Art Therapy - Creativity - AMAZING!!

I met a really interesting lady on the weekend. I was attending a Beta Sigma Phi convention where I had a display for Stampin' UP! at.... I struck up a conversation with one of the BSP ladies and she told me a little about herself and her profession... although she is retired now. Jan is an Art Therapist and Psycologist... this really intrigued me..What a cool profession.... She told me of an interesting "gimmick" (as she called it) that she would get people to do to discover some things about them. I so wanted to have a go at this.. it really excited me!!!! So Jan gave me the instructions of what I was to do.... And left me too it while she attended the next guest speakers presentation for the day... I was to get a piece of paper and on one side draw a single tree, then on the other side draw 2 or more trees.

Now whilst drawing the trees I was not thinking of anything other than drawing them... and how I could make them different... or how I could fill the page out better.. What more could I add to the page to make it look more like a complete picture? etc...

When Jan came back she looked at the pictures... Taking the single tree first... She said I payed a lot of attention to detail. That I was nurturing because of the grass around the base of the tree. That the trunk of the tree was solid so I am a solid person which is good... Then she held her fingers up the way my mother would do if she were drawing something to get the proportions right.... and what she said next just BLEW me away!!!! She said "now when you were about 13 or 14 something happened in your life that made a very big impact... It has really affected your life" I started to tear up!!! My mother was diagonosed with a Brain Tumor when I was 14... And yes indeed it has impacted my life in oh so many ways!!! For good and for bad... She also looked a little flower that I had drawn off to the right of the tree. "now this flower... It has 4 ... 5 petals ... 4 are well formed and one is kind of scribbled out.... I have a feeling that this flower relates to your own family or to a family that is very close to you" Again you could have blown me over with a little puff of wind.... There is 4 people in our family and I had always thought that we would have another child... but as my husband had Chemotherapy and as time progresses I am sure this child will not come into our family.... there were many more things she told me about my picture and more yet again when she went to the picture of the 2 or more trees that I drew... I could not believe how spot on she was... it was kind of eerie at first... then a little exciting... then totally amazing... How one could get some much from a simple drawing of a tree... Jan told me that if you were to draw the same picture every other day it would say different things about you every time....

Jan also told me that my "art was an escape from reality".... And it is.. It has been my saving grace especially throughout the last 5 years with my Husbands illness... And that my "art is a kind of obsession"... Do you think a 6x9 Art studio indicates that??? hehehe.... Plus the fact that I love to learn new things and try out all kinds of mediums, projects, costumes, etc etc... and have a large collection of materials to do all of these different projects with???

What a blessing it is to have art and craft in our lives... In its various forms!!! What a blessing it is to have hands, minds and imagination that God created; that can then form, mold and create!!!! How amazing is it to see others talents and creativity? I am always in awe of others creations... And no matter how Amazing my projects are to others I am always so much more impressed with others creativity... How Individual people are. How a little of their own personality comes out in each creation. How they develop skill, talent and passion. We all should be in awe of our own abilities and know that it is ok to stand back every now and then and appreciate our work... for when God created the Earth he stod back and "saw that it was good". We are created in his image.. We are a large part of Gods creation. Each one of us are an individual thread in this tapestry of life. What a blessing it is to take hold and make it a more beautiful world... one creation at a time...

What an amazing experience this was for me... To spend a few moments drawing a picture or two and to have Jan use her talents and skills to extract such personal things out of it. A simple gift to her that she has obviously developed over many years... But what an amazing tool art is...

I encourage everyone to be CREATIVE.... release all the inner emotions and feelings... Release the creative genius that is waiting to explore.... Experience Art in any form you can get your hands on!!! Develop skills and talents.. Grow and learn... It is DIVINE... We are Divine creations in the hands of the Lord....