This weekend I had the privilege of viewing the artwork of an up and coming artist. Her work is displayed at the Art Matters gallery of Art Works Now. Asha has spent the last year exploring painting and collage. Honestly, I would be interested in most artists' work after they spent a year exploring art and color, but the experience that Asha brings to her art makes this show a treasure. Asha lives with a rare seizure disorder. Through a life-long love of art she has found a means of processing some of the effects of the disorder. In her words, “Art makes me not think about the pain that I go through.” The paintings displayed in "A Year of Color" at Art Matters, are how Asha has helped her own process of healing, how she has stretched herself and how she has grown, as an artist and as an individual. Working on her own and with Art Works Now, Asha has developed her own process of healing art. She has taken herself on a journey where the work is almost eerily similar to the work produced at the Art&Soul workshops and by others using the art4healing® method. This was both thought provoking and delightful to me as I viewed the show. In the article, "Art Enhances Brain Function", Renée Phillips states that "There is an increasing amount of scientific evidence that proves art has an impact on brain wave patterns and emotions, the nervous system, and can actually raise serotonin levels. Art can change a person’s outlook and the way they experience the world." Art can play a major role in our lives and our healing. It has for Asha, and it can for you. Asha's show is at Art Works Now until March 15. |
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"I feel like I'm on a mini vacation." Sometimes painting and dealing with emotions is work, and sometimes it's just plain fun! While we dealt with a couple of hard questions, this workshop tended to the fun side. We worked hard and while working we all enjoyed the color and the chance for expression. The artwork was predominantly playful, lyrical and even narrative. Looking over the finished pieces reminded me of Wassily Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Paul Klee, even the frenetic energy of De Kooning's action paintings. Then there were the bold shapes of Franz Kline but with so much color added! What a wonderful use of a cold February day.
Take a few minutes to look at the photos of the paintings. I hope you find a little of the enjoyment I had watching these paintings come to life. It was a very good experience to watch the freedom that was expressed in many of these paintings. |
AuthorAnne Whitfield R. Edgin Archives
October 2017
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