There are times when I, as I am sure all creative folk do at some stage, hit a huge wall and feel like I have to force creativity for the sake of producing something. Few will admit this to you, that tension is a necessary ingredient for some of the most profound creations. There is HUGE power in those times when you are so motivated to create that your perception of the world can change into seeing everything and everybody as artistic inspiration. The process of learning to get out of the way and let the inner Artist takeover however, isn’t easy. That struggle is part of the creative process, trust it.
This perception changer can get a little out of hand though. Admittedly I can get lost at times in real life conversations with people as I get so distracted, analysing the composition, tones, lighting and the techniques I would use as if everything I see is a living painting wanting to manifest. Have you felt the magick of the raw, creative force flowing through you, without any preconceived ideas of outcome? It feels like being in a waking dream and you may have realised you don’t actually do the creating besides being an interpreter!
When you really give in to that inner Artist, you become a channel, tapped into a creative force much bigger than yourself, and that is both humbling and addictive. Why do you think us Artsy folks are portrayed as always being scattered, aloof and detached from reality?
An eternal motto I hold close to my heart is “Art Saves” or “Sevas Tra” as a fan-girl nod to the incredible Otep – which I also have tattooed on my foot, as a guiding inspiration and the foundation for every step I take. This leads me to state, if it wasn’t obvious, I also consider Music and any other creative outlet such as poetry, or dancing as art forms, that allow one to reach a flow state.
Art connects people, even without words; it creates a tangible manifestation or visceral experience of the primal rhythms of life – things we can all relate to, void of boundaries like language, and geography. Art is transcendent.
Without the creative means to find expression for some of my darkest feelings over the years, either through my own artwork or another’s (eg. powerful songs I related to), I simply would not be here. I know this will ring true for many reading this too. I had the privileged of thanking Otep directly for saving my life, and was in ore or how many of her tribe were also cued up to offer the same gratitude.
Art really does save, it has power beyond words with the ability to touch the most guarded souls.
I cannot advocate enough for the power of art therapy and know first hand that, it’s something that always gives greater reward than the effort put into it. When I was at my lowest (something I’ll get into soon) it was because I thought I would never be able to draw or paint again. Out of all of the physical difficulties I was experiencing, the loss of my right hand functioning was beyond devastating.
Creativity was my everything, it had become my identity both personally and professionally and when that is threaten, worlds crumbled. Who was I without my art? What was even the point of life? All of which I’ve learned is actually a great thing for growth but it’s harder to see at the time of course. So, when I no longer had use of my right hand and the ability to hold a pencil was enough of a challenge without even getting started on the actual creating, I melted further into a crushing depression.
My Dad even said to me on one of my “I’ll never be able to ‘art’ again” meltdowns…if you can’t draw it anymore, then what colour does it feel like? Even if you are really angry and paint a canvas all red or black with big messy lines, at least you are expressing!”. It was up to this point that I’d never even done an abstract painting, admittedly I couldn’t see the appeal. How wrong I was, the process is actually liberating and the ‘randomness’ revealing, so I took his advice and started playing with watercolours and really basic techniques like dribbling paint splashes.
There was a lot of healing in this simple act of giving myself permission to not be a perfectionist. I won’t deny it was a brutally hard lesson but extremely beneficial. A while ago, I found some of those pictures and remembered what a turning point they represented. One in particular, even sparked a new creative surge in me at that time, that actually took me to mosaics for a while. This was a medium I had not yet tried but found the most healing in being able to make something I could relate to out of a bunch of shattered pieces. Very symbolic of how I viewed my life at the time. All of which I’ll show you in a later, follow-up post.
Getting back to the theme of this post Art for the soul, I will always advocate for the power of art therapy and often even without purposely doing art for any healing or therapeutic reasons. The things that need to be healed WILL find their way to the surface through the creative process, with persistence.
Growing up with many mental health struggles, I always found art (mostly drawing or poetry for me) as ways to express what I could not bring myself to find words for. I do not have many of these unfortunately to look back on, as I was also overly critical and in turn destructive – so my portfolio is pretty much only a few years old and has undertaken many changes as I have healed, grown and found new perspectives and passions. Some of the art since is a bit darker than my tastes now but all were things that needed to manifest so I could heal those pieces of me.
