The Facilitator
"The only thing that you have that nobody else has is you.Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision.So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can."
Neil Gaiman
About Verity
Verity Maud has been working in the creative arena for 20 years in art, film, fashion, costume design, art direction & interior design.
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She is a also a Biodanza movement facilitator, is co-director of the Johannesburg Central School of Biodanza, a representative for Burning Man in South Africa as well as being a contributing artist at Afrikaburn, an arts festival in the Karoo. She has been commissioned to build large scale sculptural installations there, as well as volunteering her own offerings.
Having experienced the joy, healing and abundance that full creative expression has brought into her own life, her passion lies in wakening the creative potential in others.
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An intrepid traveler,she has experienced many wonderful transformative workshops in places such as The Esalen Institute in The USA and draws on all these learnings in her work.
She has been assisting people in accessing and expanding their creative potential in workshops for the public as well as the corporate sector for the last 10 years.
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Her work ranges from workshops for pregnant women, teens, disadvantaged communities, couples, corporates and women's days and loves a new challenge.
My Art projects
In the workshops, I place a strong emphasis on the importance of giving yourself permissions. Afrikaburn, an arts festival deep in the Karoo desert, provides a blank canvas of 'permissions' where nothing is impossible. I have stretched my personal limits, dreamed big and executed massive projects as an artist, project manager and facilitator.
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Below are some images of my artworks, some of which took 3 months to build with huge teams of dedicated volunteers and the transformative experiences that were made possible.
Testimonials
"Thank you to everyone who made this weekend so special, all my boundaries have been stretched and I feel so full of promise." Stephanie Lorraine Woods
"Huge gratitude, love and thanks to Verity Maud for facilitating such an incredible and supportive creative experience and journey this past weekend... I deeply connected with my creative life force and everyone there... " Mia Engelbrecht, entrepreneur
"Life is creativity, thank you everyone who helped me see that. As children we all knew instinctively how to live, and then we grew up and let the world tell us we were wrong. Thank you helping me remember who I was meant to be."
Vickey Riley, Artist
“This remains one of the best experiences that I ever went on. It was truly the most beautiful gift, that anyone can give to oneself. Thank you Verity for the wonderful experience, in reconnecting with the inner creative side, the fun, laughter, dancing, and just beautiful tranquility of it all!!!!”
Francheska Oberholzer, project manager
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"Thank you so much for one of the best workshops I’ve ever experienced.
You held the space magnificently and gave so generously of yourself. Dance and creativity was structured in perfect balance. The three dances were each so exquisitely thought through and masterfully facilitated. I felt safe and free to explore deeply. I had so much fun! My creative juices flowed, my inspiration soared, my imagination went wild. I searched and discovered, I released the old and invited in the new. I opened my heart and felt deep connections and acknowledgement.
I feel blessed. I am so grateful for this beautiful experience - the best gift I could ever have given myself.
I’ll be back at the Artery!
Thank you, thank you, thank you." Pearl Stillerman
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"Verity, I just wanted to drop you a note of gratitude for The Artery workshop. Since September, I am still discovering new levels of acceptance of my creativity that I never knew before. What I learned about myself on your course is growing exponentially. I've now set up my healing practice from home (which was my creative goal) and Im rocking a whole new level of confidence. My mind still wonders through the pecan forests and labyrinth at Melody Hills and I feel so lucky to have taken that time to just be my creative self. " Jannion Hendricks, cranio sacral therapist
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"Full of gratitude after a mind-expanding, soul-connecting, heart-exploding, muscle-aching creative exploration this weekend in Magaliesberg with Verity Maud in her The Artery workshop. What an amazing group of people - it was just what I didn't even know I needed. Thank you Verity and thank you Michael for sponsoring my experience. Do yourself a favor and join Verity's next workshop for a creative injection right into your lifeline. I can't wait to see the creative explosion I know is coming as a result of this weekend. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Sandy Schultz, actress & film producer
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"I have learnt that any resistance I feel towards opportunities in my life is usually an indication that I should take them - and take them whole-heartedly and without inhibition. Twice I have chosen to defy the voices of fear, self-doubt and self-loathing that so often deafen my self-belief, and twice have attended Verity Maud's The Artery. The Artery II moved me. Fundamentally. It literally began the dismantling of a very comfortable foundation I had built for myself. A foundation of fear and self-doubt and self-loathing, but also one of terrible stoicism, one that refused to acknowledge my vulnerabilities and darknesses or give them room for expression. The dismantling process was difficult and painful at times, but the environment created by Verity so safe and supportive, and the mechanisms facilitated by her so powerful, that there was no option but to look it in the face and infuse it with love.
