HEALING ART 

 
'Art is self-expression - Self-expression is healing - Art is Medicine’. ~ Shaun McNiff

In our technological age people are searching for other dimensions and creative involvements as a panacea for their hectic lives. Hence we have seen the rise of influences such as Buddhism and alternative therapies gaining an ever-growing audience. Art with a healing focus is slowly becoming more widely accepted.
 
I see healing artists not as trained art therapists or working within an academic process, rather as people using the creative process of art to heal themselves, others and the Planet.
 
For me art has been a process of transformation, a metaphor for life, a continuing journey of expanded consciousness, opening me up to explore realities beyond the visible.
 
I focus on being deeply present with the canvas. I even talk with the image asking its help to create from a place of openness and love. It may sound strange but it really works for me.
 
I also feel totally at home with animals in nature. They trigger an experience for me that creates an understanding of the ‘nature of life’. Each animal is a symbolic vessel that moves you from your outer reality to your inner landscape by connecting to all your senses through the physical body.
 
When I connect with animals with all my senses, my awareness drops into my belly, the seat of the instinctual self. The senses then receive information that can be felt thru the body. I paint as a way of exploring and expressing this profound connection with animals. What can I learn? What can I share with others? The experience generates expanded awareness and sublime inner-peace.
 
This process has given me insights for which I’m eternally grateful.
Creativity of any kind is a spiritual practice and it has given me the strength and longing to dedicate my art to support wildlife protection
 
Below is an example of a painting in progress to give you an idea of how my painting evolves using these concepts.
 
 
 A PAINTING IN PROGRESS
 
‘The Power of a Single Heart’ – my beautiful cat Smudge.
For me, painting is about feeling rather than thinking, trusting my intuition and always relating to animals. When I bond with an animal, either symbolically or in nature, I am encouraged to let go of my ego, allowing the painting to evolve. Communication with an animal really works for me. Something just clicks and I know where to begin.
 
Step 1
I meditate on the animal and canvas asking to create in beauty. I then choose a color/s, applying it to the canvas in big sweeping movements. I keep my focus in my heart space or, 'feeling' rather than ‘thinking' what to do.
 
Step 2
Taking some tools to create texture in the wet paint (rags, plastic, feathers etc) I ‘break’ the surface dabbing my ‘tool’. I begin to ‘feel’ the canvas as if I am being partnered in a dance, following each movement, as it happens.
 
Step 3
Now standing back, I gaze at the surface; even walk away to come back later. What is emerging? What draws my attention? I use chalk to identify details. Now embellish, always observing what I am drawn to express.