Interesting Art Topics

How to express emotion through Art

Time and time again we hear about the importance of expressing our emotions,and it’s true. Did you ever think you could do this through art? We all have our talents and expressing emotion verbally is not always mine. I enjoy expressing my emotions on canvas.

I use to work at a nursing home as an activities director and I was incharge of the alzheimer's and cognitive impaired unit. I do believe I learned more from them them they learned from me. I watch them as they had difficulty communicating verbally. They had to learn other ways to express their discomfort. Many people had to watch facial expressions and others tried hard to verbally communicate with them, which in return brought more frustration to the patient.

It was my job to think outside the box and find a way they can express themselves without having adjutation. This was not an easy task but, I manage to do it through art. I notice they would use certain colors when they were upset and needed more attention. When they were upset they often would choose colors like black, brown, and grey. When they were happy they would pick bright colors like yellow, pink and bright green.. Artist Paul Strisik wrote: "…a painting of a simple motif, deeply felt and properly expressed, can bring tears to your eyes."

Keith Bond wrote 6 steps To recap: when you are inspired by a scene or subject:

1. Figure out what it is that excites you.

2. Then develop a composition which helps express that emotion.

3. Make informed choices. Use color and techniques which also emphasize, not distract from, your inspiration.

4. But, be daring. Let yourself go. Experiment. Rely on intuition. Allow those accidents to happen.

5. Be wise enough to keep the accidents when they express what you want.

6. Be wise enough to take them out if they conflict with your expression.

There will then be a great marriage between the technical and the emotional within your art.

I believe through my experience of creating art that these things are true. We must be able to go with our creative process without dought. We need to have more confidence with our abilities and enjoy the process that our emotions are guiding us to express. We truly are complexed individual with many emotions and we all need to have a release outlet.

Take children for an example they visually articulate emotions and fears that they cannot express through traditional methods. By using art children gain feelings of control over the situations they are facing. They can also reflect on their artwork and perhaps realize the extent of their emotions and the triggers for such feelings.

- See more at: http://www.emotional-intelligence-education.com/emotion-and-art.htm....

Life gives us so many outlet for us to use. I found that mine is an creative outlet. I encourage you to find your outlet. try to express your emotions on paper and make it into something beautiful. Share what you come up with here. We are all here to grow and create. I would love to help you through your process anyway I can. If you have any question please feel free to ask..

Lorrie Jonas

here is some example of how I put my emotion into my art.

My favorite place I use to go to when I needed to make difficult choices.

Painted this for a friend of mine. I truly thought of her character and how wonderful she was and this is what I came up with

I was thinking of things in my pass and working through it and painted this.. It represents not looking back to the past .. No matter what you do always look to the future and be better.

If remembering was a color, what color would it be?

As people age, their eyes also undergo changes. The lens and cornea begin to yellow and darken, and the pupils shrink in size. The aging eye also changes to have a high degree of light scatter as cataracts form, and the field of vision becomes limited. For this reason the colors that are chosen for the elderly should remove any yellowing and brightness since the eyes of a 60-year-old can only filter a third of someone age 20.

Using bright colors when designing for the elderly will help with acuity loss. While older people may like pastels, the colors may not be bright enough for elderly eyes. Softer shades of red or orange will help improve energy levels and circulation. Peach color, warm tans and apricot, terra cota and pink work well with elderly eyes. Studies done in nursing homes show that soft pinky-beiges contrasted with soft blue/greens were peaceful and emotionally supporting.

During the years of employment with the elderly I notice that They responded better with solid colors than patterns. I remember walking this one lady to the dining room. She always watch the floor and the patterns to recognize were she was and were she was going. Every time there was a change in the floors pattern She would have stop. It would be difficult for her to move forward. It would take a lot of effort and encouragement for her to continue her journey to the dining room. The same thing happens with children with cognitive disabilities. Take walking down steps for instance. This can be very difficult for a child with cognitive disabilities because of all the functions involved, adding a patterns to the stairs is just one more added challenge. Through my experiences if all the stairs are the same color, patterns and same size it is easier for the child to accomplish his or her goal. One color patterns start changing and step sizes. The child will become anxious and not complete his or her goal..

Lets take a patient who is suffering from Alzheimer for an example. The changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer's Disease can also cause changes in how the affected person sees things. Although an ophthalmologist may not be able to detect any actual changes in the eyes, the ability of the brain with Alzheimer's to interpret what it sees can be reduced. The inability to "see" clearly can make coping with the disease even more difficult, both the the affected person and for caregivers. Color perception also seems to be affected. Although most of us do lose some ability to discern subtle contrast between colors as our eyes age, people with Alzheimer's Disease seem to experience a greater loss. They appear to have the greatest difficulty differentiating colors in the blue-violet spectrum. Red appears to be the easiest color for people with Alzheimer's Disease to perceive.

So back to my question above. If remembering was a color what color would it be? For me personally it would be, a simple color that I would see in my daily life. For me I think it would be white. So many wonderful personal memories have evolved around that color. So much happiness has been generated in my life around the color white. I am sure we all have one color that will impact us till the end of our time? what color is yours?

My wedding a wonderful white memories

Every year I dressed up as a white bunny and spread joy to the elderly

my 8th grade graduation was in white

Every child of mine was blessed and baptized in white..

This is just a few examples of why I choose the color white..

How can color effect Your mood?

