The Hidden SF Art Studio Helping You Connect With Your Creativity

Just the act of being creative can feel revolutionary. Tucked into the quiet neighborhood of Glen Park is a hidden gem called The Center for Creative Exploration (CCE). For more than 26 years, CCE has been a place where you’re encouraged to assert your individuality and lean into your own voice through painting.

This art studio is warm and inviting. Sunlight pours in through large windows, stretching across the floors, catching the colors splattered along the walls. Layers of paint mark nearly every surface with drips, brush swipes, and soft stains that tell the story of countless paintings made over decades.

CCE specializes in teaching a specific style of painting, Intuitive Painting. Intuitive painting is the practice of opening ourselves to our creative spirit. Whether you are a seasoned painter or just starting out, CCE teaches you how to trust your own instincts and follow the brush with curiosity, inquiry and play. Executive Director of CCE, Claudia Erzinger tells us more about the practice:

“When we turn our attention inside there is a rich world of sensation and feelings - we might not even know we have them because most of the time we focus outward. But the practice of staying with what is present and then following colors and forms to express it is available to everyone. We are born with that very basic desire to express and explore. Children have an easier time with it then adults who are held by learned beliefs and opinions. It brings healing and connection to what lives inside that is bigger than our personality.”

CCE classes are for the curious. You do not have to already be an artist to take one of their classes. The only prerequisite is curiosity and interest in learning something new. With multiple class formats to suit your needs like multi-day workshops and single day explorations (which are offered online and in-person classes), CCE creates space for all.

My introduction to intuitive painting came through one of CCE’s online workshops I took while living in Montana over the summer. The experience helped me find a new way to tap into my own creativity. My instructor was Erzinger and, while distanced learning, she was able to guide me through my painting practice by asking questions which helped me come back to the painting and understand why I was making the strokes that came intuitively. I loved being able to paint with this painting practice in Montana and take inspiration from the nature the surrounded me during that time.

When I took an in-person class I felt different because I had the energy of the other students, and was able to co-create wonderful art that we all made guided by our own intuition. What I found when I took these classes was that CCE allows you to tap into a new part of your creativity that you haven’t explored yet and is an endless well of possibility. It’s hard to explain, but I was able to really see a new path within my own art practice. Each student has their own experience with this practice in their own profound way. It’s freeing and playful while also helps you to be with your thoughts and meditate through painting. 

CCE is a nonprofit founded by Barbara Kaufman and a small group of dedicated intuitive painters, including Maria Freebairn-Smith and Sula Harris. Kaufman trained with the originator and co-founder of this approach, Michele Cassou of Point Zero Painting, as well as co-founder Stewart Cubley of The Painting Experience. Cassou herself studied with Arno Stern in Paris, and her approach evolved from what she learned in his “free-expression” studio before developing in new directions as she refined the practice.

After Kaufman passed away six years ago, longtime painter and lead teacher Claudia Erzinger stepped into the role of Executive Director. She leads CCE with the support of a team that includes Freebairn-Smith, who serves as teacher and Outreach Director, and Megan Chan, along with additional staff, teachers, numerous volunteers and board members. 

Kaufman left a legacy and she inspired so many people to jump in and listen to themselves as they create through the intuitive painting method. In her own words from One Painter’s Journey 1980-2011:

"We really don’t know when we start and give our whole heart to something, where it can lead us. I thought I could have stopped at any point, the frustrations and judgements were so strong. In the beginning years, I never felt creative enough or worthy, and compared myself to others. But I somehow new, if I stopped, my life would not change, and that this process was offering me a chance to go where I had never been before, with no certainty or guarantee. I still feel that way when I paint today, that there is a great uncertainty and great unknowing. This push of life is moving me beyond my small beliefs. It offers me so much more than whether I like it or don’t like it. It allows me to enter into intimacy with Love, an all inclusive Love. And the more I paint, the more I feel the preciousness of every line, every dot, everything that flows through me through the brush. I couldn’t say that I felt all that 35 years ago but it was always there, waiting for me, like a good, patient friend”.

CCE offers a wide range of ways to engage with intuitive painting, from online classes to in-person gatherings and hybrid experiences that combine both. There are 4- and 8-week class series held during the week, as well as community and introductory classes on Saturdays. For those who want to go deeper, there are daylong workshops and longer retreats held in the studio and at offsite locations.

Facebook - @intuitivepaintingsf 
Instagram - @intuitivepaintingsf 
Website:  intuitivepainting.org

For those interested in a class but may have a hard time affording the class fee, contact CCE for volunteer opportunities and scholarships which help keep the classes affordable for all.