My Creative Process
Dr. Jacqueline M. Shuler

The ability to create unique works of art is a marriage of technical mastery and creativity. Creativity is
nourished by meditation and periods of silence, where the logical part of the mind is not encouraged;
in fact, it is ignored. The habit of shifting to the wordless void is a requisite to bring new creations into
being. This process involves working only in a visual field. When you operate on a different level from
the everyday control of the left side of the brain, you are free from constraint and logical judgments.
You allow for, and encourage divergent ideas, which become the raw material for your work.

The keen observer of nature feeds the inner eye and provides a wealth of visual material for new creations.
The creative process is energizing as well as challenging. Some of my art students have had very
romantic notions about creating art. They thought that one is always “in the mood” to create, and to create with ease. Sometimes I do not feel like working, but art goes beyond feeling. I can create as long as I am able to shift to the right side of my brain, and call upon my wealth of images. For me, there must be a freedom of spirit, and yet, a self-discipline which prevents the creation from becoming a simple venting of emotion. That process is the realm of Art Therapy.

Whether I am creating a tight calligraphic piece, a digital composition, or a colorful abstract, I remain
on a different subconscious level, elevated out of everyday logic. Painting is expressive freedom for me.
Until I was 30, I lived a life of self-discipline, meditation, and intellectual pursuits. When I moved to Florida,
I spent sunrise meditating daily on the beach. Those gorgeous sunrises in silence freed my spirit.
As I am now in the mature phase of my career, my knowledge and experience of the world of color
and composition are deeply ingrained. I can shift to another level when I am creating, and remain focused
for hours.

My studio is a renovated barn on top of a hill in Castle Rock, Colorado. The sunlight pours in through
the open south doors. It is my habit to have @ twenty sheets of watercolor paper at hand, and with my
selection of acrylic paints prepared, I can create a variety of paintings. As they are drying in the sun,
I study each one, and add whatever color or image I feel works with the composition. I can elaborate,
revise, cut up or tear up sections to reformulate them into a new composition. I don’t worry about wasting
paper or paint. I prefer to work in silence. That aids my total focus on these paintings. Time goes by very
rapidly. I am really not “thinking” in the usual term of the word. I intuitively know what to do, and I do it
without hesitation.

My background in calligraphy comes to the fore in those works with strong sweeping strokes. Color is
THE most important element to me; I think (and dream) in terms of color rather than shapes. A driving
force in my work is the search for unity. I have always been in pursuit of a unified life, and my paintings
reflect this search. When I moved to Colorado in 1994, I discovered a colorful state with many subtle tones in the mountains—mauves, soft purples, charcoal blues, delicate tans, and that fabulous open sky. If I felt free on the beach, I felt Icould fly here.

My life’s work has been to clothe beauty in color and words.