That said, I do naturally draw strength from the darker currents of life, so even my positive artwork can make some people shudder or recoil. I embrace my inner darkness, even now as I understand how crucial it is to being an integrated being, though it no longer is the power holder in my life. I have a healthy relationship with my darkness, understanding that it doesn’t translate to bad but rather an often overlooked and powerful healer, teacher and protector.
I am a proud member of the Divine Deception crew, and I now teach others how to learn from and embrace the same parts of them, often desperate for expression and validation. This transformation, still blows me away! Finding purpose in pain is a gift that transforms every being I have met, have you asked what your own pain is wanting to teach you?
Reflecting back on something I posted on a personal blog a while ago “I’m realising the more I do it (painting) the less I know, but what a beautiful learning opportunity. The luxury of this technology era we live in is that just about anything you wish to lookup is only a few clicks away…I’ve recently found a few amazing painting tutorial channels including Painting with Jane and was compelled to share her video “The Kiss” Vlog and Timelapse Painting where she talks about turning off the fear and just painting as that hesitation will stop the opportunity to even try.”
This and other advice she has shared really took the pressure off me and was a timely reminder to just paint for the sake of it , eliminating the critical eye, avoiding comparisons to somebody else, enjoying the process of spending time learning new techniques, taking ownership of the ‘me-time‘ of painting and seeing the opportunities to improve and grow artistically. I think this is a good video for anybody to watch that is prone to such artistic hesitation.
On the topic of art therapy and what it does for the soul, I think I could write for hours but I am going to leave it here and get back to actually painting. First however, I will leave two more pearls of wisdom from Jane’s videos being a quote from Leonardo da Vinci “Art is never finished but merely abandoned“. This I add mostly as a reminder to myself, knowing that I struggle to find that finish point with paintings.
I feel I could just keep adding but there has to come a time when you are comfortable to abandon a piece and to start something new. Inline with this, another excellent tip was to always sign your paintings for other obvious reasons but once that is done, leave it alone. When I happily signed off my first two little paintings after this, I could have kept going on them but ‘releasing them‘ was nerve wracking and relieving, paradoxically.
They now proudly inspire me to create something new, I feel like that was the final permission to move on that I needed – and what an amazing feeling it is to see finished artwork not just a stack of unfinished canvases, I’m afraid to count.
The beauty of being able to look back over the post this all came from (3 years ago this month), is seeing how much I’ve grown within my art and being able to celebrate achievements like this:
“I’ve also had a HUGE breakthrough in doing one of these new little pictures, specifically that of a simple but effective and extremely fun “mystical trees” painting.
I finally, for the first time …having been able to incorporate my right hand (again) whilst painting. I don’t know what even made me think to use it – thank you Universe, but mid painting and without the pre-thought to it, as if having an autopilot moment something unusual occurred. Whilst painting with my left hand, unexpectedly I started to pick up and load another brush with my right hand with somewhat confusion and excitement.
Without hesitation I started adding branches to the tree I was working on and just WOW! Wow wow wow…I cannot describe that moment, I literally have not been happy with a drawing or painting attempt with my previously dominant hand for over 6 years, and I think I may have just found a speciality for it. Needless to say I am about to start another nature inspired painting with more twisted trees, yay. Shaky hand painting party!!!”
I’ve painted a lot since and added dramatically to that mounting WIP pile but I’m putting this up here because I know there is someone out there who needs these words and this experience, someone who needs to give themselves the energetic permission to draw, stuff up and draw again, just like I did. The struggles, disappointment and frustrations are a necessary part of that tension to create greatness.
The Masters knew this – I hope you learn it too! I hope you’ve discovered the alchemical process that can happen when you surrender yourself to the inner Artist calling. I’ll post more on some of the healing and metaphysical processes that can happen through the creative urge.
I’d love to hear about your own experiences with art as a healing and creative outlet. If you haven’t already, I couldn’t encourage it more – you may be surprised with some of the creations that can be conjured to life.
With much love, encouragement and support, I leave you with the last thoughts of “you have nothing to lose by just trying it, even if you think you can’t draw – try and try again until that skeptical voice gets silenced. When you’re frustrated and at the point of giving up – something magickal can truly manifest, trust the process”.
Blessed Be xo