ART WRITE HEAL Workshops

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ART WRITE HEAL Workshops

ART+WRITE+HEAL© workshops help you release buried emotions from emotional pain in a healthy manner.

You'll create a piece of art to represent what your emotional pain looks like to you & then write about the emotional pain that facilitated your artwork.

01/22/2026

Peace sure doesn’t announce itself. It sneaks up on you so quietly that it takes some time to notice its presence. You’ve lived without it for so long that you’ve become accustomed to the uncertainty. When you finally realize that peace has arrived it’s like the sun breaks through the dark clouds and banishes all the chaos from your world. Welcome, Peace…..I do believe this is the first time we’ve ever met.

01/18/2026

Today was absolutely amazing. It was the opening day for the Renewal – The Art of Healing exhibit at Rawls Museum Arts in Courtland. The building was packed full of people that came out to see all the amazing art lining the walls of the gallery.

I found my four pieces of art displayed together & stood there in front of it wondering if this was really real—that art I created was actually hanging on the wall of a gallery surrounded by the company of so many other artists. I stood there for a while, feeling so many emotions…from sadness that Kenny wasn’t here to see it hanging on the wall, to pure elation that I’d actually accomplished this…..at 59 years old.

As I walked around & looked at each piece I was overwhelmed at the dedication the artists poured into each of their creations. Reading the artists statements about their artwork gave me an INNERstanding of the pain they had gone through that birthed their pieces of art. It was like finding a giant roomful of kindred spirits who had the same intimate knowledge of grief that I had.

I talked with some of the artists who shared more about their artwork & the events that facilitated them creating it. Being able to hear their stories of what happened to them or a loved one gave more meaning to each piece. I talked with people looking at my art & told them how it came about. I shared how I transmuted my own grief into a purpose & created my ART+WRITE+HEAL workshops to help others heal from their emotional pain & grief.

As I sit here & write this I still can’t believe all this has happened, but it has, & I could not be more grateful. I’m also proud of myself….proud that I didn’t let the darkness of the grief I crawled through after Kenny’s death to wholly consume me, but instead rose back up like the Phoenix who rises up from the fire & ashes to be reborn again.

01/17/2026

Opening day Renewal - The Art of Healing 🎨

01/16/2026

Tomorrow’s the day! It’s the opening reception of the Renewal- The Art of Healing art exhibit at Rawls Museum Arts in Courtland from 2-4 pm.

This exhibit showcases art that artists have created to help themselves heal. I used art & writing to help me work through my grief journey after Kenny’s death. I have four pieces on display in the exhibit. The show runs through March 7th.

Rawls has several other events related to the show that I’ll be attending-

Wellness Resource Fair on Saturday January 31st from 10 am - 2 pm

A Space for Sharing, Art, & Wellness on Tuesday February 10th from 6-8 pm

There are numerous other happenings at Rawls connected to the exhibit, check photos in this post for more info.

Rawls is a little over an hours drive from Virginia Beach. If you’d like to drive out & see the show please do. There is lots of amazing art created by some very talented artists. I hope to see you there!

Rawls Museum Arts
22376 Linden Street
Courtland, VA 23837

01/11/2026

So I have some amazing news to share only a few people know about. A few months ago an incredible opportunity dropped into my lap. My friend Liana, who works at the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk (she was one of Gage’s teachers there) forwarded me an email she got from Rawls Museum Arts in Courtland about an upcoming art exhibit they were having in January. The show is called Renewal-The Art of Healing & is centered around people who have used art to heal with. They put out a call for artwork & Liana said I should submit some art.

I had one completed piece that I used in my ART+WRITE+HEAL workshop. You could submit up to five pieces so I got to work on several more. I submitted two mixed media pieces, one fiber arts piece & a literary piece in a frame from one of my early blog posts after Kenny died. Rawls emailed me the next week & told me all four pieces were accepted into the show.

To say I was over the moon happy is a gross understatement. It’s been a lifelong dream to have art I created hanging in a gallery & it’s finally happening at 59 years old. I took a decades long break from doing art as that part of me got put on the back burner while focusing on being a wife & mother. It’s taken me this long to get back to it.

I’m in a state of awe & gratitude over this opportunity & I want to shout that from the top of the mountain that I crawled my way up for so long in my grief journey after Kenny’s death. This opens a lot of doors for me & it’s going to change my life dramatically in ways that I never thought would happen.

I’ll be at the opening reception next Saturday, January 17 from 2-4 pm. The show runs till March 7. If you’d like to make the drive out to see some amazing art from many different artists please come! Rawls Museum Arts is located at 22376 Linden Street Courtland, VA 23837

12/03/2025

The events in our life can take a sudden unexpected turn sometimes, completely blindsiding you because you never saw it coming. Those events can throw you down into an ugly pit that feels like there’s no escape from.

You have two choices—

Stay down in that pit and die

OR

Rise up from the flames and allow yourself to be reborn into something new

I crawled through Door # 1 for way too long the last 4 years, but now…..I’ve risen up and busted down Door # 2 and am walking through it on my own two feet with fire running through my veins. 🐦‍🔥

10/21/2025

After my husband died four years ago, I needed a way to release the unbearable emotional pain I was feeling over his sudden and unexpected death. Individual or group therapy was not something I felt comfortable doing. I chose instead to heal myself. I turned to art and writing, the tools I’ve always used to work through things that were troubling me in my life. Seeing how effective using these two things to help me work through my grief journey is what led to the creation of this workshop.

ART+WRITE+HEAL Workshops are a creative way to work through healing emotional pain using art and writing. Participants paint what their emotional pain looks like to them and then write about the event that facilitated their pain.

Tuesday, November 4, 2025
6:00 pm -9:00 pm
The Governor’s School for the Arts
254 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510
(paid parking available in MacArthur Center parking garage)

Your investment for the 3 hour workshop is $111.00, payable through Zelle. All supplies included (please bring a water bottle). Ten spaces available ~ booking & payment in advance required to secure your spot.

To register please contact Lisa Saxton ~ call or text 757-328-0930
or email artwritehealworkshops@gmail.com

*This workshop is strictly a drug and alcohol free environment*

www.artwriteheal.com

03/21/2023

“The final stage of the grief process isn’t what I imagined it would be”

Read the post at this link~

https://lisasaxton.com/the-final-stage-of-the-grief-process-isnt-what-i-imagined-it-would-be/

02/20/2023

“In order to put yourself back together again, you have to let your grief break you apart”

Read the post at this link~

https://lisasaxton.com/in-order-to-put-yourself-back-together-again-you-have-to-let-your-grief-break-you-apart/

10/23/2022

“Don’t unpack and live there”

Read the post at this link~

https://lisasaxton.com/dont-unpack-and-live-there/

10/10/2022

“What I learned in the last 365 days”

Read the post at this link~

https://lisasaxton.com/what-i-learned-in-the-last-365-days/

10/09/2022

It’s been one year today…..

“How can you be gone…..you were just here”

Read the post at this link~

https://lisasaxton.com/how-can-you-be-gone-you-were-just-here/

Address

Virginia Beach, VA

Website

http://www.artwriteheal.com/

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