In this blog post Mystic Mag delves into the inspiring story of The Cosmic Cod, a unique studio founded on the belief that art is a powerful tool for creativity, self-expression, and personal growth. You’ll discover how the studio’s mission has evolved over time, offering a range of art classes, workshops, and even energy medicine services like reiki and meditation.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind founding The Cosmic Cod?
Our studio was first born in the early spring of 2007. Founded by three artists who believed in the transformative power of art. Our mission was to inspire and encourage people of all ages & abilities to express themselves creatively through a variety of mediums and channels artistically and creatively. We wanted to show folks that we are ALL creative beings and that being creative calms the heart and mind and facilitates personal healing.
What services do you offer?
Over the years we have transformed several times and presently I am the sole proprietor of the studio and we have expanded our energy medicine services to include art coaching therapy, reiki, heartmath, meditation, the emotion code, EFT tapping, hypnotherapy and intuitive readings in a group and or individual setting.
We have several practitioners who currently use our space part time; however I provide the majority of the energy medicine sessions while my granddaughter Victoria teaches most of the art sessions.
We also offer all kinds of art and craft classes in all mediums and styles, workshops, private lessons, you name it! Painting on canvas, wood, clothing, shoes, we also offer collage, resin art, found art and all kinds of creative projects!
Reiki and meditation are often associated with promoting relaxation and healing. How do these practices tie into the mission of your studio, and how have you seen them positively impact the lives of those who engage with them?
We begin each art class with some kind of reconnection to the self.. Sometimes it’s a brief reconnecting with the breath, sometimes it’s a longer guided meditation. We even offer reiki during some of our art sessions!
We have learned that everyone wants to create and almost everyone believes that they can’t! The meditation helps them to relax and reconnect with the present moment as well as letting go of any outcome so they can create in a way they had no idea even existed! Everyone loves what they create so much more after the meditation because they are creating from a place of connection and allowing instead of a place of fear and ‘I can’t’!
Art can be a powerful form of expression and therapy. How does The Cosmic Cod utilize art as a tool for personal growth and healing, and how do you encourage individuals to explore their creativity in this environment?
Most people come in at the beginning of a class believing they cannot create, that whatever they try to do will come out awful. When they leave they are saying “wow, I can’t believe I made this beautiful piece of art”! And I say “yes, and what else could you do that you never thought you could”!
So often just making one little painting can transform your entire view of what you can and cannot do! That is the best part for me!
Also, many people have no idea how simple deep breathing can calm and center you so being in our art classes and being exposed to mindfulness and being in the moment is new to them. They would never try it on their own but in an art class it’s ok… and soon they learn how much they love that feeling of being centered!
Many of our classes are taught in a ‘follow the formatted painting’ style and the teacher walks the students through the painting step by step, however we always encourage everyone to do their own thing. We make sure to create a safe space so everyone is comfortable and feels at ease- we stress that there are “no mistakes, only lessons to be learned” so people are more comfortable expressing themselves.
At the beginning of the class folks think all the paintings will look alike and they never ever do! At the end of the class you can see how every piece is so different from the original painting and from their fellow students. Each piece is individual and shows a bit of the person that created it! People learn that being a little different is ok and it’s actually comfortable and beautiful!
We also offer freestyle painting where folks just follow their bliss, however these classes are smaller because most people are so afraid of “doing it wrong” or of making ‘bad art’, they soon learn though, there is no such thing! This is the kind of class where we offer reiki, and begin with a guided meditation. People’s fear of being seen or of being seen in a ‘bad light’ comes up in this class… sometimes there are tears but it always ends well as folks learn that they are perfectly imperfect just as they are and so is their art!
What can a person expect from your sessions?
Each of our classes are so unique and different – whether its a paint your chakras meditation class or creating vision boards, they are all so unique. Also each class takes on the collective vibe of the whole group, which varies each time. I don’t think we could tell you what to expect in one of our classes except this: you will walk away feeling relaxed, feeling accomplished, and feeling good that you took some time for yourself. You’ll have a sense that YES you can create art and… That you can create anything you put your mind to!
