Andrea Bocelli and Alison Krauss - Amazing Grace

“The Importance of Self Expression Through Painting”
 

As most of you know, I love to paint.  I do it because it has always been very therapeutic for me.  It allows me to forget about everything happening in the world around me.  It completely relieves my stress and puts me in what I can only describe as a meditative trance, where time is completely irrelevant.  The benefits of creating art are a widely known fact that has been proven in many studies.  In an article called, “The Healing Power of Art”, published by Harvard Medical School, they tout, “creative activities can relieve stress, aid communication, and help arrest cognitive decline”.  It goes on to discuss other studies that show how “expressing oneself through art can help with depression, anxiety, or cancer, too”.  What’s very important to know, is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a stick-figure sketcher or Van Gough, there is proof that when you make art, your body significantly reduces stress related hormones.  In an article titled, “At Any Skill Level, Making Art Reduces Stress Hormones”, it highlights a study that took participants of all art levels – beginner to experienced, and measured the hormone, cortisol, in their saliva.  The higher the cortisol level in a person, the more stressed they are.  In all participants, cortisol levels were measured before and after the 45-minute artmaking activity.  The results showed 75% of the group had significantly lower cortisol levels after they created something and there was no correlation of lower levels between beginners to those with art experience.  I could go on and on telling you about studies and articles published proving the benefits of creating art, but my point is simple – I want you to know the benefits, so you can put this in your life and experience the benefits that I have.  It can be as simple as having a little sketch book that you doodle in.  Try it and see if you feel better☺

For me, my art has become a diary of my life.  When I look back at what I’ve painted, vivid memories and emotions fill me up and take me back to that moment of my life when I created that piece.  What’s interesting though, is it’s not necessarily the subject that I painted that represents where I was in that moment, but instead it’s what that subject or abstract idea represents.  Aristotle summed this up perfectly, “The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”  Each piece of my art is a raw representation of who I am.  Painting is like writing a song – in both, I pour my heart out onto a piece of paper for the world to see/hear.  The difference is that when I paint, I feel no constraints; it’s complete freedom.  Songwriting on the other hand, must have a structure.  That structure tightens as word choices change to fit the balance of the song.  Creating a full production song is also something I can’t do on my own.  Even if I write the lyrics and melody, I still need to work with musicians and producers to complete it.  I absolutely love this collaborative process of creating with others!  But painting gives me the perfect balance in my life because it’s something I can do by myself, from start to finish.  Any problems that arise while I’m creating, are all mine to solve.  And because I’m not formally trained in painting, like I am in vocal performance, I know no rules and have no constraints – I’m just completely uninhibited.  So, that all being said, I just started an Instagram page devoted to my art. 

Please go to createdby_rae and FOLLOW me (rae is my middle name).