Art for Healing
How Arts Create Healthier Communities Click Here to View According to thousands of studies, researchers have determined that involvement in the arts can improve public health and promote healing from illness, as well as protect against such problems as cognitive decline, heart disease, anxiety and depression. Length: 6 Minutes See Also: Consider But the real secret to lifelong good health is …Let your body take care of you.– Deepak Chopra Succeed and Soar‘s Thrive! presents practices that can improve life. This post explores how creative activities [like cooking and gardening or dancing and writing] can help health and wellbeing. The PsychologyToday post “Creativity,” states, An act of creativity can be grand and inspiring, such as crafting a beautiful painting or designing an innovative company. But an idea need not be artistic or world-changing to count as creative. Life requires daily acts of ingenuity and novel workarounds; in this sense, almost everyone possesses some amount of creativity. How does creating art help? The PsychologyToday.com post “How Art Heals” explains that. To become more creative, first understand three, key brain networks. First is the default mode. It controls when daydreaming, resting, reflecting on the past and future. The second, the executive control network lets people, “plan, monitor, and execute their goals.” Finally, the brain’s large salience network detects, filters then determines, how to respond to events and ideas. “It scans for relevant signals, whether they contain sensory, cognitive, or emotional information.” “Eureka moments” are those amazing times when exceptional ideas arrive. It’s when a “blockbuster notion breaks through in a flash of insight that’s as unexpected as it is blazingly clear.” Why? While in restful, default mode [perhaps while washing dishes or bathing], the “conscious, methodological, concerted problem solving” brain fit random, ‘puzzle pieces’ together. To maximize these opportunities, the PsychologyToday “Creativity” post suggests, Definitely consider the Live Well Lived sketch journal offered with this post. Increase arts funding. Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould FordPresenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. This post’s resources:
Life Well Lived 9: Something That Wasn’t There Before
The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something [delightful] that wasn’t there before. Neil Gaiman As promised last week, here’s my incredibly easy Artisan Bread. Because I avoid wheat, these loaves were made with flours on hand: Cassava, Tapioca, Oat and Garbanzo] Extra yeast and water was added because these flours are heavier. My Artisan Bread has a focaccia-like texture. It’s definitely tasty with butter. Also with mayo and tomatoes. I’m looking forward to trying some vegetable hotdogs [purchased at Ikea, of all places]. . Artisan Bread is a forgiving, flexible bread that invites experimentation. So, have just finished baking mini loaves that have blue-cheese look given the spicy, cooked spinach I stirred in. Loaves that contain dates and dried apricots are about to leave my oven. I look forward to adding chopped nuts and seeds. Here’s the 4-minute PBS for Kids video that inspired this delicious, artistic endeavor. Here’s a printable recipe. Reply! Share your bread making adventure! Comment on this blog post. NOTE: The word delightful was added to Neil Gaiman’s quote because some things this incredibly imaginative author have created that weren’t there before have been pretty monstrous. If you’d like a good scare [friends of mine have been really spooked], listen to this 7-minute read of Gaiman’s short story, “Other People.” * While Social Distancing, Here Are Great Ways to: Stay creative Exercise [includes videos] Feel happier Make your own, natural disinfectants Please share. This Week’s Special Offer Each week, my Featured Art is offered at 25% off [plus any discounts offered by my Galleries]. Shop here. Thank you for visiting my galleries and for your purchases. They support Succeed and Soar. NOTE The original image was shot with a Nikon SLR camera using positive film. The transparency] was later digitalized. That JPEG file ‘was processed’ in Adobe PhotoShop Elements 14, achieving a painted effect via the Fresco filter. The color saturation and vibrance were then enriched.
Life Well Lived #8: Let’s get a little crazy here.
The creative personality seems never to grow old but rather, simply grow. – Alden B. Dow Whether you have or have yet to see Bob Ross create a large, beautiful landscape in 30 minutes, treat yourself. Watch a “Joy of Painting” show. If you’re lucky, you’ll hear him croon about painting “happy little” trees and clouds. These words from a man who reminded us to hold onto a bit of childhood and sometimes get a little crazy. Pablo Picasso, one of the most influential painters of the 20th century said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” The man who helped found the Cubist movement and constructed sculpture also said, “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off of our souls.” This week, and for a bit of every week, why not make some art? How? This post’s “Tools and Resources” offer some great, free, online courses. Or, even better for connecting to the child inside and dusting drudge off the soul, another great Picasso recommendation. “To draw, you must close your eyes and sing.” Share your arts adventures. Reply. Comment below. And, consider making some easy, four-ingredient, Artisan Bread. See video. See my bread results next week. The video is from PBS for Kids, I looked all over the site and couldn’t find the recipe. HERE is a quick, easy one with specific instructions. I combined with video info [like baking in moist oven]. * As Bob Ross would recommend, Let’s get a little crazy. Make some art this week. Here are some, Free Online Art Classes Kline Creative Free Drawing Lessons for beginners ArtyFactory All kinds of free art lessons, from charcoal portraits to aerial perspective, from African masks to pen and ink and more. Toad Hollow Studios A very talented artist shares her drawing techniques, including how to draw shining objects, an open rose and more. * This Week’s Special Offer Each week, my Featured Art is offered at 25% off [plus any discounts offered by my Galleries]. Shop here. Thank you for visiting my galleries and for your purchases. They support Succeed and Soar. NOTE The original image was shot with a Nikon Coolpix camera. The jpg was “developed” in Adobe PhotoShop.
Path to Joy: 1st of 12 – Keep Life Simple, Honest and Real
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo da Vinci Years ago, I found an old book of inspirations called The Treasure Chest. Page 117 contained “The Twelve Rules of Happiness.” This letter launches “Twelve Paths to Joy,” my adaptation using visual meditations I called Illustrated Wisdom. This Post’s Featured Art, “Simplicity,” A Visual Meditation What I like best about the picture The gleam of the gold paint. The lines circling upward. Why The shining gold brightens and adds vitality. The lines look like paths that trip the light fantastic with leaves and flowers growing along the way. What does this picture teach? Because the intent was to envision life lived simplistically, to me: The dark borders suggest night, a time of rest within which large, gold stars shine. The gold sprays look like galaxies where countless stars cluster. The dark shows possibilities that cannot be seen by daylight. The curlicue lines teach that many dances are possible. The spirals say life can have carefree moments. The flowers remind to appreciate life’s beautiful, natural and simple gifts. The green dots represent seeds. They teach that opportunities can be abundant and grow from tiny packages. How can these insights lead to joy? The picture reminds me to: Relax, Enjoy the times when life dances, Find delight in peace and contentment, in keeping life simple, honest and real. The ‘Paths to Joy’ are adapted from The Treasure Chest, an old book I found years ago. Page 117 contained “The Twelve Rules of Happiness.” Of special delight is using paints markers and ink to illustrate meditations inspired by this wisdom. The technique is adapted from the book Visual Journaling, Going Deeper Than Words, by Barbara Ganim and Susan Fox. In this “Twelve Paths to Joy” series, permanent markers, ink, colored pencils, crayons, metallic, water color, acrylic and tempera paints are applied to 98-pound, 11 x 14-inch, mixed media paper. The doodling and dabbling, scribbling and splashing provides a process for stepping away from life’s hustle and bustle while creating pictures guided by the heart [rather than structured by the mind]. Along the way, Peaceful and inspiring spaces are opened Choices are clarified Important insights are gained The body, mind and spirit are relaxed and refreshed To see more of my art and purchase prints, Visit: SandraGouldFord.ImageKind.com