Lori Portka is an art creator and love radiator. Her artwork is made with an open heart carrying the intention to spread love and healing.  Lori's designs appear on greeting cards, prints, calendars and magazines internationally, and reach other sweet souls who connect with her genuine and compassionate spirit.  You can learn more about Lori and her A Hundred Thank Yous project on her website, loriportka.com, and follow her on Twitter at @loriportka.

Reminder: The nomination deadline for the Arts and Healing Network Award is May 15th. For more information, go to:
www.artheals.org/projects/ahn_award.html

Christine Mason Miller is a Santa Monica based writer and artist who has been creating, writing and exploring since she was a little girl.  Her mission to inspire has provided the foundation for all of her creative work.  The desire to encourage others to pursue their passions and create a meaningful life is the common thread throughout an expansive body of work that includes mixed media collage, commercial illustration, photography, writing, teaching and speaking.  Her latest book is Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World. You can learn more about Christine and her work on her website, christinemasonmiller.com, and connect with her on Twitter at @swirlygirl18.

"I believe color creates energy, and I believe energy creates inspiration, and then I think inspiration creates the change.  If you can create color, which murals do, then you're making a massive impact." ~ Ricky Lee Gordon

Ricky Lee Gordon is a South African muralist and artist who goes by the name of Freddy Sam.  He is the founder of three initiatives.  The first is Write on Africa, a community art and inspiration project that creates murals and workshops in poor communities to uplift and inspire social change.  Their philosophy is, "Inspire ourselves to inspire others to inspire change."  The second project he founded and directs is A Word of Art, which includes an art space, art projects, and an international art residency program dedicated to celebrating new art and emerging young artists. The third is the Woodstock Industrial Center, a derelict industrial building in the heart of Woodstock, a suburb of Cape Town, where together with a willing landlord he has now brought in over 75 creative tenants. The building now has a coffee shop, skate park and bookshop, and hosts talks, exhibitions, movie nights, dinners and drawing evenings.

Ricky Lee is one of three recipients of the 2011 AHN Awards.  The Arts and Healing Network is so impressed by his incredible creative vision and use of art to revitalize and transform his neighborhood of Woodstock.

To learn more about Ricky Lee's work, please visit his websites at www.writeonafrica.org and www.freddysam.com. You can also read an interview by Arts and Healing Network Director, Mary Daniel Hobson, with Ricky Lee on the Arts and Healing Network.

Quinn McDonald is the author of Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art.  Quinn is a business and creativity coach.  She writes the "Business of Art" column for Somerset Studio magazine, and "The Raw Edge" coaching column for Art Quilting Studio.  She's also a regular contributor to Create Mixed Media, F&W Media's art blog.  Quinn uses coaching to help people find, or develop their careers, and to incorporate creativity in their lives.  She believes that communicating is also an art form.

You can learn more about Quinn on her website, quinncreative.com, her blog, quinncreative.wordpress.com, Facebook, facebook.com/quinn.mcdonald, and Twitter @quinncreative.

Jenny Doh is the author of Art Saves: Stories, Inspiration and Prompts Sharing the Power of Art.  Jenny is the Founder and President of CRESCENDOh, a company that inspires creative passion, authentic community, and focused compassion.  CRESCENDOh also works with publishers to create books about art, crafting, and inspiration.  In addition to Art Saves, she also authored Creative Pilgrimage, Signature Styles, and co-authored Where Women Create: Book of Inspiration In the Studio and Behind the Scenes with Extraordinary Women.  Prior to CRESCENDOh, she worked for six years as Editor-in-Chief of Somerset Studio Magazine. 

You can learn more about Jenny and her work at CRESCENDOh.com and follow her on Twitter at @crescendoh and @jennydoh.

Susannah Conway is a photographer, writer and the creator of the Unravelling e-courses. A Polaroid addict and very proud aunt, she is currently editing her first book, This I Know: Notes on Unravelling the Heart, which will be available in spring of 2012. You can read more about Susannah and her shenanigans on her blog at www.susannahconway.com and connect with her on Twitter at @photobird

"When the inner and the outer are wedded, revelation occurs." - Hildegard of Bingen

Kim Rosen is the author of Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words.  Combining her devotion to poetry with her background as a spiritual teacher and therapist, Kim has touched listeners around the world with poetry's power to awaken, inspire, and heal.  She gives poetry concerts, lectures, and workshops in the U.S. and abroad.  You can learn more about her work at kimrosen.net.  You can also connect with her on the Saved by a Poem Facebook Page, and on Twitter at @savedbyapoem.

Some of the poems, poets, and books Kim mentions during the interview are:

• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
• "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath
• David Whyte
• Mary Oliver
• Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God by Rainer Maria Rilke. Translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy
• "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou
• "Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye

Liz Lamoreux believes in the importance of unearthing our stories so that we can see where we stand on our paths and where we want to go. She is currently sharing this inward journey through her new book, Inner Excavations: Explore Your Self Through Photography, Poetry and Mixed Media, the Be Present Retreats, and the stories she shares in her Etsy store, The Little Room. She lives in a little house in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, daughter Ellie Jane, and a golden retriever named Millie. In this interview by Britt Bravo, Liz speaks about the healing possibilities in art making, writing, group process and the importance of being present. 

You can listen and subscribe to the Arts and Healing Podcast on iTunes.

Jamie Ridler is a professional creative self-development coach who is passionate about authentic living and creativity.  She is a certified coach who has a certificate in the Foundations of Expressive Arts Therapy from ISIS in Toronto.  She also completed training in Body-Centered Coaching with Marlena Field, has a Blue Belt in Nia, and has an M.A. in Drama from the Drama Centre of the University of Toronto.

You can found out more about Jamie at http://jamieridlerstudios.ca, and be sure to check out her fabulous podcast, Creative Living with Jamie. You can follow her on Twitter at @starshyne.

You can listen and subscribe to the Arts and Healing Podcast on iTunes.

Since 2001, greenmuseum.org has been helping people create, present and appreciate art that heals our relationship with the natural world.  This online museum offers a wealth of information about artists who are doing exciting and innovative work that directly speaks to the environmental issues of our time. In this podcast, Arts & Healing Network Director Mary Daniel Hobson interviews Sam & Anne, core team members of greenmuseum.org about the environmental art movement, giftivism, generosity and advice for artists wanting to engage the natural world. Recently, greenmuseum.org has begun pioneering a new approach to sustainability as an organization by adopting a gift economy model, and so their entire organization is now run by volunteers. 

You can listen and subscribe to the Arts and Healing Podcast on iTunes.