Hello again!

To review: Part One of our series addressed why adults fear making art. Part Two looked at why creating is important and emotionally healthy.  This post will address how to approach creating intentionally, with a few tips to help you get started. 

I want to first reflect on the topic of intentional creativity: the process of expressing artistically with primary focus on your own creativity, rather than focus on others' or self judgements of your final product. This is art-making to feed your soul, to nourish your deeper self, to express and explore your personal experience. It is meaningful art-making. 

With a blank canvas, how do you even begin? Whether you are new to art-making, or are just feeling creatively blocked, sometimes the overwhelming possibilities of creating can feel paralyzing. 

This next part will give you some ideas about how to get started creating with intention if you are feeling stuck or overwhelmed. While you try some of these ideas out, be interested in your internal dialogue. 

Here are some general suggestions to help you get out of your head and into your process when creating. Before you begin, check in with your intentions. Why are you making art in the first place? What is it that is driving you?

This list is just a start, as inspiration is a huge topic! Some of these you will look at and say, duh, and others are more out there. See if there are one or two ideas that resonate for you and leave what doesn't feel right. Try to notice your inner process as you begin to create. 

Surround yourself with objects, quotes, colors that help you feel feelings. Make your space reflect you in whatever way feels appropriate. Change your mind state with the addition of music. Add candles, living plants, soft fabric, anything that brings you in connection with your body and your environment. (More on creating a studio space/corner in another blog post -- stay tuned.)

Sometimes it's helpful to have a creating buddy! This is ideally someone who is on the same page with you in starting their creative process, who​ is supportive rather than competitive. Having a creative pal not only can help keep you motivated, but also can be a beautiful way to build relationship and community. Social media can be a helpful resource: make a creative meetup group, or facebook event... we can all help each other in this process.

This can be a small notebook for the occasional quote or notation, or a larger sketchbook for more a elaborate visual journal. You could even turn an old used book into an altered book journal (check out this pinterest board of altered books -- they can be very beautiful and inspirational tools!). Your everyday experiences are meaningful, and can hold so much emotional and symbolic content. Your life is important and sometimes it is helpful to note significant moments or observations.  ​

​Answer this prompt: My life is made meaningful by ______. Maybe free-write a page on this idea (or more!). Write as quickly and continuously as you can to avoid self-censoring. The answers may help inspire your next expression. Free-writing in general can be an amazingly helpful tool for inspiring creative ideas. Here's a link to 365 free-writing prompts to help get you started. ​

​This is a technique developed by art therapy pioneers Margaret Naumberg (1987) and Florence Cane (1951), who used scribbling as a catalyst to overcome creative blocks and bring forth unconscious material. The basic idea is simple. Scribble on a piece of paper (eyes closed for a different experience), and then look for an image in the scribble to elaborate on. This is a great technique to get you out of your head and onto a page because you must forgo control of the product of the artwork to do the initial scribble. Cathy Malchiodi (1998) notes that scribbling is a great way to make spontaneous imagery. Her book, The Art Therapy Sourcebook, highlights many more ideas for spontaneous art-making, and numerous other art therapy-related activities to try at home -- highly recommended. 

Paint with your fingers and toes. Use sidewalk chalk and water outside. Let yourself drip or splatter art materials. Throw paint at a canvas. Often our inner critic is concerned with controlling the art -- in some situations, the chaotic and uncontrollable nature of getting messy with the art can help to overcome creative blocks. Let yourself play. Again, this may be emotionally triggering for some, so use with caution or with an art therapist! 

Sometimes our feelings of being stuck are tied to a specific art material. We may have fewer expectations of how we should be working with a new material, and so can be more open to whatever we are inspired to create. For example, if I feel stuck trying to think of things to draw, I might pull out some clay or sculpey and see what happens there. The novelty of a different material can help you play and explore the material, rather than analyze the technique you are using. ​

If you are stuck on what to create, you might consider responding to something in your life -- an event, something in the news, a past piece of artwork you've created. Think about your feelings surrounding the issue or image, and let your ideas flow. A great way to make a series of artwork is to take one art piece you've already created and respond directly to that image, enlarging or expanding on part of the image, or even making "what comes next" in response to the image. ​

This is an amazing way to get in closer touch with your internal world. Your dreams are full of images and symbols that can be useful to explore if you can remember them! In No More Secondhand Art, Peter London (1989) writes, "Every single one of us is a craftsman of dreams; our dream images are always perfect and evocative. Visual thinking and visual imagery is our native language." Dream journals are a beautiful way to tap into your own symbolic landscape. Recording dreams can also help you remember your dreams more often.  I like to chose one image from a dream that sticks out to me and sketch it out, then free write around the image. Often this helps personal realization to emerge, and may even inspire a creative piece. Much of my personal artwork is in response to such dream imagery.

