A Journey of Visual Healing

Art is an extraordinarily powerful medium for personal development and emotional/physical healing. I have found some of the deepest healing has been connected to the visual sense, whether it be through creative visualisation or through sitting with a piece of art whose colour and energy triggers an emotional shift in my spirit.

I have no doubt we are vibrational and as such we should be able to find the healing we need through participating in anyact that causes an emotional/vibrational shift.

I am reminded of something I read once about viewing humanity from a meditative state as though looking past form and into the microcosm, that even on a scientific level we would be witnessing a swirling world of intense light and fantastic rainbow colours.

Basically if we are looking at art and receiving an emotional response, we can say it is affecting us. This affect is a kind of power and if we can be moved by art in a powerful and positive way then it stands to reason that seeking art for the prime purpose of healing is a valid (and safe) method of self-medication.

As I create artworks I am privy to a story that was designed to touch me and direct me purposefully. If I relax my judgment on the marks I am making, soften my body and clear the mind, I become witness to a new world, complete with solutions to any problem I feel I may have. This is most definitely healing for me, it is bringing the hidden into the light, removing the fear of the unknown and the blockages that impede the natural flow of energy and electricity through my body.

art making

painting flowers

It proves to me that meditation is not just about sitting still but to be found in all activities that bring us into the present.

Becoming more deliberate in my intention to heal myself and to then offer that healing opportunity to others has opened up vibrant and effective doors of change.

As an artist and a deep seeker I have definitely felt shifts and changes in my perception of the world and in my psychological state through simply making colourful marks. I have gone from a blubbering mess on the floor to standing tall with the confidence to take a previously feared step, all within the time it took to create one painting.

I have made the decision to end toxic relationships and be alone with the help of art, I have found my fascination with life as a moment-by-moment experience through realising every mark I make is new and unrepeatable. The power of colour and art to heal is becoming more and more apparent.

Originally painting was difficult and I felt I had to push it out of me, I suppose it was breaking through old programming and rigid ideas of what I thought art should look like or how an artist should be. I believe it emanated from a place of low self-worth, confusion and disconnection.

It is important to me that I share with others my journey, in particular young people. They need to have the option of using art as an outlet for energy and as a way to reconnect with their passionate and creative self.

Children are such beautiful examples of who we can be artistically, watch the way they approach their mark making, when allowed to be free, they address their expression with natural focus, bliss and excitement for life.

As I paint these days, I am intentionally contemplating my emotions, at the same time I am allowing the child in me to splash around in a lake of colour. I am observing my feelings around particular experiences in my life and as I do so the feelings are expressed in movement and form. Not only does this aid in processing the situation to bring healing and transformation for me, it provides the energy for others to view and trigger their own healing. I am being exploded into a new realm of visual healing daily and of late it has become on some levels quite extreme.

I have had conversations with private art collectors who are also clients of mine. Within these conversations I have been privileged to an understanding of just HOW intense healing through simply viewing art can be.

One lady experienced a clearing of her breath whilst viewing a painting, she said ‘ I am experiencing a miscarriage at the moment and seeing these fresh colours is helping me breathe properly again.’

Another woman has been undergoing a reawakening of her senses and said particular shapes and colours have been stimulating a sexual response in her body.

Thirdly an art therapy student wrote to me to say that she needs to have certain paintings around her whilst she studies in order to absorb their energy of healing.

We are a cauldron of chemistry and each thought triggers emotion which is itself the result of chemical reactions popping and bursting within us. This thought/emotion chemistry is the way the system creates neural programming within our brain. The more often we have a certain feeling the deeper the intricate neural web becomes around it. If certain art causes a positive feeling response in your body/brain then it is helping to achieve change!

There is a reason we have certain preferences, why we choose the colours we do for clothing and to decorate our home, there is profound and beautiful relationship to be had with our inner world and to the colourful world around us.

The discovery of personal wellbeing through art is a mysterious and fulfilling journey, a journey we are already on whether we know it or not