Intro/Community Painting class: Tending the Creative Fire

🎨 Come play with paint! Join us for our fun and creative monthly Intro to Intuitive Painting community class with The Center for Creative Exploration! Whether you're an absolute beginner or a continuing student, this class is perfect for all! Space is limited. Reserve your spot now! ✨

You don't need any art experience or background, and you don't need to know what to paint. Come as you are.

🧑🏽‍🎨 What this class is: A guided intuitive painting class focused on exploration rather than technique or finished results. You'll be gently supported as you get familiar with the practice, reconnect with your own natural creativity, and paint freely, without any pressure to perform or produce.

🖌️All materials provided (high quality paint, brushes, paper, aprons) - just bring yourself!

📍In-studio classes are held at our painting studio in Glen Park, San Francisco at 300 Chenery Street. Check out our online class offerings to join us online via Zoom.

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"This place is amazing. The teachers and community members make it such a special place to express yourself. The workshops and drop in community classes are very meditative." - Eliza D.

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"Very relaxing and fun class. Left feeling peaceful and satisfied. I'm definitely coming back." - Renee M.

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"I've been participating in the class via Zoom (online). I love how this class helps me get in touch with myself after being out in the busy, often crazy, world." - Kim B.

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"Beautiful space, great facilitators. Even in just two hours, I feel like I’m not only connected with myself but had a wonderful time with my friends for a lovely connection time. I’m definitely coming back." - Onna L.

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"Do you remember the joy of painting as a child? The first time you picked up the brush and luscious colors flowed across the paper?
You can experience that excitement of discovery again at The Center for Creative Exploration. You will be guided in your journey by intuitive painting guide Claudia, whose incredibly perceptive guidance has made it possible for me to re-experience the delight I felt with my first brushstrokes.
This approach is process rather than product oriented. You are guided not to copy, but to draw upon the deepest recesses of your mind, emotions and experience to create something brand new. We start by painting for ourselves, not for some imagined audience. Our painting process is not decorative and sometimes not beautiful in the conventional sense but is an expression of our inner self. As I began painting here, my daily life experience took on more color and hue and I began to feel more deeply. Though painting, with Claudia's facilitation, insight has blossomed.
I hope you will give it a try. Creativity makes the world a happier place." - Shari G.

About us

Established in 1999, the painting studio is a lively place filled with light, color, and the warmth of a community sharing a space in which to explore the creative process. The Center for Creative Exploration is a nonprofit organization and values freedom of expression with brush in hand and beyond. We are committed to creating a sense of community in our painting studio where people feel comfortable to be themselves in whatever way they choose. We are committed to providing an affirming, welcoming, and accessible studio for all people through co-creation and open communication.

We offer weekly adult classes, community classes, workshops, retreats and kids/family classes. Check out our upcoming events here!

🖌️ For additional information on intuitive painting and our studio, please visit our website or email [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram & Facebook for glimpses of the studio, painter stories, and updates on new classes!

Our teachers

Claudia Erzinger is a teacher and the Executive Director at The Center for Creative Exploration. She first found her way to CCE in 2000, painting with Barbara Kaufman, one of the school’s founders, and has been teaching the intuitive painting process since 2006. Her approach is deeply shaped by years of study with Michele Cassou, founder ofthe Point Zero painting method, as well as a lifelong devotion to healing, presence, and deep listening.

For most of her adult life, Claudia has worked as a hospice nurse, walking closely with people through some of life’s most tender and profound moments. Her path has also included the study of meditation, Buddhism, yoga, and soul-centered inquiry. Claudia brings a quiet depth, warmth, and spaciousness to her work, supporting painters in listening inward, trusting the unknown, and discovering what wants to emerge through the creative process.

Maria Freebairn-Smith is a teacher and Family Program Coordinator at The Center for Creative Exploration, and one of the original founders of the CCE community. She has been painting and teaching the intuitive painting process for over 30 years and participated in the first teacher training for The Painting Experience with Michele Cassou and Stewart Cubley.

Maria’s life and work have long been devoted to creativity, learning, and community. Alongside helping shape CCE, she has supported children and families through educational and arts-based programs, including Drawbridge and The Open Circle Cooperative Preschool in San Francisco. Later, while raising her family in Sonoma County, she founded The Creative Parenting Center and helped establish Sunridge, a Waldorf-inspired charter school.

Drawing from a lifetime of exploration in body, breath, creativity, and human development, Maria brings a grounded and deeply attentive presence to her teaching, supporting painters in listening inward and trusting their own process.