Art With Heart: A Journey Through Grief and Creation

This year marks ten years since my daughter’s passing, ten years of learning how to live, love, and grow through grief. As this anniversary approached, I felt drawn to explore art therapy. To create space for emotions that sometimes live beyond words.

Discovering Mandy & Art With Heart

That’s when I discovered Mandy from Sit With Us (meet Mandy here: https://www.sitwithus.ca/mandyleinbach), an art therapist who offered a four week Art with Heart series.

By the end of the 4 week private 2 hour weekly sessions, you get to bring home a layered, textured piece of artwork, a reflection of the emotional landscape traveled over those weeks.

How the Sessions Flowed

Every session began gently:

A few minutes of warm up with markers, chalk pastels, oil pastels, or paint
Just moving color across paper to clear my mind and let myself arrive

Then we shifted into a grounding exercise using both hands, letting each side of my body speak in its own way.

A Sanctuary for the Soul

The space itself felt like a sanctuary, a cozy nook with soft light, tea and water offered, quiet surroundings, and a comforting sense of care.
Even the little details, a clean, calm studio and thoughtful invitation to take my time, made it easy to settle in and truly listen to myself.

Mandy’s Beautiful Holding

Each session lasted about two hours, and Mandy was always warm, grounded, and attuned.

She followed my lead, letting me move at my own pace. She offered curiosity and gentle invitations to explore but never rushed the process. When the room grew quiet, she held that silence beautifully, creating space for whatever needed to emerge.

The Pivotal Moment

During the third session, I hit a wall. My brush hovered; I couldn’t paint what needed to come. A weight settled in my chest, familiar grief.
Mandy noticed, and gently suggested I move away from the center of the canvas and work around the edges. As I did, something opened.

She played a song at my request, “I’m Getting Older” by Dean Lewis, and I asked her to play it again and again. The melody filled the space as tears streamed down my face.
It was a deeply pivotal moment in my healing, a soft integration of all the work I’d done to get here. I cried and held myself while Mandy held the space around me, allowing those emotions to move through so the rest of the painting could flow.
It was sacred, an embodied reminder of how far I’ve come and how grief and growth truly coexist.

Waves of Transformation

Eventually, I found my way back to the center and began painting waves.
Waves are deeply symbolic for me. They connect me to my daughter, to movement, to life. As I painted them, I felt both the ache and the beauty of transformation.

By the final session, I added finishing touches, depth, rainbow hues, tenderness, and my waves evolved. They weren’t a single line anymore; they became multidimensional, layered, alive.
Just like my grief, no longer flat and heavy, but textured with compassion and meaning.

Sweet Connections Home

At the end of every session, Mandy would collect the leftover bits of paint into a small jar.
I’d bring it home to my son, and he loved it, feeling connected to my art and to the process itself. It became our little ritual, a bridge between the deep work I was doing and the home life we share.

My Finished Piece

I named my painting “Slow Down and Let Love In.”It now hangs in my Listening Room, a soft, blanket filled cocoon with a mirror, where I listen to myself and others.

Since completing Art with Heart, I feel more confident expressing through art. I’ve even created a dedicated art cart in that space, and my waves have continued to evolve into fuller scenery, flowing, compassionate, alive.

My Recommendation

For anyone longing to explore their emotions, grief, and healing through creativity, I can’t recommend Mandy at Sit With Us enough.

You can also find her here: https://www.sitwithus.ca/mandyleinbach
Her calm, compassionate presence allows what’s buried to unfold safely and beautifully.

Share with peace, love and deep gratitude, Julie

Emotional Release: the missing peace