This is not merely a creative workshop. It is a journey into the soul. Of course, such a journey is inevitably creative - Verity's opening words at The Artery time and again emphasise the inherent creativity in everyone - and there is not a moment that you are not reminded of your capacity for expression, creation and rejuvenation. I left feeling barefaced and alive. And more certain than ever of my ability to offer myself - in any state and through any means - to myself, and to others."
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"So, how was The Artery?
Ah, you know, it was just simply one profound, connecting moment to the next. An array of opportunity-giving moments to connect with myself in different ways and in deeper depths. Not only connecting with myself, but with strangers too, in ways which gently demand the breaking down of barriers and the removal of masks. Ways which open hearts, expand minds and liberate bodies.
What did you do?
Exercises. I'm not talking about push-ups. I'm talking about the kind of exercises that carry a real balance between light and shadow; between intent focus and liberating play; between confronting challenges and acknowledging accomplishments. Exercises that can be used as tools and added to your personal 'life tool box'. Tools to build, to create, to navigate, or, to just breathe. The beauty of self-expression becomes tangible.
So, like, what did you get from it?
Besides leaving noticeably elevated and full of not only delicious food but delicious everything, I left feeling provoked. Now one week later, with the novelty of elevation having subsided and the food long digested, the poignant provocations still move poetically beneath my skin. I am able to walk more directly in this direction I am currently in. Creating from the inside out.
My dreams have become apart of me. No longer belonging to the external, infamous "one-day".
And those strangers felt like family by the end.
Who ran it?
No one ran. We danced a lot though!
No, I meant the facilitator.
Oh! A magnificent woman by the name of Verity. ..."She holds the space as an empowering mother, facilitates the space as a passionate teacher, and relates to everyone within the space as a caring friend.
Describe The Artery in one word:
FUEL." Melissa Palframan
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"This weekend spent at the Artery was divine.
Its an inclusive space, no judgement and so safe.
I was blown away that there were so many masculines participating too, it was beautiful to see people allow themselves the permission to participate (I peeked a bit while dancing possessed, and bore witness to brave bodies pulsating love and vital energy... Like we had been cracked open by a higher part of ourselves.)
The processes are simple and so effective.
I feel light and inspired from the experience.
I feel more connected too.
To life, to my path, to my success.
The event gave me a lovely space to change perspective and be introspective.
I've been reminded of the elixirs deep within our bodies, how through dance, meditation, expression, sharing and connecting we can access the medicine chest in our minds.
The food and venue are just magnificent too. Tej and her staff are awesome.
Verity is a brave and gentle facilitator, holding herself and others in a deep space of spiraled change."
Tiffany Hausmann
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"The Artery is a magnificent invitation to relax, unplug the mind from the default, repetitive humdrum of everyday, conventional thought patterns. I say patterns because they are habitual. I used to believe I am the sum total of them. Stripping them away using creative play opens the heart, embracing the freedom to express one’s authentic self in a safe space, it’s so liberating.
This left me contemplating why we are so hard at work in our minds, so self-judgemental, judgemental of others with the incessant need to be right about things. We entertain toxic, fearful thoughts. Well, this workshop facilitates the stripping away of all that “stuff” that gets in our way which quells the real us. We are brought into the moment, the now, freeing our minds to creatively, with unfettered, solid intention embrace the lives we are meant to lead, true to our individual loving nature.
As I did, I implore everyone to venture down this rabbit hole of re-discovering one’s true nature once more. Give yourself permission to take flight.
Thank you Verity for this awakening " Donald Capper, Dog behavioural specialist
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