Meet Maryanna: A Profile of a
Fine Artist, Counselor,
Coach and Wise Woman

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul,
And paints his own nature into his pictures.
~Henry Ward Beecher

I became enthralled with nature’s inherent beauty when I was a kid growing up under the big skies in rural Michigan. Walking barefoot in the rain, galloping bareback on a Welsh pony, and watching the sunset paint rainbow skies above the open fields, primed me for a life of inner exploration and creativity.

I dreamed of being a pioneer. I was disappointed that the frontier was gone. When I discovered the creative process, I found an inner frontier, where adventures in consciousness beckoned.

My training and practice as a fine artist form the foundation from which my spiritual studies and professional achievements evolve. I combine insights and mentoring from a variety of traditions with skills acquired as a social worker, educator and change facilitator, in order to help my clients discover the magic of creativity in their life.

The alphabet soup of letters behind my name offers a glimpse into my intellectual and spiritual explorations. The journey began over 40 years ago when I entered the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Michigan. I studied pottery, painting and sculpture. After graduation, I moved to New England with my husband, and we spent a decade working together as professional potters.

In the early seventies I became a mother to our two wonderful sons. To learn how to open the doors to their genius, I earned a Masters in Waldorf Education and the work of Rudolf Steiner. This graduate work included the study of Steiner’s spiritual indications relating to color and art. I studied with Collot D’herbois, a painter from Holland, who for 60 years explored the healing and spiritual aspects of color.

These studies transformed how I worked artistically, introducing me to a spiritual relationship with color and creativity. When I began sharing my insights with groups, I witnessed how the process of painting with the pure colors of the spectrum empowered people to awaken their souls, let go to the creative flow of life and regain their sense of wholeness.

Seeing the results I was having in these art groups, therapists began referring their clients to me. In order to learn more about the clinical aspects of the therapeutic process, I received my Masters in Social Work from Springfield College in 1992.

My first job as a clinician was designing and working in a day treatment program for elders with chronic mental illness. I came to love the depth of heart of these folks who accessed reality with limited navigational tools. Creating a “safe place” for them to express their innate creative power was exciting and deeply rewarding.

My credentials and affiliations expanded as my spiritual practice and inner awareness grew. I am certified as a Transformational Breath Facilitator and Trainer. Studying the Esoteric Mystical Christian tradition and Eastern meditation and compassion practices has guided my spiritual growth.

Some of my deeper spiritual learning came as several Native Americans Elders mentored me in the way of the Sacred Pipe, Vision Quest, Sweat Lodge and Soul Journeying. I am ordained as a minister in the Congregation of Evolving Spiritual Pilgrims and co-founded the Keys for Life Mastery: The Science and Art of Joyful Living and Power of Breath Trainings.

Of all of my pursuits, my practice as a fine artist has most fundamentally shaped my life and deepened my connection with Spirit. While in art school, I thought the creative process was something that I guided. I got another perspective one day as I left my studio.

I looked up at the afternoon sky and saw the waxing crescent moon hanging among the clouds. Instead of memorizing what I saw, I simply enjoyed the moon’s magnificence. The next day I created an image of the experience.

Unlike what I had been taught in art school – drawing the lights and darks to create a shape – this painting came from my heart’s connection with the color. From then on, my paintings have been born from synchronistic moments with Earth, Sky, and inner guidance. The essence of each moment is carried through me by the color to become a painting.

As I learned to dip my paintbrush into my soul, I came to appreciate that art and life are an amazing, collaborative processes. I am not responsible for making either turn out according to plan. My job is framing and holding a clear, unattached intention. Spirit, and then creates the perfect outcome in both my art and my life.

In my private counseling practice I was a guide, helping my clients discover their unique creativity and innate wholeness. Although I experienced the magic of spiritual love at work in each session, I was frustrated by the mental health field’s preoccupation with pathology. I was intrigued when a friend told me about the Life on Purpose Institute and its Coaches Development Program.

I enrolled immediately with this organization that honors the expansiveness and purpose in each of our lives. I finally had a name for what I had always been - a Life Coach. My life purpose is: “My life is awake in the Presence of Divine Oneness, awash in gratitude, serenity, and service, trusting in the Beauty, Truth, Power and Perfection of the LOVE that we are.”

This statement describes the intention and presence I bring to my coaching practice - a heart-centered objectivity that brings clarity to a client’s vision for a purposeful life. A client says, “Maryanna is a huge compassionate stillness and presence. She is like a deep well in which I can plumb my depth and drop into myself.”

I call my practice Light Coaching. Light is synonymous with awareness, energy and consciousness. In art, light is the vehicle of creation; darkness is the mother of potential. Shadow is the intrusion that prevents their meeting and merging.

When the illusion of shadow is released, light meets darkness, and potential comes into being. I shine a loving light on your inner knowing, supporting you to see you own soul’s purpose. I share specific tools empowering you to move gracefully past obstacles, and allow your innate creativity to flow naturally into passionate action and fulfillment.

We rejoice together as the light of your soul shines out clear and bright in clear creative action. Are you ready to let the natural flow of your inherent creativity become the awakened passion in your life, leading you to joyful action and a fulfilled sense of purpose?

For a complimentary coaching session and an introduction to Light Coaching, call 207-443-7001, or email maryanna@lightcoach.com.

Meet Maryanna: A Profile of a Fine Artist, Counselor, Coach and Wise Woman

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, And paints his own nature into his pictures. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Meet Maryanna: A Profile of a
Fine Artist, Counselor,
Coach and Wise Woman

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul,
And paints his own nature into his pictures.
~Henry Ward Beecher