Wednesdays, June 17 & June 24, 6-8pm ET
$150
What if play isn't a distraction from spiritual growth—but a pathway to it?
Every spiritual path begins with a stirring. A question. A curiosity felt somewhere beneath words…a thread we cannot help but follow.
Art From The Heart invites us to follow the thread of creativity, wonder, and play…not away from spiritual life, but deeper into it.
Together we'll explore what emerges when we create with our hands, listen with our hearts, and trust the quiet wisdom of curiosity and play.
Before we learned to judge our creativity, we simply created. Before we learned to perform, we knew how to play. Before we learned to strive, we knew how to wonder.
We moved toward what delighted us. We followed color, rhythm and impulse. We trusted curiosity.
Art From the Heart is an invitation to remember.
To put pencil to paper. Brush to paint. Imagination to possibility.
Not toward perfection. But toward yourself.
Affiliates: Please check your email for your registration link, or send an email to finance@followthethread.org.
Your Instructor: Rev. Franne Demetrician
Rev. Dr. Ed O’Malley
REV. FRANNE DEMETRICIAN – Artist, Teacher, and Spiritual Creative Guide
Born in Japan in 1949, Rev. Franne Demetrician has been immersed in the arts since childhood. She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and later returned to her studies at The College of New Jersey, majoring in art and minoring in art history after dedicating years to family life as a wife and mother. After ordination in 2003 she and her husband, Rev. Bob Demetrician, founded Common Ground Interfaith-Interspiritual Community, now via Zoom monthly since the pandemic.
For Franne, art is far more than technique or aesthetics—it is a spiritual practice, a ministry of connection, healing, and self-discovery. Through acrylics, pastels, watercolor, drawing, photography, jewelry making, sewing, cooking, and everyday acts of creation, she embraces the belief that creativity is sacred and fundamental to the human experience. Her work reflects a lifelong devotion to inner exploration, beauty, and the soulful language of color and image.
As both artist and teacher, Franne encourages others to reconnect with their authentic creative voice. Her teaching blends artistic instruction with spiritual insight, mindfulness, and compassionate encouragement. She believes artmaking can awaken wonder, nurture healing, and create deeper connection to self, spirit, and community.
Franne has authored and teaches three courses: Art from the Heart, What’s on Your Palette? – Basic Color Theory for Aspiring Artists, and Acrylic Basics. Her classes invite students not only to learn artistic skills, but also to rediscover play, intuition, curiosity, and the wisdom of the inner child. Her teaching is experiential, heart-centered, and deeply inspiring.
She has taught at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Rutgers University, Perkins Center for the Arts, Sacred U, and privately from her home studio. She also hosts an ongoing acrylic painting studio via Zoom and began teaching at the Franklin Township Youth Center in 2024.
Franne’s artwork has been exhibited in galleries throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and in virtual exhibitions. Her honors include First Prize for Pastels and Best in Show at the Somerset County Senior Art Show, as well as First Prize for Acrylics at the New Jersey State Senior Art Show. Her work has appeared at El Barrio Artspace PS109 in New York City as part of CAFed Artist Collective’s Phenomenal Women exhibition, and she presented a solo exhibition in 2022 at Gonzo Glass. Additional exhibitions include Artist Voice and Vision’s Viral Collaboration, the Staube Center, Garden State Watercolor Society, West Windsor Arts Council, and the Not Quite Wine and Cheese Art Show. Her work was also recently featured at the Dupree Gallery, and she was selected to participate in CAFed’s women’s exhibition, My Art, My Voice, Our Zen, at the Taller Boricua Gallery in New York City.