Brand Ambassadors - Healing Art

Hello Dear Friends!

My super talented Brand Ambassadors have a very special treat for you today - again! :)

April is the Stress Awareness Month and this theme provoked some really touching stories from our Artists - raw and honest both in their artmaking and sharing their personal views.

 I'm truly blessed to be cooperating with these exceptional ladies...

 How can art be a way to deal with various difficult situations in our lives?
Do you ever create when you need healing or having an outlet to your emotions?

How can you use art to unwind, get grounded and reconnect with yourself?

You'll love our Aritsts' beautiful 'gallery' of Art and Soul!

 

* GAYLE *

Stress and anxiety are a part of everyone’s life to a lesser or greater degree. Managing it can be tricky, and many things can help, ranging from how much sleep we have, what we eat, exercise, meditation and the list can go on.

Art, or some form of creative activity, is for me a huge help in managing stress. In particular I love the process of collage.

Sometimes all I need to do is look at my stash of coloured and patterned papers; to pick them up, admire them, sort them and be inspired by them. :)

The actual process of collage making I find to be very relaxing and therapeutic.

Choosing, cutting, arranging, glueing, and smoothing out paper can be quite a meditative process and a definite de-stresser.

Choosing papers with images, colours and patterns that “talk to you”, that you just love, and collaging them into a journal without even having a plan or any kind story in mind can be very relaxing as well as distracting you from anxious or stressful thoughts.

In this collage I have used some of my favourite patterned papers, tissue, paper napkins, gift wrap and Japanese paper.

More pattern has been added with Finnabair's stamps and stencils (some old favourites of mine) using 3D Gel and the new Plaster Paste.

* LOUISE *

Creativity has always been an outlet for me for a variety of reasons, right from when I was very young.

I have very strong childhood memories of badly wanting to be able to draw and paint like my artistic mother, to try gain her favour and love.

Then when I was in school it became a way of me being accepted and liked. As the 'fat kid' in school it was hard to be accepted and recognised for something other than being fat.

Creativity gave me a voice and an identity that wasn't one that brought me shame and pain.

As I got older and started working, I lost touch with my creative self. I became passionate about my career, so much so that I became completely overwhelmed and totally stressed.

A chance invitation by a work colleague to join her and her friends for a scrapbooking day led to me eventually changing my perspective on life and seeking relief from the stress of my work.

One thing lead to another and now I have embraced a life and lifestyle that allows me to embrace my creative passions.

I now invest the same love and passion I had for my career into my art.

My Art is my Voice. My Voice is my Art. I am my Art. My Art is Me.

One final word; my painting features a word which has meaning for me.

Meraki - (v.) to do something with Soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself in your work.

 * RIIKKA *

Creating is my outlet. If I'm really stressed, I just need to put my fingers to paints and I immediately feel better.

Creating is my escape to another world, a balancing act from everyday and all the 'musts' and 'to dos'.

Also if I'm sad or angry, my first go to is talking to my husband but after that, I start a project. If something even comes from it as it's usually just playing with mediums, I never share it. That project is done totally for me. 

For this post we were asked to create something uplifting. The idea of this project came from a couple of things. The first was the "Art Jar" - an online event from sweet Eliza. I've not done the workshop but the idea of an inspiring jar captivated me. It's like a cabinet of curiosities in miniature form!

The other inspiration was the song from Sound of Music about favorite things.

I started thinking that if you are really sad or need uplifting a one time thing might not do the trick. But if you can have an uplifting thought or some reminder that there's a reason to be happy, it might help. Like the little things mentioned in the song.

So I gathered some inspiring quotes from the web and made them into a pdf (feel free to use!) which I then cut to strips and added to an altered Melange Pebble jar.

That way you can grab a little bit of sunshine whenever in need! :)

* KASSA *

The healing role of art is very close to my heart and it's something I only discovered last year when my lovely Leonberger boy Leo passed suddenly and threw my whole world upside down... I felt I couldn't breathe, he'd left a big hole in my heart that I did not know how to fill.

Not long after I had a project to do up over here on Finnabair's blog and I thank my lucky stars for that because it literally forced me to put paint to paper and YES I lost myself and my sadness for a few hours... Once I'd finished my artwork, my soul was smiling, my soul poured onto the page, my hands an extension of my heart...

In this piece I was at the start of a happy day, hence the sunny, happy colors, then unexpectedly someone unintentionally upset me to tears (I'm a sensitive chick). In the past |I would have found a quiet place to lick my wounds, now I carry on making art and throw my emotions onto the page...

You can probably see the clouds covering my rainbow of Impasto paints, the flashes of white splatters where I'm reasoning and balancing things in my head, then there's the black confused dusty blurs and my favourite bold black 'slashes' - that's me getting cross with myself for letting myself down and being too sensitive...

I throw a few splats of neon at it and scribble some crazy Gelato color to keep the black slashes at bay.... I win!

I feel better so I write a few words with a marker pen over the page of my gratitude for this time to heal... to feel better... and I really do love everything about these emotional pages, they speak volumes to me... I trust in my hands that are an extension of my heart to paint... I am so grateful for that!

*   *   *   *

Let's all feel inspired by today's post and - Happy Creating Everybody! :)
Love what you make and use all the wonderful tools and media to express yourselves,

especially when you feel blue or stressed - Art is the way! :)

Finn & The Team