For most of us the challenge of a blank canvas is equal to the climbing of Mount Everest. Painting remains the province of the polished professional, the often foolhardy amateur, and the exalted group of specially gifted people we acknowledge as artists. The rest of us are certain that we do not have the ability, nor the creativity to make anything meaningful out of it....and, because we cannot do it well, we never do it, and never know what it can do for us.

Aviva Gold knows that, for each and every one us, it wasn't always like that. We were not always afraid. There was a time in our lives when we all knew the joy of attacking the blank paper with crayons, with paints, and with our little fingers dipped in color. We knew the freedom and the satisfaction of splashing on the reds, blues, and yellows..of mixing and mishmashing..of drawing anything we wanted, any way we wanted.

We were, for one brief, glorious period - before the rules, the instructions, and the judgments moved in - blessed. Not just with the power of expression, but with the comfort and joy that expression could give us.

With her unique program, PAINTING FROM THE SOURCE, Aviva seeks to reopen that wondrous door and rekindle that sense of freedom and vitality. For most of the people who participate, she succeeds.

Reaching backward for the child within us seems to be a popular new therapy technique, if not a trend. But while the television gurus would have us tap into the pain of "the wounded child", Aviva would have us tap into the joy of the carefree child. A much better way to go, it would seem.

It doesn't always work that way. Some participants must push through some heavy baggage to get back to the source, and, as Aviva says, "that's part of the fun"..and an important part of the personal growth each person gains. In the end it becomes a very unique individual experience, totally different with each person and totally dependent on how far she or he wants to take it.

The magic of PAINTING FROM THE SOURCE begins with two and three days workshops, either at a rustic retreat in the Berkshires of New York State, or at urban locations in New York and Boston. Because a good part of this magic depends on the dynamics of the group as well as Aviva's skill and guidance, she prefers that people attend one of these programs before participating in the one week program at Santa Fe, New Mexico.

But it is this 5 day program, in mystical Georgia O'Keefe country, that attracted our attention. Although PAINTING FROM THE SOURCE is a wonderful opportunity for those of us who don't think we can paint, it is also a wellspring of new creativity and vitality for artists at every level.

Hillary Vermont is a very successful commercial designer and artist, whose work appears on clothing, giftware, towels and linen, china, gift wrapping and museum greeting cards. But the compromises, constraints, deals and deadlines were pushing the fun and creativity inexorably into the background. After participating in Aviva's program at the Open Center in downtown Manhattan, Hillary felt that PAINTING FROM THE SOURCE was just what she needed to jump start her creativity, rekindle the joy of expression, and - through that experience address some personal problems. The serene majesty of the New Mexico desert provided exactly the right setting.

It is said by participants that Aviva's program is a kind of "Spiritual Midwifery". Susie Carol wrote, "You are a true teacher because you gave the group flight, then stepped back and let us fly..you also created an incredibly safe place for us to reach within. My experience of painting has freed something within me and slowly it is integrating into my life."

"I felt like a flower unfolding," says Barbara Edison, "without realizing what was happening, I just allowed the process to take me where it wanted to go. I felt my way along, always responding to what the paper before me was beckoning me to do..and as I grew, the painting grew. And as it grew, I felt ever increasing empowerment and delight..The presence of the group, each person creating uniquely his or her own reality, was both inspiring and instructive. How individual we are in creation of reality!"