The Art of Becoming
Last week I finished a 6-week course on Art Therapy for Positive Mind and Wellness. The course was conducted via Zoom due to Sydney’s lockdown. Our teacher was amazing and although the course was delivered online, the method of delivery did not affect the learning experience at all.
The class was not a personal nor a group therapy. It was geared towards people who were interested in finding out what Art Therapy was about. It was both experiential and theoretical and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
There are a numerous take outs which I have started to apply into my own creative practice below are the notes which I wrote for me. So please don’t feel that I am preaching to you, I’m actually preaching to me!
1. Consider the materials to use when you are feeling overwhelmed. Pens, markers, coloured pencils or anything sturdy which is easy to navigate will bring some control back. Also, work on a smaller surface, maybe on a smaller piece of paper or journal.
2. Practice warm up exercises before tackling a big project. It could be anything that comes to mind. For example, create something using the colour that represents your mood during the present moment.
3. Don’t be your inner critic. That voice that tells you that you are not good enough, stop it right now! That practice of analysing of what you have created or regretting the decision you made whilst in the middle of your art making, stop that right now! Be kind to yourself. Love yourself.
4. Let go and have fun! For example, use other mediums. Experiment on materials and never be afraid to combine different materials, textures or symbols. It is not the end product that is important, it is the process, hence, go and experiment, trust your intuition and see what emerges.
5. There are no rules. There is no right way or wrong way. You are making art! Not driving a car! If someone tells you that you have to have a certain look to your art for your art to be recognisable, maybe this is true, however, never forget to answer the question of why are you making art in the first place? If you happen to change the direction of your art, maybe a change from photography to painting, or from floral art to abstract, please don’t apologise to anyone that your art has changed because remember, there are no rules! The only thing in life that is constant is change and imagine apologising for every single change? No, that will be too draining, right?
The course brought me back to what art making means to my life. Art making has allowed me to be authentic in a sense that I am becoming the author of my life; I am becoming me and I am creating my stories through art. And for that, I am grateful.
