Connecting with Your Creative Spirit in Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond: A New Class at the Center for Creative Exploration Painting Studio

A dozen women, in various phases of pregnancy, from first trimester to “I’ve got the suitcase packed, my due date’s next week,” recently attended an experimental class for pregnant women and new mothers at the CCE Painting Studio, in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood. Alexis Cohen (www.alexiscohen.org)—a Bay Area doula who paints at the CCE studio—approached the studio’s executive director and main facilitator, Barbara Kaufman, with a desire to collaborate on a workshop for women embarking on the odyssey of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. Barbara and Alexis envisioned the workshop as a supportive experience, introducing women to the insights and wisdom of process painting and drawing parallels between the journey of personal creative exploration and the journey of motherhood. It’s a potent and fruitful combination that resonates strongly with Barbara’s experience, “I started painting when I was pregnant and felt how much I needed a place to allow all my excitement, fears, joys to have a voice. I want to share this experience with other pregnant women, knowing that this time can be challenging—at times even isolating—as well as rewarding, with all the different physical and emotional changes.”

Alexis and Barbara co-hosted the workshop the afternoon of January 23. Each participant had a chance to describe her relationship to creativity. Barbara introduced the group to the concepts of process painting; Alexis contributed her thoughts and experience as a doula, helping participants explore connections between birth, pregnancy, and creativity. The group discussed the need and longing for creative expression during this time of great change in their lives. Barbara then facilitated a two-hour painting session, and the workshop concluded with a heartfelt sharing of thoughts and experiences from the afternoon.

The overall response from participants was positive. Several attendees commented that the workshop made them aware just how valuable it is to spend time with their creative self, despite the many demands and expectations placed on them during this incredibly busy phase in their lives.

Barbara and Alexis look forward to offering another session of the workshop at the CCE Painting Studio sometime this spring. For more information, check the CCE Website (www.ccesf.org).