This is the intentional encountering of your own internal imagery through guided or self-guided meditation. Carl Jung (1969) developed the concept of active imagination as a means to engage with his internal symbolic world, and it is a technique that is extremely effective at accessing your personal symbols. Remember when you were a kid, and playing pretend was an everyday pastime? Well, your imagination still exists in a real way as an adult, though it may be a bit rusty when it comes to symbolic imagery. Let's say you had a dream about a boat last night, your might close your eyes and imagine this boat -- looking around and seeing who or what is on the boat? What does the sky look like? What is in the distance on the horizon? is there anything in the water? Letting your imagination move you through your images and giving yourself permission to be open to anything that emerges. This can be a great catalyst of imagery for your artwork, and can also result in more personal awareness and understanding. Here's a link to a great article on active imagination with some exercises to try.

Creating is an extension of yourself, and sometimes you may need to get to know yourself a bit better to feel comfortable in the process. See what is helpful for you in your creative ventures.

​Please feel welcome to leave a comment if you have any thoughts or ideas. What inspires you? 

Our next blog post will explore what happens when we start to feel stuck in our artwork, and how to address the inner critic.

References:

• Cane, F. (1951). The artist in each of us. London, England. Thames and Hudson.​
• Jung, C.G. (1969). On the nature of the psyche. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.​
• London, P. (1989). No more secondhand art: Awakening the artist within. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc.​​
• Malchiodi, C. (1998). The art therapy sourcebook. Illinois: Lowell House.
• Naumberg, M. (1987). Dynamically oriented art therapy. New York: Magnolia Street Publication.

​The first time I picked up a video camera I was ten years old, directing a film called Step-by-Step Mummification for a class project. These were the days before youtube and I had an enormous over-the-shoulder VHS camera. In an effort to explain mummification, my friend and I wrapped my brother in toilet paper and I removed his "internal organs" that I had sculpted out of clay.  ​

I didn't know it yet, but that was the first day of my journey towards becoming an Art Therapist. 

My friends and I would get together to create hilarious, embarrassing, and completely cathartic cinematic expressions, working through the intense strangeness that was adolescence.  We made videos making fun of our parents, impersonating celebrities, and just being totally zany kids.  

​We tried out different personas on screen and different roles in the production process.  Looking back, these videos are a beautiful snapshot into the formative years of our individual identities, even if they make us cringe a bit to re-watch as adults.
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The beginnings of my identity began with a passion for images and a hunger for storytelling.  I loved being behind the camera, setting up aesthetically beautiful shots, and using imagery to say something unique.  I worked very hard to get into film school and began to create images with others. I wanted to be a documentary cinematographer, traveling the world telling visual stories.

Film school helped me develop these artistic skills, but more importantly, I discovered my real passion was in helping others tell their stories.  

I ended up working on an independent documentary film after graduation that allowed me to work with Holocaust survivors -- people who had experienced some of the worst trauma imaginable.  I learned the value of personal storytelling, and the healing potential of creative imagery.  This is the foundation of Art Therapy. 

Filmmaking, my first love, ultimately led me to what I consider my life's calling, Art Therapy. Documentary filmmaking and Art Therapy have in common the idea of collaborative visual communication. I went to graduate school for Art Therapy to learn to use this powerful creative medicine to help others communicate their deep personal images and transform ​their lives.

In a nutshell, Art Therapy supports self- and interpersonal awareness, trauma processing, and identity formation through client art-making and personal storytelling in session with an Art Therapist.  No art experience necessary.  

I have worked with elders at end-of-life, grieving families, anxiety across the lifespan, adults with childhood trauma histories, distant couples, teens developing self-esteem, and children with attachment challenges.  Just like the strange and expressive films of my childhood, I work with others to express themselves visually and verbally, working through emotional challenges, and strengthening personal identity.

Call or Email me to schedule a free consultation to see if we would be a good fit!