DJing, facilitation, and landscape painting as relational art forms rooted in presence, energy, and trust.
Landscape painting as a meditative creative process
Landscape painting – my forte – is a fairly contained art form and a deeply personal creative process. I decide when I paint, what I paint, and how I go about it. I love it in part because it’s meditative. I immerse myself in an image and deliberately choose how to paint it, one step at a time.
Two other art forms I deeply admire and continue to study are meeting facilitation (which I tell anyone who will listen is the hardest thing I do) and DJing. Unlike landscape painting, both rely on people in real-time. Where I can walk away from a painting and return to it later, facilitation and DJing require exquisite presence, listening, and rapid decision-making rooted in trust – of myself and of the room or audience. They are hard as hell. And when they work, they’re incredible.
I’ve been facilitating professionally for going on seven years now, working with groups, in meetings, and supporting collective decision-making. My exploration of DJing is much newer, although I’ve been making painstakingly curated playlists since I was a kid, and “DJ’d” ie, queued up songs for, self-organized dance parties over years. Very recently, I downloaded DJ software so I could learn how to mix tracks, and simultaneously started schooling myself via YouTube tutorials. I’ve also been learning the various kinds of dance music out there, so I can better describe and choose what I like. This involves researching artists and listening to their live or recorded DJ sets.
One unfortunate side effect of listening to these sets is that I’ve realized it is perfect training music for, say, a long run. Yes, I’m enjoying running again, and those rose-colored glasses that kick in at some point post child birth have slid down my nose and over my eyes in reflecting on last year’s ultra-marathon, that I solemnly swore I wouldn’t do again. I’m committed to not doing another ultra this year, because I’m enjoying all of my free time/energy but…I can just picture a long outdoor day with a solid DJ set, and it makes me eager/curious to research different races.
I digress. Still, thinking about music, movement, and attention has given me insight to how energy and pacing shows up across all my creative work.
Facilitation and DJing are about reading the room and managing energy
As I get deeper into various DJ sets and identify what I like/don’t like, I’ve noticed surprising similarities with meeting facilitation. I know – dorky as hell. But hear me out:
Both facilitation and DJing are fundamentally about energy management, mood, and pacing.
A strong facilitation relies on thoughtful agenda design: shifting between different modes of participation so people can engage in ways that feel natural to them, and so the room doesn’t get bored, confused, or overwhelmed. That’s why good meetings include icebreakers, silent reflection, breakout groups, and moments of synthesis.
A good DJ set works the same way. Builds, peaks, and breaks matter. Even if you want to dance nonstop, a consistently high-tempo set becomes monotonous and can lead to sensory overload.
Sincerity, respect, and authenticity are essential in both facilitating and DJing.
As a facilitator, I do a lot of internal work before I ever walk into a room. An entire group – consciously and subconsciously – will respond to my presence. Am I grounded and calm, or scattered and frenetic? When I introduce myself, what key pieces of information am I relaying both through what I am saying but maybe more importantly, how long I drone on and what I convey via body language and vocal intonation? While I have influence over the meeting, the meeting is not about me. It belongs to the group. My presence and skill are about trusting and supporting the people in the room, not presenting myself as a main character.
The DJs I’m most drawn to operate from the same place. Yes, they hold tremendous power in choosing and mixing music, but the best DJing doesn’t feel ego-driven. It feels relational. Respect for the original artists is woven into a good set: a DJ might isolate a phrase, explore different possible pathways a song could take, and then return it, punctuated by a moment that lifts the original artist up.
What I hear in those moments is an invitation, elaborately constructed through the deft technical skill of the DJ: I experienced this thing someone else created, and I invite you to experience it through me.
And PS – that’s exactly what I’m doing when I translate a photograph into a landscape painting: interpreting an existing subject through my own artistic process. The subject existed already, but now it exists in a new way.
Learning DJing as an artist and facilitator
I have a long way to go before I’m a competent DJ. I can’t even mix two songs together yet. But I’m deeply enjoying learning this art form. It’s not a departure from my identity as a painter and facilitator, but a continuation of it.
At its core, my work – whether with landscape painting, people, or music – is about presence, pacing, and care as an artist and facilitator. It’s about listening closely, translating honestly, and respecting both the source and the audience/participants.
And that, to me, is the heart of my artistic practice. It requires a kind of presence I will forever be learning. It’s daunting in the best way possible.