Making art changes your brain. Changing your brain changes your life.
Painting, like meditation, can relax your mind. When your mind rests, new ideas and insights arise, and you become more aware of your inner and outer world.
With this awareness, you can cut through the bombardment of imagery we face daily, and truly SEE the world more clearly.
I often tell my students that “we look at the world all of the time, but we don’t really SEE it until we take the time to paint it.”
Everyone is born a creator.
Do you remember spending hours as a child learning and growing through observation, experimentation, and play?
The older you get, have you spent less time playing, watching, or experimenting?
Maybe you have begun to think you know all you need to know to “get the job done”, or that you have figured out what life “is all about”.
This is known as having a fixed mindset. These thoughts might not be true.
Recently I read an article that scientists discovered that it is a fact — that making art actually changes our brain for the better.
In a 10-week study of 28 men and women ages 62–70 it was found that the brains of those who took a hands-on art class showed “significant improvement in psychological resilience” (stress resistance).
Those who participated in art appreciation, with no hands-on creative aspect, showed no improvement.
The hands-on art class group showed evidence of improved “effective interaction” between regions of the brain used to process introspection, self-monitoring, memory, and emotional recognition of others.
According to research, interaction in that area of the brain declines with age. Creating visual art has the potential to reverse this deterioration. (Details can be found at www.plosone.org).
Scientists made these discoveries, but I like to check to see if they are true for you and me. So I’ve created my Hide-N-Seek Watercolor class to test these ideas out.
Would you like to try using art to change your brain?
Would you like something to touch your soul and give you something new to look forward to each day?
Maybe you would like a new spark of energy in your life.
What if you could have fun painting with watercolor while exploring yourself and your world through color, shape, and texture?
Please join me, and others who want to do the same, in one of my playful, Lotus Aqua Art Escapes being held on Oahu this year.
Transform your life and energy in “paradise”, safely surrounded by people of like mind and energy.
You can take the two-day class on one of the following dates this year:
April 18 & 19, 2015
May 23 & 24, 2015
Oct 17 & 18, 2015
Nov 14 & 15, 2015
Together we will paint the flowers and sea life of Hawaii from 10am-4pm each day, with a break for lunch. We will also take a short walk to the Waikiki Aquarium to get to know the flowers along the way and the sea life in our waters.
If you want to take the workshop, please email me at: Patrice@artofaloha.com