Conscious Art Studios: Why am I an Artist? How Art Makes Us Feel

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Why am I an Artist? How Art Makes Us Feel

Why am I an Artist? Well, that could be a pretty complex question, but simply..because of how it makes me feel. Not only how it affects me, but how I see it affects others as well.

I have always believed that Art was Healing. The colors, the subject matter, the shapes, the composition, what it says, and what it doesn't say all lend to the effect on us. As a child at the age of four I received by first piece of Art, a painting of "Faith, Hope, and Charity", the three women...or were they angels..muses? Doesn't matter. I was given this painting in the pediatric ward at the hospital after my surgery, and I still have it to this day. The symbolism is what is important to me, and I realize that the symbolism is what I carry with me to this day, in my own Art and in my own Life.

Cleansing ~ Purity by Jeanne Fry

Much research has been done on the effects of Art in our lives, showing that art has an effect on our nervous system and brain neurotransmitters. It can help to change our perception and attitude and that color and shape have a therapeutic influence.

Friedrich Schelling, a German philosopher, felt that geometrical forms could influence our emotions (ie. a curved line symbolizing flexibility, a wavy line symbolizing life, and a elliptic horizontal line symbolizing tenderness).

Music has been a large part of my life since the age of four as well, when I began piano studies. Today it's healing force is still strong in my daily life. Dr. Rubinstein, a Russian psychologist, noticed that "minor" chords helped in relaxing muscles, while "major" chords excited them. Instrumental music activates the right cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Today I work on music endeavours with my husband, mostly instrumental music of Native Flute and Piano, but also Guided Imagery Meditations laid over the the Native Flute music. We personally believe that the body has the ability to heal itself when it is in a relaxed state, therefore our focus is to bring that into our music.

I am a strong supporter of the Arts in all modalities, not only for it's pure beauty and intelligence, but for it's physiological effects our mind and body, the freedom it affords the artist, and it's function to use our voice with not only our vocal chords but with our heart and hands.

I began creating a series of painting that I find "Healing', who's intention is to integrate the mind and body as a whole. Three of the paintings are complete, with more in the process.