Paint Your Petals
an expression of self-love
2023
where?
Gem State Center for the Arts in Boise, Idaho
when?
March 21, 2023
9am – 5pm
lunch break 12pm – 1pm
How much?
Sliding Scale $90 -$130
Includes art kit
(tips are always appreciated)
For who?
Anyone with a vulva (trans & non-binary heartily welcomed – we use the terms “woman” & “divine feminine” a lot during the playshop and go over vulva-specific anatomy and function. Consider: even if you don’t personally identify with those terms, you can still get a lot out of this knowledge, depending on your comfort level**. )
This playshop is not for cis men.
what & why?
This one-of-a-kind event is part somatic sexual embodiment workshop, part art class, part sacred ritual and part pleasure activism.
Sherika Tenaya, somatic sex nerd extraordinaire and mastermind behind The Sensual Essentials has teamed up with the fabulously talented, artistically gifted and incredibly soulful Lisa Cheney to offer the Boise community a uniquely empowering, artistically inspiring, patriarchy-smashing event the likes of which you’ve never seen before.
BUT FIRST – you need to know:
This playshop isn’t for everyone.
We’ll say that right now.
What we’ll be asking you to do here won’t be easy – physically, emotionally, spiritually. We know the gravity of what this work means and we’ll be asking you to embrace – and consciously honor – a part of yourself
>>(your genitals)<<
that you’ve literally been taught your whole life to be ashamed of, to disassociate from, to hide away.
The invitation: we are asking that, before the workshop, you engage in your own personal ritual of self-pleasure, activating your arousal process. From this place of arousal, we invite you to take a photo of this part of your body which you will then bring to the workshop. After learning about female sexual anatomy and function and participating in a somatic sensual embodiment experience with Sherika, Lisa Cheney will guide you in a step-by-step process of making a painting using your photo as a reference.
A tall order, we know. But if you can muster up the (literal or figurative) ovums to take this leap with us, if you can say goodbye to your comfort zone and hello to your curiosity, take your fear and wear it like a crown, then this just might be one of the most powerfully healing acts you do to reclaim your sensual selfhood, to put the concept of “self-love” into physical, tangible reality.
For how can you guide a lover in the correct way to administer love to this part of your body if you yourself carry shame or disgust around it? How can you relax and take your time in your arousal process, if you’re too busy being self conscious about the way this part of your body looks/smells/tastes?
What better way to bridge the gap of self-acceptance than literally making art of this part of your body?
What better way to recognize that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with you if your genitals don’t look like what’s portrayed in pornography…which only ever shows ONE prototype of vulva?
In this experience, you can get a sense for the wide variety of diverse and uniquely beautiful looks that vulvas actually come in.
You will emerge from this playshop understanding yourself, and respecting yourself, in ways that no other experience can provide. You will find among the other participants, people who reflect your same fears and concerns – and together we will emerge on the other side in greater appreciation of each other and the diversity among us.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN:
9am – 11am:
Opening Circle
Pleasure-based Adult Sex Education & Somatic Sensual Embodiment experience w/ Sherika
11am – 12pm:
Ritual of Fire & Ash: What stories do we carry about our genitals? w/ Lisa Cheney
12pm – 1pm:
LUNCH – bring your lunch with you.
1 – 5pm:
Step-by-step guided art making with Lisa Cheney (& Sherika assisting)
Please note: this playshop is open to ALL folks who identify as women; including non-binary people and trans women – the important thing is that you have a desire to connect to your own divine feminine essence. If you feel this includes you, then you are welcome.
How to sign up?
Step One: To sign up and reserve your spot, please click here to send Sherika a message affirming your desire to attend.
Step Two: Send $90 – 130 non-refundable class fee through Venmo @Sherika-Tenaya and in the memo please put your name, email, phone number and workshop title in the memo.
OR
You can send your fee through Paypal @ sherkamartinez@gmail.com
Take Courage from previous Petal Painters
Feel free to read this review of the Paint Your Petals workshop, written by a previous attendee.
Here is a short excerpt:
“When I was initially invited to a “Paint Your Petals Workshop”, a pussy empowerment event run by local lesbians and feminist enthusiasts, I shuddered.
The idea of painting my genitalia was downright cringe-worthy. I imagined a group of braless women painting in pussy hats, their armpit hair waving in the wind as they lovingly sang praises to their vaginas. I couldn’t imagine myself among them, let alone imagine looking at an actual photo of my nether regions and then attempting to paint it on a canvas.
The shame of my genitalia runs deep. As a little girl, I was often fascinated with sex, kissing, and body parts. I found mine fairly early on, and was caught soon after. I was told not to touch myself, that it was dirty and wrong, and the seed of shame was planted. I learned to hide my sexuality and, like most people, masturbated in secret, hiding it from my partners well into my adult years.
As I’ve opened up and explored more of my sexuality over time, peeling back the layers of resistance and shame, I’ve gotten more comfortable with it. I know what turns me on, what my kinks are, what my erogenous zones are, and have explored playing with tantra and sexual energy. But, even after many years of working to remove the shame, it still had roots in my body and mind.
So naturally, when a few of my friends encouraged me to go to this workshop, I was resistant.
‘Why should I?’ I thought to myself, ‘I don’t want to look at that thing!’ I’ve always thought it looked weird, and I was sure that it was just ugly and gross like all the rest of them. I’d never thought ANY genitals were beautiful, to be honest. They were just functional.
The idea of looking at my vulva in front of other people was enough to make me run and hide in my closet. That’s when I realized that my fear was trying to run the show.
