Creative Arts Therapy 1 Discussion

Creative Arts therapy 1 discussion of the creative process in your life

The creative process from my point-of-view is part of a larger and extremely important spiritual awareness. The creation of art and artworks therefore has an underlying spiritual basis and this is linked to the structure and meaning of cultural and social knowledge. The creative process is also a rejuvenating and energizing process. It has the potential to heal and can alter patterns of behavior through new perceptions and create innovative changes in one's personal life. As many artists have stated, there should ideally not be a separation between ordinary daily life and art. It is this conjunction and intersection between life and art that I find to be such an important part of the creative process.

In essence art and the creative process is involved with the transcendence of the mundane and everyday material world in which we live. As I will discuss, this relates to the idea of spontaneity and innovation in creativity and to the way that art and life can be seen to be integrated.

As William Wordsworth states in his poem Tintern Abbey, art and the creative process is seen as means of experiencing "sublime moods." Through his creative appreciation of nature, Wordsworth is lifted out of the ordinary and everyday through the creative perception of the world around him. In the poem he encounters, sense sublime

Of something far more deeply interfused,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,

And the round ocean and the living air,

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;

motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought,

And rolls through all things.

Wordsworth W. Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey... Lines 95-102)

As the above lines suggest, art means a creative process of going beyond the basics of the material world and transcending the restrictions of time and space to enter into a greater and more profound understanding of what life is. The creative process is therefore about understanding the meaning of life and not just accepting what other say and how the world is represented to us. The artistic process in this context is therefore firstly an experience of spontaneity and a natural, unrestricted response to life and living. In this sense it is also a healing process.

Spontaneity and the ability to react without obstruction is a central and important method in the creative process. As Nachmanovitch states in Free Play (1990), spontaneous action is "...where art comes from." (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.5)

Improvisation for the author is a form of "...spiritual connectedness." (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.6) I identify with the fact that art is experience that denies the boundaries of form and discipline and breaks "....the artificial boundary between art and life..." (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.6) in essence Nachmanovitch describes improvising as a " unitative experience" that is at the heart to creative mysticism.

Furthermore, "....The heart of improvisation is free play of consciousness as it draws, writes, paints and plays the raw material emerging from the unconscious. " (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.9)

In other words the creative process, as I envisage it, is not a formalized or strict set of rules that one has to follow. Rather it is an alertness to the world and to one's feelings. This alertness is a form of seeing and sensing that enlarges and expands our consciousness and awareness of reality and allows us to see and understand, in a deeper way, the interconnectedness of things, as Wordsworth states in Tintern Abbey.

A relate to the above sentiments in my own art, which is concerned with healing crystal pendants. These creations are also spontaneous improvisations in that they are derived from the use of pure colored forms which are not able to be "controlled "or pre-determined in a logical way. These elements are transposed to highly textured mixed media panels. The interest that I have in these artworks is that they are points of transcendence and move one towards an enlightened state of mind in that which is beyond the normal conception of time and space. Working with these art forms it becomes obvious that the true creative process is unrestricted and spontaneous innovation, and, like all creativity, has a spiritual basis and aim.

Essential to the artistic and creative process is the inculcation of the ability to perceive reality beyond the mundane world of opposites. This acts within the dimension of mystical transcendence and also produces amazing recuperative and healing potential. There are many instances of art acting as a means of enabling people back to health. This healing aspect of creativity is, I believe, due to the fact that we are liberated from the restrictions of the world in the process of creativity and because artworks are in a sense the residue of the experience of spiritual and expanded consciousness.

There are numerous clinical studies which show the effective of art therapy. For example, a number or art therapists have studied the affect of art therapy on people who have experienced loss. "Art therapists consistently observe the power and potential of art to help identify, cope with, and heal the pain experienced during the grief process..." (Hill, M.A.)

However, the healing process in creativity can best be explained by the deeper meaning of spontaneity.

Nachmanovitch asks the important question: "How does one learn improvisation?" The answer to this question is similar to the Zen idea of "not-doing." In other words, spontaneity and improvisation are natural occurrences once obstructions, fears and blockages are removed. One cannot do "something" to become spontaneous; rather one simply has to "be" without any false and illusionary restrictions. In Eastern thinking, such as Zen Buddhism, we therefore find that the great things can be achieved through non-action or by not allowing anything to obstruct the natural self from expressing itself.

The above relates to healing and health as most ailments, both physical and psychological, are a result of "blockages" in the creative human being. The practice of crafts and art can therefore help to remove these obstructions and blockages and return us to normal good health.

As Nachmanovitch states; "Spontaneous creation comes from our deepest being and is immaculately and originally ourselves." (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.10)

In creative artworks there are also vibrational energies which emanate from the color and the materials used, which awaken us to what is beyond the physical world. This relates to the crystal pendants with which I work and their healing qualities.

Creativity and art as a healing process also teaches us that the idea of the self is not limited by the common perception of a subjective ego or " I"; but that it relates to a more expansive and profound self that is directly linked to spiritual conceptions. I have also experienced the healing way of creativity in my own life and work.