Blogs

Lisa Pounders has always had an interest in art and poetry, and has long been inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell—even painting his directive, “Follow your own bliss” above a window in her art studio years ago.

Now pursuing her Ph.D. in the Jungian and Archetypal Studies specialization at Pacifica, Pounders has a much better understanding of the relationship between art and depth psychology. One aspect lies in Jung’s idea of individuation, a process by which there is an inner drive toward a c

As an artist, Margeaux Klein has always approached her art from an imaginative direction and produced works in her studio that felt like they originated deep within her heart and soul. Now she has begun to understand how to “read into” her work using a depth psychological lens.

Reflecting back on some of her favorite works, Margeaux marvels how the unconscious psyche can take so many subtle avenues that we're not necessarily aware of.

After being inexplicably drawn to making raku bowls, she realiz

Immurement, the concept of confining people inside walls, is a historical reality. Women, especially, have been victims and sacrifices of this macabre practice.

For Tracy Ferron, a conceptual artist and student of depth psychology, the archetypal theme of “walled women” first surfaced in a powerful dream. At the time, she was deeply engrossed in research on Big Pharma and societal complexes of power in a class at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she completed her master’s degree in Engaged Huma

I grew up in a hard working Norwegian farming family in the Midwest and not surprisingly, Midwestern practicality is etched into my cells. When I walk into an art gallery, I often marvel at the amount of time someone spent gluing hundreds or thousands of tiny pieces of glass into a sculpture or creating a fine painting. Thousands of hours in many cases, with no practical benefit other than to be looked at and admired. We can look at and admire a tree or a mountain, why do we need art?

We tend to

A quote from Carl Jung on the subject of "masks":

The persona, for Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, was the social face the individual presented to the world—"a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual".

One wonders what Jung would have thought about the masks created by these veterans (see link below) as their intent in creating them was to reveal, rather than to conceal, aspects of their true natu

Pacifica's Ladera campus bookstore is now selling my portfolio of Illuminated Letters. This limited-edition portfolio contains 22 of my detailed and luminous artist prints of the Hebrew alphabet and corresponding 22 illuminated prayer poems . The images are hand crafted from the original watercolor paintings, using the highest quality of archival pigment based inks on imported archival papers. Please stop by and take a look when you are next at Pacifica. (The related text is: "Illuminated Letter

"Stream" - A Time To Fly

"Stream" Original Painting on Rice Paper by Roberta Ann Busard

I have begun to paint again.

But what is that? What does that mean?

I never really stopped or did I? Did I pause?

I had a dream once, where I was in this great cave with a great opening with a bottomless abyss below and the infinite heavens above.

 There were streams of birds flying upwards and through in groups. I meant to leap, to join with them. Their flight called me from my very core.

Greetings to the Community of DPA.

I find myself in a near frenzy, searching for a way to tenderly release it into the open. 

I'm an Artisan, an all around creative, and have finally come to peace with myself, giving my full attention to the messages of my dreams. I've documented them for 11 years, and haven't paid much attention to them until this year.

What I've found throughout a handful of entries, is an underlying current of similarity - there's a distinct message within them, and it's someth