El Duende Process Painting's Cycle of Layering: The Dance of Movement & Flow Guest Speaker: Abbe Miller, MS, ATR-BC, LPC

Abbe Miller will provide an evening presentation for the LASALLE community, community-at-large, and the mental health community as part of the Artist-in-Residence series by LASALLE’s MA Art Therapy Programme.

This talk will focus on the healing nature of art-making when it is an authentic expression and allowed to emerge. The invisible is made visible in the flow of alignment with one’s own nature as well as the rhythms of the universe, such as el duende or ch’i. This healing process is witnessed and experienced through the el duende Process Painting method (EDPP; Miller, 2012) which will be explored in its five phases. Additionally, the unique quality of the Cycle of Layering (Miller & Robb, 2016) will be introduced.

Transformative, creative process is stimulated by the continual process of layering and reworking one-canvas in el Duende Process Painting (EDPP; Miller, 2012; Miller & Robb, 2017). The healing qualities are linked to this alchemical nature. Active engagement with the layering cycle appears to contribute to the mechanisms of change available through creative process. Abbe will share the concept of the Layering Cycle (Miller & Robb, 2016) as a way to view movement and flow of the ch’i and duende, that support transformative expressive process through visual art-making within the EDPP method. 

About the presenter:
Abbe Miller, MS, ATR-BC, LPC has practiced and taught nationwide the processes of transformational art and art therapy for over 35 years, with over 70 workshops and paper presentations. Abbe is an Associate Professor and former Director of the Graduate Art Therapy Programme at Albertus Magnus College, in New Haven, CT. She is currently in her second year as a Doctoral student in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University while she maintains a private practice, supervises, and offers weekend intensives on the el duende painting process (EDPP). Her most recent publication (with Robb, 2017; The Arts & Psychotherapy, 54, 15-27) is titled Transformative phases in el duende process painting art-based supervision. 

Abbe has participated in AATA’s “Quick Draw”, shown art in Connecticut and Massachusetts, published and has been interviewed on radio. She has served on AATA’s Nominating Committee and as Treasurer for CATE, and is a co-recipient of AATA’s 2017 Research Award for her inquiry into supervisee disclosures during EDPP supervision.