Creative Arts & Crafts
Art therapy is ...
a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well-being of any individuals of all ages.
[ definition created by C. Malchiodi, 2006, for AATA. Inc. ]
What is an artist ... ?
I believe every one of us is an artist and we all possess the ability to create art.
It is in built from birth, inherent in all children. Like Pablo Picasso said “The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. Creativity wills itself to be expressed and will express if left to do so unhindered.
Everyone feels the need to create in their own way and no one has the right to encroach on other people’s creative integrity, method or means of creation.
Art is unique, it is never the same despite the insistence of the world to place art in boxes with labels.
The street sweeper can be an artist. The barista can be an artist. The plumber, the architect, the florist, the mechanic and the accountant, they all can be artists.
Everyone has the opportunity to create art in their chosen profession, but not many choose it. For us who can see art in all things and people, their artistic ability is obvious, even if they can’t see it themselves.
It is there, waiting to be allowed expression. Allowing that energy expression is a challenge because the world tells us we need to be productive and efficient, to contribute and to earn.
Our challenge therefore is to follow the sound of the small voice. To allow it to lead us in the direction of what we inherently know is right.Some of us know it and express it, some of us know it and don’t express it, many others don’t yet know it. Maybe this lifetime is not for them to know it, but eventually everyone will know it and express it freely. That is the ultimate will of the soul.