Art for Healing

Introduction It is with great joy that I introduce all of you to this work. I feel extremely blessed being an artist and equally blessed as a teacher. I have always known that the creative process is open for everyone to utilize and that the potential for being an artist is inborn in every human being. I believe that God is the master creator and has taught us that we too can create things that have never been seen or created before using color and painting as the vehicle for expression. The master creator has shown us that a blank canvas represents a new start. Something fresh and new can always be born through paint and a blank canvas. That very first stroke of color penetrates the white canvas and signals the start of a very exciting period of time that captures the beginning, the middle, and the end (or completion) of the work of art. I personally have always felt an amazing surge of energy when I complete a painting. The energy of that completion often propels me to begin the next piece. I believe that every human being has his or her own personal art stroke! Just like a person’s handwriting, the art stroke represents that individual’s energy and unique touch when applying an abstract color on canvas or paper. As a teacher/professor of art for over 30 years I have personally instructed over 15,000 students in the art for healing process. I have seen children, teens, and adults transcend before my eyes. I especially love the ones who insist they cannot draw a straight line but decided to join the class despite their inadequacies. They are the ones who always create the most outstanding pieces in the class. I love their faces when they see their completed work of art displayed in the front of the room and another student comments on how much they love that particular painting. Many adults stop creating art after childhood because they had a grade school teacher who told them their work was wrong and did not look at all like the sample shown, or they have someone in the family who claimed the title of artist and they feel they cannot compete with that person. In the case of the elementary school teacher, I am often disappointed with educators who show an example of what the art should look like and ask them to imitate what is there in front of them. Many kids become frustrated because they cannot draw and therefore receive the failure to imitate the work of art as a message they are not any good at art. I encourage educators to offer students a way to express their uniqueness. Turn on some music and let them abstractly interpret with colors what they hear. You will be amazed at how effective this method will be. Let your students first find their own creative voice by looking inside instead of outside. I have facilitated workshops for children six years and up. All of them enjoyed our method and asked when they could come back for more. I wrote this book to encourage others to learn about our methods and open up their creative centers to learn how to express themselves abstractly with color. The methods I developed began in the mid-eighties in New York City after I spent 14 years as a university professor of art. As much as I loved teaching painting, design, and color, I began to see something missing in the fine arts curriculum. This became even clearer as I observed my students. Because there was such an increasing emphasis on technique, many of them failed to find their own voice in their work as artists. I began experimenting with a few assignments that encouraged the students to look inside for their ideas by painting to instrumental jazz. I would begin by asking them to close their eyes, take a deep breath, and relax. With a palette of red, yellow, blue, orange, green, violet, black, white, and brown, they would intuitively select and mix colors that they felt inspired to use due to the influence of the music. Within minutes I could see their hands dancing across the canvases. Initially, I created a 30–45 minute period for them to complete the work of art. The students were amazed at the results. The dialogue went on for an additional hour or so. The students were on fire over this simple little exercise. They wanted to do more, and I continued to give them more and encourage them to create a series of 12 works of art using a personal theme that reflected something important going on their lives. Some chose family health issues; others chose romantic relationships; and a few chose to work intuitively without a specific theme. Again and again the results were unique and authentic works of art that the students felt were coming from a place inside themselves that they had never expressed before. I share my story in hopes that anyone reading it will realize there are many ways for people to open up creatively. I also hope that anyone who has a vision for something they feel passionate about will be inspired by the story of how Art & Creativity for Healing began and take that leap of faith and go for it! There will be failure before success, but if you pray about it everyday, you will become of service to others and reap the rewards of success as you find new direction in your life. In addition to my own story, there are five inspirational vignettes from students who have benefited from the Art & Creativity for Healing work. Finally, I encourage all of you to do the assignments in the back of this book. I guarantee you will find a new creative freedom and a new way to express yourself through art. Laurie Zagon, Founder/Director Art & Creativity for Healing, Inc. Laguna Niguel, California