If you are local to Walla Walla, you might have seen the story in Lifestyles of the UB this Sunday titled "The Healing Arts." The cancer center oncology social worker, Barbara Bates, started the "Creative Expressions" class that is co-facilitated by Margaret Jamison and loosely based on the ideas of Stewart Cubley and "process painting." I was fortunate enough to participate in the class in June and July, which amazingly coordinated with the time of my biopsy and diagnosis. It was really wonderful to have the support of other cancer survivors as I got the news and diagnosis. Many had experienced relapse and much more difficult treatments than the one that I am expecting. We all joked and smiled and cried together in the meetings.
Art therapy has proven to be a very effective means to get at underlying emotions for all ages and appears especially useful for children and traumas. From teaching skiing to psycho therapy, I tend to believe what works with children will work with adults, if presented in an age appropriate way. Child therapy methods have a way of working without the need to do a lot of discussion and explaining, and as adults the cognitive and linguistic processing is where many of our defenses start to come up and get in the way of healing and healthy ways of coping and experiencing emotion.
Where process painting diverges from art therapy is in interpretation. Psychology can get preoccupied with testing, organizing, and defining, especially now with the drive towards "evidenced based practice" and the push from insurance towards the medical model. Often art therapy is used as a diagnostic tool and for that it must be interpreted. Even if not used in that mode, it is often a starting platform, and a very useful one for discussion on the possible meanings of the images. Having an external object somehow helps us to see what is going on emotionally inside.
Process painting specifically does not involve interpretation, it doesn't not focus on the finished product at all. Rather it works to remove any judgement or criticism creating safe environment for free expression. In our support group we wouldn't talk about the painting, whether it was good or bad, or what the images meant, rather we would talk about the experience, what it felt like to paint with those strokes, or how were you feeling when you painted with those colors. Like the name implies, focuses on the process not on the product.
It actually is a difficult thing, as the inner critic seems to constantly pop up saying "I don't like the way that looks...those colors didn't mix well...that doesn't look like a...that looks sloppy...crooked...whatever." With practice there seems to come a moment when one gets immersed in the moment, all of that fades away and the painter meets the canvas at a deeper level. It is not something one can "try to do" in the typical way, the fact that one is cognitively trying seems to get in the way. Rather one has to set up as safe comfortable environment and allow it to happen. What shows up on the paper is different as well as the quality of experience.
The current background of the tree and mountain is one of the first paintings I did. Margaret is a professional artist and teacher that did teach us some things about mixing colors and using brushes, to get the juices flowing and give us some confidence with the medium. She is very careful and purposeful to not introduce any "rules" of art or anything that would imply judgement. She comments that she often finds her art training at odds with her process painting. She does have a couple of voluntary tasks to get people into painting initially, and the tree and mountain is one of those based upon a Maori tradition of assessing life direction. I completed 6 paintings in the 5 weeks of the 6 week course that I was in, and will be changing them as background images here occasionally.
If you are interested, process painting is something you can do just about anywhere. It isn't too expensive, as you can pick up some art paper, a basic set of poster paints and a brush or two for under $20 . Maybe even under $10 if you are creatively frugal. If you wanted you could do it with crayons, colored pencils, and regular paper, though I find having more room on a bigger sheet feels less confining. You could even buy some sidewalk chalk at the dollar store and do it in your driveway if that felt right. The only rule is don't judge it, just let it be, let it come out with whatever force and feeling it wants. It may feel like it has a story and that is ok, it may not, you may have no explanation for it, and that is ok too. It is deceptively simple, and not necessarily easy, but you are worth it.
That's very interesting. Worth trying. Sally
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