Art Therapy

| jofox9973

Sadly, I had to leave my job for health reasons a few months ago and I have struggled quite a bit with this change. At first my GP helped me and then eventually I managed to arrange some phone counselling to work through it all.

Now I’m not going to go into details about any of the counselling itself here, except to say that it’s been incredibly helpful. What I have found though, with respect to my art, is that it is of real therapeutic benefit.

Firstly, art it is a form of meditation for me a lot of the time, and this has been very helpful. It’s very soothing to draw and paint. It feels a bit like putting a really good hand cream on very chapped hands. Secondly though, it gives me this wonderfully safe space in my head and on the canvas where I can work things out. I don’t know if this kind of thing would work for everyone, some people are more at home with words than visuals, but for me it has been very useful indeed.

This is a drawing I did as I mulled over a question my counsellor left me with at the end of a session…

It was initially done in ink on paper and then toned with Mars Lumograph pencils.

Then I scanned it into my computer and coloured it like this…

I wonder if other artists find art is supportive in this way? Maybe some writers and musicians feel the same way?

26 thoughts on “Art Therapy”

  1. Many thanks! I feel the same way about art and how it can help a person process things that have happened to them. It’s certainly been really helpful to me.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Beautiful artwork! I have found art to be a very important piece of my therapeutic processing. Often images come to me before words can be found to describe them. Allowing myself to express what is going on inside through my artwork creates internal movement, and space begins to open for words to come to the surface.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I am working on my story…and I am not an artist, so it is very difficult for me to prepare pictures on my stories.
    Although, I am learning sketching.
    I like your work. Enjoy….👍

    Liked by 1 person

  12. That’s wonderful. I know what you mean about the sense of purpose art can give someone. I am actually thinking of selling a couple of prints when lockdown finishes. If they both sell I might take it further commercially.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. I think Zentangles are very soothing. A friend of mine at work used to do them.

    It’s interesting that the tree reminds you of celtic crosses and celtic knots, as I based the main form of the three branches on a celtic triskelion. How awesome that you picked up on that!

    Liked by 1 person

  24. To me, doing art is a mindfullness practice – it brings me into the present moment like nothing else! You can’t beat being intensely focused on something you are doing in the here and now for giving your mind a break from dwelling on the past of worrying about the future. Also, my younger daughter who has been experiencing panic attacks and anxiety is getting a LOT of benefit from using her art to visually articulate her emotions! I agree, art is great therapy for those of us who love to do it and the more we do the better it gets! Nice thought, Jo, glad to hear you are using YOUR art in this way!

    Liked by 2 people

  25. I really like the symmetry of the image. Makes me think of celtic crosses and celtic knots — something that I find very calming to draw. Maybe I should start that agin or finally get into zentangles. Those look great and are probably also very relaxing for the mind.

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  26. Yeah art is great therapy but counselling too. I’ve done art for years. When push comes to shove when you get unwell having a survival kit really comes in handy. Had ten sessions with a psychologist a few years ago. Really valuable.

    Liked by 1 person

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