Art and Healing

I posted the bottom piece a while back, but it was not finished. It had been sitting around in my studio, and then would resurface in my back room from time to time. I never got the inspiration to complete it. Same with the little black box I started as a gift for Larry. (hard to photograph it and flash blows it out. I need a better lighting system, but for now this will have to do) Perhaps part of the reason for my not completing them was that I was entering dangerous territory.

The local art society is having a show titled Black and White. As I was cleaning my studio I thought hmmmm...these pieces will work. I still needed a piece here and there to finish them, but amazingly the pieces made themselves present, and they both came together.

I have also been dealing with some pretty heavy issues in therapy. I want and need to be DONE with all of the pain, anger, and hurt from my past. I am willing to do the work and even though I know it will be difficult.

For ME, part of the healing process involves art, and those who are creative often have an advantage as they have an outlet for their angst. I certainly feel that art is a cathartic for me and am grateful for having it in my life.

Of course, I keep telling myself, no one will get it, but they do draw one in and make them interact with the pieces on their own level. Much of my work is narrative, at least my collage work. I do go to the dark side, but without the dark, one cannot appreciate the light.

I will be partaking in EMDR which I have heard is amazing in helping one process traumas. In the meantime, I keep making art which enables me to face my past and process it in a way that is both safe and gratifying.

Patti