The purpose of this study was to explore the healing experience and value of art through the self-work of an art therapist. To explore the healing value and meaning of art in art therapy, an autobiographical narrative inquiry was attempted with the story of a researcher's painting. The study data were collected through the researcher's self-work and self-journal from 2004 to September 2023. There were five themes of experience discovered in this process as follows; ‘Painting talks. Pain is too strong,' ‘Painting is reviving memories,' ‘Painting talks about the unconscious,' ‘Painting speaks about having a courage,' and ‘Painting says about love.‘ This experience realized that the art therapist's self-work contained the therapist's pain and suffering, creating art was a play and the art therapist's self-work itself eventually allowed the therapist to empathize with the client. Through this study, the researcher found that the creative self-work allowed to meet the unexposed inner image and the process of inner expression through the image was a healing experience. Based on these research results, the significance and limitations of this study were discussed.