Jocelyn Ulevicus

I’m Jocelyn, a self-taught painter, writer, and poet, and the founder of Living Canvas Studios.In 2015, just months after the devastating loss of my father, I left my path as an academic to pursue a creative life. Along that journey of rebuilding, I began writing memoir and poetry, and eventually found my way deeply into painting.Eleven years later, I’m living my own evidence of what can happen when you trust the unpaved path.Today, I’m more committed than ever to helping other people trust their own creative agency. I believe in creating a space — an invitation, offering permission slip — to step into your own artist identity, one expressive brushstroke at a time.I love teaching because I love seeing what happens when people give themselves permission to experiment. You don't need to consider yourself an artist, and you don't need to know exactly what you're doing before you begin. I guide you through the process, but I also encourage you to make your own choices, follow your gut, and discover what happens when you stop worrying about getting it “right.”For me, painting is an embodied practice. It’s about experiencing the act of painting — noticing what happens when colours meet and play with each other on the canvas, how your body feels holding and moving the brush in different ways, and how your emotional state can influence the marks you make. Sometimes we think our way into a painting; sometimes we simply need to pick up the brush and see what happens.My approach is intuitive and expressive, with a particular focus on colour, mark-making, movement, and experimentation. I’m self-taught, so I don't teach from a strict set of academic rules. Instead, I share what I’ve learned through years of developing my own practice — the techniques, approaches, and ways of seeing that have helped me find my own visual language.One of my favourite things about painting is that every mark gives you something to respond to. A mark you don't like isn't necessarily a mistake. It can become the beginning of something unexpected.That sense of freedom is what I hope people experience in my workshops: a welcoming space to play, experiment, make choices, and discover that they have more creative agency than they might have thought.And perhaps most importantly, I want people to leave with more than a painting. I want them to leave having experienced the act of painting — and having trusted themselves a little more.