Six women stand facing their easels, putting the final touches on the paintings of themselves they’ve created over the past two days.

Some of the women have been painters for many years. For others, this weekend workshop is their first brush with art in any form.

Their experience level really doesn’t matter, though. What’s more important is what they discovered about themselves over the weekend – and how they learn to see their bodies not as flawed, but as beautiful works of art.

This is Through Artists’ Eyes, a course I developed with the help of a workshop designer – and the women who took part in the first few programs. But the beginnings go even farther back – to when I began to paint women in the nude nearly 30 years ago.

What happened in some of the modelling sessions initially came as a surprise to me. These women were not professional models; rather, they were women who saw personal value in the experience. More often than not, they shared stories relating to their bodies. In some cases, I was the first person they’d told. They released pent-up pain, sadness and anger, usually through tears. Afterwards, they told me how important the modelling experience had been to them to help them move on.

The idea for Through Artists’ Eyes gelled during a conversation I had with a career consultant, with whom I was exploring new directions for my painting and teaching. “You could teach painting to women to help them heal their body image,” she said. 

I was already teaching painting courses in Victoria and up and down the Island – but the focus of this was entirely different. So I went looking for a professional who had the skills to help me develop the program. Through a Google search, I found Oriane Lee Johnston, who had been program director for Hollyhock Centre – one of Canada’s top educational retreat centres, on Cortes Island. In one of those “it was meant to be” moments, it turned out she lived just three blocks away from me.

So we worked together to conceptualize and fine-tune the program – and to put on the initial offering.

So how does it work?

The course is limited to six women. 

Before the class starts, each woman has an individual nude modelling session, exploring her body in a relaxed, safe, quiet, studio atmosphere. Digital images are captured for use as reference for her own painting.

We come together as a group for the first time Friday evening to discuss the modelling experience and choose the images we will paint. (I do a painting as well, so I can demonstrate technique.) The weekend is two full days of guided work, with each woman painting herself from the image she chooses.

When I tell women about this course, I know to expect one of two reactions.

The majority say, “Oh, I could NEVER do that!”

And the rest say, “Wow, what a great idea!” 

And what do they say after they’ve taken Through Artists’ Eyes? 

1. •“It transferred my perspective of my body as flawed and unacceptable, to a view where the parts of my body make an exquisite composition.”
   

2. •“I’ve come away with a stronger sense of self and a renewed respect for my body.”
   

3. •“I would recommend it to any woman or artist wanting to explore a sense of intimacy and discovery about herself.”
   

Every time I teach one of these courses, I want to tell Thomas Overbury he was wrong. 

Overbury is the English essayist who, back in the early 17th century, wrote, “Beauty is only skin deep.”

Beauty is actually more than that – it’s mind deep, and soul deep. I’ve watched women change their minds about their bodies when they learn to see them as beautiful, through artists’ eyes. And I’ve seen their souls soften, open and grow.

Through Artists’ Eyes