Do you feel anxious in a yellow room? Does the color blue make you feel calm and relaxed? Artists and interior designers have long understood how color can dramatically affect moods, feelings, and emotions. It is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal action, influence mood, and cause physiological reactions. Certain colors have been associated with increased blood pressure, increased metabolism, and eyestrain.

There are several reasons why colors are able to influence how we feel. "We react on multiple levels of association with How can color effect Your mood? colors -- there are social or culture levels as well as personal relationships with particular colors," explains Leslie Harrington, executive director of The Color Association of The United States, which forecasts color trends. "You also have an innate reaction to color. For example, when you look at red, it does increase your heart rate. It is a stimulating color. This goes back to caveman days of fire and danger and alarm."

Colors can affect your mood - listed are some examples of the feelings they may evoke.

Black:

This is a powerful, mysterious color and is associated with seriousness. Also associated with sex, death and mystery. Black may make you feel depressed, or on the other hand, may make you feel secure - "hiding in the darkness."

Blue:

A relaxing color. Blue lowers blood pressure, calms, gives a sense of security, and suppresses appetite.

Brown:

This is an organic, earthy color. It can make you feel cozy.

Green:

This is the easiest color for the eyes to focus on for long periods of time. It soothes pain and is associated with optimism.

May make one feel happy, clean, fresh.

Orange:

This color is friendly, relaxing and ambitious.

Pink:

This is a youthful, feminine color. Pink is also a soft, sensitive color. This is basically a "happy" color.

Purple:

This color is often associated with royalty. It is also a contemporary color. Purple has a list of associated feelings, from

feeling mournful to creative.

Red:

This color raises the blood pressure, stimulates appetite and conversation and is often associated with excitement, action, impulse.

White:

White is often associated with purity, cleanliness. Also associated with nothingness, and in some cultures death and/or mourning. Can make one feel clean/sterile.

Yellow:

This color is an eye irritant and a highly emotional color. After long periods of time, yellow invokes feelings of anger and hostility. However, yellow, in small doses, is a friendly, happy color.

The world seems to be slowly accepting the idea that colors can affect our bodies and our moods. Yet, it is often found that when someone is told how a certain color affects them they are able to counteract such feelings by a sheer will to disbelieve. Try to make note in your life how color do affect your moods and your physical condition. Do you have a favorite shirt have a certain affect on you because of its color? Do you wear that shirt because of its effect on your emotions? Do not force yourself to accept the conditions given above, yet notice when such conditions do apply in your life.When I worked as an actives director I use to walk the halls with a big yellow sun on my head . Everyone would just brightened up every time I was around..

The colors we choose to surround ourselves affect us more than we think. As a society, we associate colors with so many different things – they have meanings beyond simple visual stimulation. Some studies even suggest that we feel colors more than we see them.

You probably know that interior designers use color to create different moods in different rooms – to inspire, energize, or calm. Why not apply that concept to you.

Look at the color list above and think about why you like to wear certain colors. How it will impact people around you. Why we ware certain colors to certain events. Channel some of the power of color into your outfits and see what happy color choices we make in our daily life can truly effect everyone around us. How do you want to impact those who come in contact to you? Color choices will help how people will interact with you on a personal and professional level.

Color Therapy

What Is Color Therapy?

Color therapy, also known as chromotherapy, is often facilitated in the healing rooms of alternative health practitioners. Color therapy is classified as a vibrational healing modality. Vibrational medicineincorporates the use of chi energies within living organisms such as plants, gemstones and crystals, water, sunlight, and sound. Two year back I went to Sedona Utah on a family trip. I felt like I was on a different planet. Things in Sedona seem to operate on a spiritual level. It was not the regular spiritual presence. There is such a wide variety of cultural beliefs. I was able to see,feel and experience other beliefs every place I went. Life was definitely different there. My mother inlaw is a chakra Therapist. I decided to go visit her office and got a wild new perspective of color. I was able to get a 3-minute chakra test. This was something I never experienced before. It was all new.

There are Chakras of energy ecosystem of your body. Each corresponds to a different aspect of your life such as wealth, love, health and creativity. I do have to say I enter her office with a closed mind. I often do when it comes to things that are foreign to me. especially, If it is belief driven. Since it had to do with inner colors and I am an artist. I do have to say I was a bit curious. I was able to get an aura ultrasound. It was beautiful. I had lots of white, royal blues, and purples running through my whole body. I said to myself "if I could paint what I am seeing it would be a very beautiful picture". I was able to see colors around me that I had never seen before. I was excited that I was able to have such an experience.

They continued to talk to me about how the lack of color in your life can cause depression. I was not surprised at this new found information. Of Course, I asked so many question. This is what I learned on that topic.

How we "feel" about color is more than psychological. The last decade has proven that lack of color, or more specifically, light, causes millions to suffer each winter from a mild depression known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Because of the complex way in which exposure to various colors acts via the brain upon the autonomic nervous system, exposure to a specific color can even alter physiological measurements such as blood pressure, electrical skin resistance and glandular functions in your body. And they most certainly can affect how you feel on a day-to-day basis. Learning about color's qualities and putting it to use can enhance your spirit, improve your health, and quite ultimately, expand your consciousness.

Talk about a mouthful. My mind was going in so many direction I couldn't stop thinking all night. I just love learning new information about color.

So my questions to you is,

How does color affect you?

In what ways do you think about color?

Is color just different hues and pigments or is it something so much more?