I have a gift that I discovered in my twenties. I could read art and know how the people who made it felt when they made their art. This gift has developed a great deal since I started working with people to lessen their suffering, using art-making in the process. Today much more information comes to me through people’s art. And more still comes through my own art-work, done in people’s presence, or when I am aware of them.
I used to be a graphic designer and an illustrator. I wrote for children and a little bit for adults. I came to NYC in 1985, 40 years old, married with three children and started a new career as an illustrator only. A few years later I became involved with Chan Meditation Center and studied meditation and Buddhist knowledge with the late Master Sheng-yen from Taiwan. For twelve years I was in a process of deepening my meditation. I had many more experiences and insights and my life changed. After having illustrated more than 40 children’s books and writing two of them, I left this career too and went to NYU to study art therapy.
ByGiora Carmi
This is drawing number 2. Number one of the day was described in the previous posting. Once I decided to free my throat, I did this drawing. I focused on the feeling of the pressure on my thyroid gland and allowed intuition to draw. The pressure on my thyroid I looked at the forms…
ByGiora Carmi
Two days come now, in which I struggle with a core issue. It is not important to know what the core issue is. I feel it strongly and I work with the feeling or the experience. I find that sometimes the issues are so complicated when they appear as stories, that it does not help…
ByGiora Carmi
Let’s start with a day of pain. I wanted to post this drawing alone, without saying anything, but the plan has changed. Now a second day like this has come, and a third day. And in the third day I have an appointment at the place where that workshop is taking place, to try all…
ByGiora Carmi
I showed my life partner my posting “I am that”. She had an operation on her eyes and it was hard for her to read, so she asked me to make the computer read it aloud. We like doing it sometimes. The computer spoke. Some of the sentences sounded not as they should have, but…
ByGiora Carmi
On the same day as the last post, but later, I sit in a dark corner of The Hungarian Pastry Shop. It is a street cleaning day. My car is double parked nearby and I am waiting for the right time to drive it back to my street and park it there. I need to…
ByGiora Carmi
I tune in to my emotions when the pain just doesn’t stop at night. I stay with them and find that there is some pressure in my throat. It is as if someone is pressing on my thyroid gland. I remember that I basically always feel this pressure. But it becomes emphasized when I struggle…
ByGiora Carmi
Old pain picture I lie down to sleep and the pain increases. It cannot be ignored and it is impossible to sleep. What can I do now? Every night and every day I ask this question numerous times. There are several things that I can do. There are many actually, but for whatever reason I…
ByGiora Carmi
This is what starts to develop. Every time I feel I need clarity, I go to the paint-box, dip my brush in water and tune in to the innermost me. I don’t know what will come from there, but what comes is always a blessing. Sometimes it tells me what to work on and release….
ByGiora Carmi
I am working on the book for an evening and a day and know that I have finished all the text. Now starts the process of bringing all the parts into one continuous file, with all the pictures in place and editing, editing, editing. Then: the publishing. It is a book about this method that…
ByGiora Carmi
Invitation for the workshop sent; people were interested; two days of organization, to finally find the best day and time for the workshop; calling places that rent out rooms for events like this, deciding on one not because it is cheaper, but because it can give me the room sooner, and when I ask my…
ByGiora Carmi
The invitation to the workshop bore fruit. People sent me emails, indicating their interest. When I get up today I know it is time to choose a place and a time for the workshop. I’ll look at what days these people preferred and find the best day. There are other things on my table that…
ByGiora Carmi
Things are cooking. I wrote that I wanted to investigate the shapes that seemed to be similar in the two drawings of the pain, done with markers and color pencils. I thought about this several times, and the pain that was relentless called my attention in a stronger way than my intent. But having thought…
