I have a sort of “workout” I do. I get some tempera paints and big cheap paper set up, put on some music and do some movement, and then I paint intuitively. 

Actually, I really hate it. It is not artistic bliss. I usually hate the paintings that result from the process, I don’t really like painting with tempera paints, and I don’t like painting large.  

Painting that way pisses me off. But here are five reasons why I do it anyway. 

It forces a conversation with my inner critic.

And by conversation, I mean a dysfunctional one in which I ignore what the Critic is saying, or agree with it pathetically, or argue with it and feel angry and defensive. It’s a confrontation that allows me to externalize the voice and be more objective about what it is saying.