring and calming. The facilitator offers creative prompts or leading questions for participants to explore through expressive mediums such as paint, collage, movement, drawing, writing or sound.
While the facilitator guides the process with prompts, suggestions and the offer of materials; the facilitator does not interpret the participants' work. Each participant is able to gain their own insights based on their own process and associations and is free to choose whether or not to share their insights with the facilitator and group.
While there might be some basic instruction in the use of art materials so participants feel comfortable using the materials, Expressive Arts Workshops are not art classes and art making techniques such as figure drawing or landscape painting are not taught.
The good news is that you do not need to be an artist or have experience with art making materials to participate and benefit from the experience! All art materials will be provided. Pre-registration is required for all workshops.
What is Touch Drawing?
“Touch Drawing is a simple yet profound process. Paper is placed over wet paint. The pressure of fingertips on the page forms images on the underside. The hands are extensions of the soul, moving in response to the sensations of the moment. Channels of expression open, enabling feelings to flow. A series of drawings is created, each a stepping stone deeper into the self.
This act of creation unleashes vibrant healing forces that guide the psyche toward wholeness. Even an unconfident artist can experience the fulfillment of seeing their interior life come alive on paper. Touch Drawing is used by artists, therapists, social workers, health care practitioners, educators and intuitives. Touch Drawing is a practice of creative, psychological and spiritual integration.”
Deborah Koff-Chapman, Founder Center for Touch Drawing