Intentional Creativity
“Intentional Creativity is not about being a talented painter or creator, it is about allowing for self-expression and allowing the unconscious to become conscious.
Intentional Creativity applies to anything we do with intention. To be human is to be creative, and the process of Intentional Creativity offers a step-by-step way to engage and explore our own unique creativity.
“Intentional Creativity is not about being a talented painter or creator, it is about allowing for self-expression and allowing the unconscious to become conscious. We are painting our formless insides into form on a canvas. It is a way to work with the places within, which we often don’t have language for. Creating with intention is simply working with mindfulness in whatever we set our hands to. Whether it is creating a soup, a garden, a business plan, or a painting. We are more present because we choose to be.
Intentional Creativity is an approach to creating that yields greater access to who we are now and who we are becoming.”
- Shiloh Sophia, the co-founder of Intentional Creativity
Ceremonial Creativity
Creating devotional art, sacred medicine objects and tools have long traditions. Most of us with European ancestors had minimal experience growing up with ceremonies and sacred teachings, and we hunger for meaningful rituals and ceremonies to deepen our awareness and connection to the beautiful world around us.
Creating with intention within a well-held container (a space created and held for the safe experience of participants) provides our bodies with the chance to learn about creating while being supported. It supports us to look our inner critic right in the eye and call bullshit.
Why it matters: humans evolved close to the earth and her elements. We created rituals to affirm our part of the whole and our connection with All That Is. In Ceremonial Creativity the process of creating within ceremony deeply connects us with the intention we hold while making or painting. It can apply to anything created with intention.
It supports us to look our inner critic right in the eye and call bullshit.
Barbara Breckenfeld
I love to paint and to create. Our creativity is needed as our gift to ourselves and to our world.
I know in my bones that to be creative is part of being human. Practicing creative self-expression helps us digest what’s going on in our lives or the world. It can be empowering, healing, surprising, and even glorious fun.
I have spent my life making art and creative handwork while steadily pursuing personal and spiritual growth. As a ceremonialist, I hold space for inclusive circles and ceremonies that support community connections and encourage others’ creative self-expression. I am passionate about offering experiences for you to remember how creative you are. My heart and soul are fed by sharing this work.
After two decades of healing and growing in ceremony, the practice of Intentional Creativity married my creative energies with my love of earth-based ceremony.
After two decades of healing and growing in ceremony, the practice of Intentional Creativity married my creative energies with my love of earth-based ceremony. Honoring the elements and the directions, I offer my gifts and make my offerings as Ceremonial Creativity in support of the aligned growth and creative experiences of sacred humans.
Today, I live on a 5-acre farm in Kingston, Washington, where I paint, create, garden, hold ceremony, and partner with Annie the horse in creative adventures.
Life Experience
A long time ago, I earned a BFA in textiles from the Philadelphia College of Art. After I moved to Seattle, I loved working as a gardener. Designing printed textiles for the garment industry (before computer-aided design) confirmed my love of pushing paint around with a brush. I taught color theory and design process at Seattle Central College. Back in the 1980s, I had two solo art exhibits of painted mixed media constructions at the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University.
One day after I was divorced,
a lovely gray horse insisted that he belonged to me.
One day after I was divorced, a lovely gray horse insisted that he belonged to me. In an effort to support a bigger family, I got certificated in Integrated Marketing Communications from the University of Washington Extension, leading to work as a marketing manager at a large architecture firm. Eventually, I hung out my shingle as Blue Horse Marketing. Wanting to get my hands on horses, I studied equine massage and bodywork, working with horses around western Washington. For a short while, I made and sold rattles and smudge fans in my Etsy shop, Touch of the Sacred.
In my enthusiasm, I often teach what I am excited about: peer counseling, Appalachian clogging, color and design, marketing your small business, and bodywork for horse owners. Finding my way back to painting in recent years, I earned two certificates in Intentional Creativity from Musea, the second one prepared me to offer the classes you find here.
With respect for those who have lived and prayed with this land since time immemorial, I offer my deep gratitude for those who have carried these traditions through the generations to the present day.