Visual Arts and Healing



Number Six (from my numberical series)
24 x 24 inches, mixed-media on wood

The Visual Arts have the ability to heal... "In 1 study, surgery or critical care patients who participated in guided imagery or had a picture of a landscape on their wall had a decreased need of narcotic pain medication relative to their counterparts and left the hospital earlier."

Consider the painting on the left, Number Six. Can you imagine being penetrated by the sharp edges of the Star of David? Not in a physical way, perhaps, but in a mental or spiritual way.

Gaze at the shape and let it change you somehow. Imagine it spinning, side to side. Imagine it moving closer to you like a buzz saw. Then, imagine the shape moving backwards inviting you to join it. What are the remaining parts of the painting doing? Do any memories pop up? What are you feeling? Perhaps you feel something but cannot put words to it. Healing on some level has begun. A new appreciation of some aspect of your life will appear. Be on the look out for new things happening.

Take note of how this art piece, or any other art piece has touched you somehow. Is that not healing? If we allow ourselves to be touched and transformed by the arts, can we find a newfound respect for the arts on the whole? Can we allow ourselves to spend money to buy art because of its essential nature? Art is nowhere mere decoration. It is stuff that can pierce open new vistas within your heart, mind, and spirit. Will you let it in?

Link to full article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804629/



A Fine Collection of Blue and Green for your Healing Wall

Do you have a meditation room or some room where serenity and calm is preferred? I can't imagine a much more soothing color scheme than blue and green. Consider purchasing one print of each of these abstract photographs printed on acrylic. The acrylic prints make for a clean presentation.

Green Wave

Green Fiber

Green Haze

Indigo

Blue Mist

Until Next Week

• Create art
• Appreciate art
• Buy art

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Comments are welcome.

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Landscape Paintings Make You Feel Better

(Copied by permission from Painting Blog by Nancy Reyner)
The Healing Power of Landscape Paintings
I recently found an uplifting and interesting tidbit for those of us who enjoy painting landscapes. According to Dr. John Diamond, in his 1979 book Your Body Doesn't Lie, when a person looks at a landscape painting it will raise their level of well being, balance their right and left brain hemispheres and increase their life energy. The book describes Dr. Diamond’s research and practice for Behavioral Kinesiology (BK), which uses muscle testing from Kinesiology to test for factors in the environment that raise and lower a person’s energy or life force. He muscle tested patients for music, electronic devices, picture symbols, food, just about everything, as well as paintings. He found that a photograph of a landscape or an actual view of a landscape did not come close to the life giving qualities from a landscape painting (!)

Here is a quote (p. 76 in Dr. Diamond’s book) “…The results are not nearly so satisfactory with line drawings or with photographs. Looking at a beautiful scene in nature may or may not be as effective, depending on the ability of the viewer to abstract certain qualities from it, which is, after all, what a good painter has already done for us. I have found that if people take an “energy break” every so often – just to recite a verse or two of poetry or to look at a picture postcard of a painting, stress and tension will be considerably reduced……and the Life Energy will be high…”

How cool is that?

DVD--Alex Grey: The Healing Power of Sacred Art

I recently watched my 2nd Alex Grey DVD ordered from NetFlix, ARTMind: The Healing Power of Sacred Art.

It was a little more difficult to watch than the House of Sacred Mirrors DVD. He was talking a lot; however, I truly enjoyed it. It just took me a little longer to absorb it. I watched it twice so I could soak up his message and write down notes. Alex speaks very well with a fantastic vocabulary and extensive knowledge of life and sacred art. Of special interest to me was his sharing with us of the artists who have inspired him. I found this to be truly helpful. I will research those artists for further inspiration in my own art.