February 22-May 31, 2024
Paint Together Every Day:
100 Days of Process Painting—Online
It’s back!
Daily 30-minute studio sessions for 100 days! Community! Accountability! Play! You know the drill.
But that’s not all… I’m thrilled to share that this year we get to collaborate with process painting pioneer Stewart Cubley. This is a meaningful opportunity to get to paint with a living treasure.
Hi Friends, Elle here.
Last year my friend Heather introduced me to Stewart Cubley’s work. He’s been facilitating process painting for-ever and says wonderful things like, “We’re painting, but we’re not making paintings!”
I knew Stewart was the real deal when his process helped me break into and through creative blocks I’ve had, recurring, for years. I can just hear him… “What is the one thing you don’t want to do in this painting?”
And then one random day, I had this harebrained idea to email him and ask him if he’d collaborate for 100 days. And here we are!
Holy guacamole! I’m so excited. And I hope you’ll join us this year if you feel called. It’s going to be a small group, so don’t wait to grab your spot.
“You paint for process or you paint for product. [We are] painting for process. It sounds very simple, but it is a radical thing.”
— Michele Cassou and Stewart Cubley, Life, Paint and Passion
What you get when you join:
Daily Accountability
✓ Join a live, private online co-working space from 9-9:30AM PST Monday through Friday. Think of this as your daily accountability buddy. Weekday sessions begin Monday, February 24, 2025* at 9AM PT.
*While the 2025 global project dates have not been announced, it usually happens around this time. We hope to generally overlap with the project.
Weekly Connection
✓ Receive live, real-time support and facilitation from Stewart most Saturdays* during our live, private group session, from 10AM-1PM PST, which adds up to a lot of hands-on hours with him a month. Our first live gathering is Saturday, February 22, 2025 at 10AM PT.
*Stewart’s existing retreat schedule means he will not be with us for about 2 of the 14 Saturdays.
Continual Support
✓ Surround yourself with other co-adventurers in the community. Having someone to check in with makes all the difference. Elle and another co-conspirator will be available during our weekday classes.
What if I’ve never painted?
No problem. No experience is necessary. Stewart writes, “[We] start from the premise that technique follows feeling — that if you have an inner connection to your work, then you also have the ability to express it. [We] remove the structures of talent, skill, accomplishment, interpretation, competition and awards, allowing you to trust in your unique and individual style.”
How many hours will we be in live class together?
About 80 hours across 14 weeks.
Why does it matter if we’re painting for process or painting for product?
When we paint for product, we want something out of the work—something to sell or an idea to realize or perhaps for the painting to say something about us. But when we paint for process, we do it for the mystery. We don’t know how it’s going to turn out and can be carried by something beyond the thinking mind.
What if I’m blocked creatively?
Stewart writes, “One of the myths of art is that you have to feel inspired, have endless ideas or feel confident in order to create. But if you engage the process honestly, you will also experience your emptiness and your lack of inspiration at times. [We] support you to enter these places courageously and to meet yourself there — where paradoxically, you discover your genuine passion.”
Where can I learn more about Stewart?
You can find him online at www.processarts.com and buy his book here.
What tools do I need?
Stewart has put together some supplies that you can order. But you are fine to work with what you already have!
Want to see if Process Painting is for you? Join us Saturday, February 8, from 10a-1p PT for a $75 trial session.
Cost: $2,000 for 14 weeks
“In working with Stewart and Michele, I found I had to give up my idea of what a painting should be: portraying a beautiful scene in a pleasing way. Instead, it is about the alive act of moment-by-moment listening to the flashes of thought at the periphery of perception, and responding in color and form. They taught me what I knew to be true in writing but not had to learn in another medium: that creativity is a process, that it takes patience and intuition, that it is full of surprise and discovery and cannot be known ahead of time.”
— Natalie Goldberg, writer
Stewart Cubley lives in Portland, Oregon, and spends part of each year on his homestead near Denali Park, Alaska. In 1976, he co-founded The Painting ExperienceSM in San Francisco, an organization devoted to providing direct experiences of the creative process through expressive painting. Stewart currently conducts seminars at learning-based organizations around the world and hosts online courses, classes, and workshops. His method is one of respectful questioning, inviting you to extend yourself into new areas of self-perception through visual expression. He is the co-author of Life, Paint & Passion, Reclaiming the Magic of Spontaneous Expression (Tarcher/Putnam). You can find him online at www.processarts.com.