ABOUT

Inner Voice Drawing® came to me by surprise. It was March 1996 and I was in a troubled state of mind. My old life had ended and my new life was still in a fog. The old life consisted of a long-term marriage and ten blissful years living in Nepal on the hilly outskirts of the Katmandu valley, with a daily dose of Buddhist teachings, and the continuous opportunity of meeting great people, travelers and spiritual seekers from all over the world.

The change came abruptly in 1994 with the breakup of my marriage, the move to the States and the utter cluelessness about the direction of my future on a personal and professional level. In March 1996 I was back in Nepal. My beloved Buddhist teacher and emotional stronghold had just passed away and all of his students were waiting out the forty-nine day period until the cremation of his body. My personal fog thickened. In my carefree years in Nepal I had been quick with giving advice and having answers to all kinds of questions: now, however, I had only questions and no answers.

Monika Kretschmar On one sunny morning I was sitting on the veranda of my former house in Nepal and started to work with The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I loved the book’s enthusiasm that everyone could become unlocked, unstuck, and creative. That meant even me, who felt extremely stuck and uncreative. Several days into her suggested morning pages of stream of consciousness writing I wondered if this process could be applied to drawing too. If my unconscious had something to say, it might as well speak in pictures instead in words.

I was curious. I got hold of a few markers, closed my eyes, kept my mind as empty of distracting thoughts as possible and, without envisioning any definite shape, let the markers freely move over the paper wherever they “wanted” to go. The result was disappointing – no work of art! However, there was something in this carefree meandering with the markers that intrigued me. For a few days I kept alternating between morning pages and drawing. Finally it dawned on me that these seemingly “childlike” renderings were not meaningless doodles but reflected my current state of mind. What next?

Since my teens I had been attracted to Eastern philosophy, had later studied Tibetan culture, which earned me an academic degree in Tibetan linguistics, had pursued a meditation practice first on my own and then luckily under the tutelage of a master teacher. In short, I was infused with an Eastern world view and the understanding that every being has the “seed of enlightenment” already in them and that every form of spiritual growth is merely an unfolding of that seed, not unlike the blossoming of a sunflower from a tiny seed to a six foot flower. We basically have all the answers within us.

With such a conviction in mind I wanted to find out if we can get answers to specific questions. I experimented with questions about the next day’s weather, personal relationships and advice for the future, questions from the trivial to the sublime. It worked. I then gave the method the name Inner Voice Drawing and developed a format for teaching it to other people.

Beginning students are sometimes displeased with the esthetics of their inner voice drawings as I was with my first one. However, they soon appreciate the drawing primarily as a messenger from the unconscious and that the artistic expression comes second. I have learned over the years that everyone has his or her own unique style and that each drawing is amazing in its own way. Inner Voice Drawing is not about capturing the eye with the most beautiful visual images. It’s about opening your eyes to the truth from within. This in itself is truly beautiful.

The liberating way of conducting a free flowing inner voice drawing does, however, lend itself to artistic creation. Once you have figured out the answer to your question, you can then extend your drawing by following your aesthetic sensibilities and turn it into a piece of art. The images in the Gallery will give you an idea about the wide range of possibilities, from my first inner voice drawing to detailed artwork. If you like to see more artwork, check out Monika's ART STORE.

A Word about Responsibility

Inner Voice Drawing® is a tool of self-empowerment and is meant to be used with common sense and compassion toward yourself and others. Inner Voice Drawing can support and guide you on your personal journey, like a good friend that is always at hand, but is no substitute for a spiritual path, a therapeutic session with your counselor, or a replacement for professional advice from a specialist when you’re grappling with health questions. As much as you need responsibility toward yourself you also need to be responsible toward others. If you are sharing inner voice drawings among a group of people or if your own drawings reveal something about other people, be aware that you only share your insights in a way that is healing and beneficial for the other person.

The term Inner Voice Drawing is registered in order to ensure that the drawing processes used under this name follow the format that I have designed for it and that it is used with utmost integrity in a responsible, compassionate way.

Namaste

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Copyright: The images throughout this site may only be used with the explicit permission of the artist. Thank you for honoring this request.