Art As Therapy

Perhaps I should have titled this post Is Art Therapy? In Swarez’s interview on this blog, he says he began making art as therapy. I’ve been musing over my personal thoughts and feelings regarding art as therapy.

I accept in the hands of a therapist, drawing is a good tool for connecting to the subconscious. But does this qualify as ART? er no, it means drawing is used as an instrument to bypass the conscious mind. Art doesn’t even come into this topic – semantics, people, semantics.

I am a trained advanced hypnotherapist/counsellor. My foundation is in psychology. I did not work with smokers or weight loss clients. My specialist area was emotional problems – in particular regression, healing the past, Inner child work, phobias, depression, anger and fears. My definition of therapy is influence by my history – I expect to see a release, a healing and change of life pattern through anything labelled “therapy”.

Am I experiencing therapy through the paintings I create?

Until very recently, I have experienced a disassociation with my art. How can that be? I’m the person creating these paintings day in and day out. How can I not have a full conscious connection with them?

I began painting these girls while I was in the middle of a breakdown in 2008. I’ve repeatedly said in this blog and elsewhere – this art is coming from my inner self. I was not consciously planning the paintings in this collection of work. I’ve always been amazed with how the paintings have developed, just seeing myself as the hands that channel the work.

Over the last 18 months,I’ve mostly felt bewildered. Bewilderment, always with the subject.

Meanwhile, I love creating the mixed media artwork and I love using the materials.

I began having the urge to use ‘patchwork’ in my art 6 or 7 years ago. Although I had a great library of mixed media books, I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate this urge into any work I wished to create.

It came together during this most recent (and most major) breakdown I’ve experienced.

My defences were totally down. I had to isolate myself from the outside world. (hmm..,still doing that now, check out my last post…Bench In Progress)

Walls down, meant the inner world/self could come through from the other direction.

This whimsical mixed media art came out.

I had a woman on FB suggest I’m creating the whimsical, happy figures as a healing response to my abusive upbringing. When I told her I had no idea why I was creating these paintings, that they started when I was in the middle of a breakdown, she blocked me!

I now understand why I’m painting like this, I say she was slightly off target.

There is therapy at work here on a massive scale. To me the therapy is being driven from my inner wisdom. The art is the TOOL the inner self is using.

Perhaps the art is also my therapy…

Are the paintings themselves therapeutic ???

I offer a resounding YES YES YES to that question.

Art As Therapy

I am repeatedly getting feedback that people find my paintings healing, uplifting and happy.

An image you respond to in a positive, happy manner hanging on your wall, reminding you, uplifting you will gently, subtly provoke a pattern change. Much like a mandala is designed to achieve positive change.

My work is touching people emotionally and leaving them feeling good in many different ways.

Namaste
Erin

ps When I began writing this post, I wanted to offer a definate:
NO I DO NOT SEE ART AS THERAPY!
hehe who was in denial?