Get creative and colour your life

Cape Argus – Get creative and colour your life

Get creative and colour your life

Art therapist Andrea Brand says being creative gives people a sense of their inner world – which is the first part of transformation

June 14, 2006

By Jeanne Viall

How you respond with your crayons or paints to a large piece of white paper may tell you a whole lot about what’s going on in your life.

And we’re not talking only about the images that emerge, but also the thoughts and process you go through as you create.

Creative therapist Andrea Brand works with people to bring movement to the places we get stuck in, whether they be habitual thoughts or actions.

She works in the corporate sector, with groups and teams, and one-on-one with adults and children.

For many people it’s daunting to “do art”, but it’s the process that’s significant here, not the outcome.

Brand’s Colour Studio in Rondebosch is a place that invites you to play. “My passion is colour,” she says. “I use colour as a form of energy to get the creative juices flowing.”

Colour works at an emotional level, she explains. You feel differently when you work with blues instead of reds, for example.

In front of me is a huge piece of white paper, some crayons and some paints. I’m invited to express myself and to observe as I do what thoughts come up, what judgments and where I get stuck.

People mistakenly think that in art therapy the therapist “analyses” your imagery. That’s not how Brand works. Rather, she’s on hand to help me when I get stuck, and is a guide in my process.

“Often what you do relates to life directly,” says Brand. “For example a person may be afraid of making a mess, so they can’t get started. Or because it’s the unknown, and they’re afraid something won’t work, they don’t do it.”

Our own judgments about ourselves are often fiercer than any other – we all carry our inner judges with us, especially around our creativity. In this process you meet them and can transform them so that they don’t stop you from creating what you want in your life.

“Here a person can take a risk without judgment. We try to relate the creative process to real life. This is another side of us we don’t give space to in our lives.”

It’s sometimes surprising what comes through when you give yourself over to the process – and we’re not talking here about good and bad, right or wrong. Continued here…

Art as therapy and road to the unconscious

Naples Sun Times – Art as therapy and road to the unconscious

Art as therapy and road to the unconscious

By Silvia Casabianca 07/05/2006

How would you feel if your therapist or counselor, instead of asking you about your concerns, your emotions or your dreams, brought out art materials and asked you to put your feelings on the paper? If you haven’t tried it before, you’d probably feel skeptical, right?

And if you are unsure about your painting skills, you’d probably also be reluctant to accept the challenge. But the creative process implicit in the art making has been proven to promote self awareness and change. Your creations can give an art therapist clues about the dynamics of your psyche, and the art-making will provide relief when you’re going through stressful situations.

In 1986, I started a project with adolescents in Colombia, in the hope that I could provide some kids with the experience of a supportive environment. Like everybody else, I had gone through the doldrums when I was a teenager, and thought that I could prevent others from going through the same thing. In many cases, when it came to emotions, these kids found it easier to express themselves through art than with words. The project with youth got increasingly interesting, and in 1988, led me to look for a change of career to serve them better.

One day, while I was looking through the shelves of one of my favorite bookstores in Bogotá, a book fell to the floor. It was Edith Kramer’s book The Use of Art as Therapy. I bought the book and sank into it during the weekend. By Monday, I had decided that I wanted to become an Art Therapist, and I did. I got a master’s degree at Concordia University in Montreal. Back in my country, I created a not-for-profit organization to continue working with youth, and found art therapy very useful to help them in their process of self-discovery. I also opened a studio and started a private practice.

Clients would come to my place for art therapy sessions and work with a variety of media, mostly acrylic paint, pastels, oils and crayons. I had learned that different art materials elicited different responses and offered these materials according to the needs of the client.

Continued here….