Lightbulb Moments
When they happen, they really happen....those light bulb moments, when everything falls into place. I had more than one this week but the big one for me was the realisation of what my art is and why I do it. I saw a post requesting artwork that was about mental health for an exhibition. I had become aware recently that my aim with my art was to make people feel good and I started to explain this in an email when it hit me. In 2010 I qualified as a clinical hypnotherapist, the catalyst for which had been a couple of bouts of depression which took me off work for 3 months. My therapist said at the time that I should do what I 'wanted' rather than what I felt I 'should' and I turned to art. At that stage I didn't pursue it any further. Recently when I reconnected with it and reflected with my own therapist hat on and I could see how incredibly beneficial being creative is in terms of wellbeing. It is such an absorbing thing to do which makes it a form of mindful meditation. Life flows much easier when one practices mindfulness. Any activity which requires such concentration such as yoga or music is a form of meditation and there is infinite information out there now about the benefit of that to one's health not just mentally but physically too. When working as a hypnotherapist with a client who is deeply relaxed, we use a method called the 'safe place'. This is a place where they can go in their imagination and spend time feeling safe, secure and nurtured. It can be real or made up but it is somewhere that lifts the spirit and makes us feel incredible. I also used a method with clients called the 2 minute holiday. This is where you ask them to imagine that they are somewhere they have been before that made them feel amazing. This is nearly always in nature, a beach, a stream, mountain or woodland. Wherever the person feels the most connection. My lightbulb was that I realised that is what my paintings are. They are my safe places and 2 minute holidays. The beaches and sunsets that make one feel good to be alive. So that is what I want to share with the world. That incredible sense of peace and calm that comes with deep relaxation and feeling at ease through my paintings. So my pieces of art are mini meditations or subliminal connections to things that make you feel good. When you walk in to a room and see one of my paintings it should subliminally lift you up. Therapy in a picture I guess and I plan to get many more of them out there to lighten the soul and lift the spirit.
