Introducing "Artist Highlight", a monthly feature about an artist I've had the pleasure of mentoring in the Down to Earth Studio.This month's feature:

Meet Kaya Hagen, LCSW, artist, hiker, vision quester, and nature lover. Kaya lives in Ashland, Oregon, with her wife Kathy and their two dogs, Bear and Halley.

Kaya is in her mid-60’s and has been doing art since she was five. The way she describes it, art has been her saving grace.

“Art saved me on my own mental health journey,” she says. “Everybody struggles, and I am certainly not exempt. Art has always been my go to. That's how I've expressed myself, and once I put something on paper, I always feel like, yep, that's what it is. That's what I'm feeling. And I feel a sense of completion.”

A few years ago, while Kaya was on a vision quest, she felt stuck in her art practice and was inspired to step more fully into her creative potential. She started working one-on-one with me as her Art Doula. We met monthly over Zoom for 15 months. In between meetings, Kaya created her artwork and brought it for discussion and review. My job was to encourage her, help her free up her work, and find her own style.

Here is how Kaya describes what happened as we worked together:

“Before we started working together, my art was very tight and exact. Nature has always been my inspiration, but I would try to draw a tree exactly how that tree looked. Lots of times, that would cause me to just stall out. I was in my own little world and I need to grow. I felt stuck. You introduced me to some artists and ideas that really expanded my world and my art popped open. It started exploding out of me.”

As Kaya learned to trust herself more, she opened to what wanted to come through in her art. Eventually there was no stopping her.

“Once the switch got flipped,” she says, “I started having a blast with my art. I shocked myself sometimes at what I was making because it was all so new. Sometimes it was uncomfortable because I didn’t know where it was all going. But I stayed with it.”

People love what she creates. Kaya has stepped into a beautiful style of nature art that portrays expression and emotion in a colorful and minimalist approach (see images below). I am fortunate to have some of her artwork displayed in my studio.

She has also come up with a fabulous way to make the world a better place through her art. “I decided that in my retirement years, I wanted to use my art as a way of giving back. So, I found a nature-based local nonprofit group and told them, ‘If you let me do an art show for you, I will let you keep all the money.’ Since then, I have made and sold my art for seven nonprofits in the Rogue Valley. Last year, I created a show for KS Wild and raised close to $3,000. I schedule a show with a nonprofit every year and spend all year creating art for the show. This has become one of the most rewarding things I do in life.”

Her next philanthropic art show will be a fundraising event for Lomakatsi, an organization that does controlled burns the indigenous way, on June 5, 2026, from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Mountain Provisions Store, 357 E. Main St., Ashland, OR.

Here is Kaya’s advice for those who might get stalled out by fear and doubt: “The way I move through fear and doubt is to try to stop thinking and just go. I start with something that feels right to me. For example, if I am attracted to a blue color, I’ll start by putting blue on the page and then see what happens from there. We are going to feel that fear, but we can’t let it stop us. We think we know how we want something to be, but we need to let go of thinking we are in control. One of mysteries of making art is that it probably will end up differently from what you thought it would be.”

I asked Kaya how working with me as her Art Doula transformed her artwork.

“I have become more confident. You opened me up. I found my own style, which I keep growing and changing. My art has meaning, and this is powerful for me. Working with you helped me loosen up. You helped me trust myself, and now I’m doing art with others and creating my own one-woman art shows. I think that’s the crux of the work we did together: confidence.”

Kaya is indeed an inspiration. Here are some examples of her beautiful work: Rise Up – Feel the Moment – Breathe In – Hope 

Saturday, April 25, 2026, 11:30 to 5:00 pm

Art Department Supply Store, Salem, OR

Join us for a full day of creative play as we transform ordinary paper into extraordinary collage fodder. In this hands-on workshop you'll explore a wide variety of techniques for altering paper—from masking and paint layering to stenciling, mark-making, samping, and special effects.

No experience necessary, just a willingness to experiment and get your hands dirty.

Working in a supportive, energizing atmosphere, you'll create unique papers ina beautiful array of colors, patterns, and textures, building a rich stash ready for your future collage and assemblage projects.

Leave with not only armloads of gorgeous papers, but also the confidence and skills to continue creating your own collage materials at home. This is paper-making as pure joy— messy, freeling, and endlessly creative!

Workshop fee: $95 includes a supply list. Instructor will also bring materials to work with. Register at the Art Department here.

with GG and Dayna Collins

Tipi Village Retreats

Marcola, Oregon

June 11 - 15, 2026

Imagine spending five days nestled in the sanctuary of a rich green forest next to a babbling brook, sleeping in a cozy bed, being pampered with gourmet food, playing with paint and collage, and renewing that spontaneous, juicy, creative, soulful part of yourself. It’s all yours to enjoy in a community of kindred spirits.

GG and Dayna Collins will be your midwives clearing the way for you to step out of what you think is true about your creative self, and step into an environment where you feel free to birth whatever wants to be expressed.

Through a series of experimental exercises with paint, paper, and written and spoken words, you will explore a variety of techniques designed to bypass creative blocks and connect deeply with your personal serendipitous muse. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just starting to explore your creative potential, this workshop offers a supportive environment where you can freely experiment, awaken the subconscious, discover new creative pathways, build creative muscle, and develop a more profound connection with your mysterious and creative Self.

The  Tipi Village Retreat center is a haven away from the ordinary. Located in the Mohawk Valley near Eugene/Oregon, it is the perfect location to step out of daily life for four days and step into a place where you are held by majestic trees and nourishing waters. Meander along the trails, nap in the shade, soak in the hot tub, or dip in the swimming hole, this place is intimate and magical – truly one of Oregon’s hidden emerald gems. Bring your swimsuit and dive in!

Only 2 open spots left. If you're thinking about it, now is the time. Learn more and Register on GG's website here.

Watch a short video from last year's retreat below.

Friday evening September 18th through noon on Monday the 21st, 2026

(This retreat is full. Contact Breitenbush to get on the waiting list.)

Join us for a soulful retreat at the serene and healing grounds of Breitenbush Hot Springs: “The Return of Grace: Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine” SoulCollage® Retreat

Autumn + Sacred Feminine + Healing

In the golden hush of autumn, we mirror the Earth — letting go of what no longer serves, composting old identities, and preparing the inner soil for new life. Through SoulCollage®, council, ritual, reflection, and rest, we gather to remember the Sacred Feminine as she lives within and around us — the part of us that knows how to soften, receive, and heal.

Equinox invites us to balance the feminine and masculine energies within self and culture, doing our part to heal the wounds of overdrive, competition, and depletion through receptivity, intuition, and care. Guided by archetypes of the Sacred Feminine, we’ll explore the path to allowing the feminine to rise again, radiant and whole.

Learn more and Register on the Breitenbush website here.

Solo Passage Book and

Oracle of the Sacred Path Card Deck

are both available on my website here.

Solo Passage Book: In this series of interwoven stories, GG chronicles her path toward healing through wilderness quests in the Pacific Northwest and Central California. Thorugh her connection to nature, she rediscovers the importance of self-esteem, forgiveness, acceptance, and standing in her own truth.

*****

Solo Passage Oracle Deck:

Birthed from the rhythms of the Earth and the whispers of the unseen, and graced by GG's original artwork and photography, this 65-card deck is a companion for wilderness questers, threshold walkers, and seekers of truth. Each card holds a question—a doorway to a theme, an archetype, or a symbol meant to speak directly to your Soul.