Creative Minds and Coffee Lines

Anna Freud said that " Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training."
So true, so true. It is a relentless blessing/curse for the creatives in this world. But, overcome it we do and find beauty is all things, colors, shapes, and lines. Joy in a sunny day after the grey skies and downpours.
Take a cardboard ring used to protect your hand from the take-out paper cup you carry from the coffee shop. Alter it in some way to make it appear differently. Glue sparkles to it, collage onto it a magazine image, or stamp it with colored inks. Re-use it when you go in for your coffee/ Or better yet give it to the person behind you in line? What an unexpected delight.

The Real Life Returns with an Artfull Shift

Reality smacks me right in the face after a time away from responsibility. Dirty laundry, bills to pay, garbage to take out, pumping gas..all of the normal responsibilities of everyday life that are removed when on vacation. It is as if they didn't exist and you are living just fine and then BOOM, back with a vengeance! For an ARTFULL approach to the reality checks of life, try this. Everytime one of those pesky chores comes up, give it a face-lift by viewing it through a colored lens. Find something amusing or funny to smile about, lighten the load by changing the point of view. I found it helped me get through the re-entry and the entry in my visual journal was the grouch being lost in a pillow fight!

Art and Relaxation: The Real Thing

WELL!! It's about lying around, laughing, and doing absolutely nothing but making art and deciding what to eat or where to look next! It inspires living in the moment , which is what we aspire to but it feels as if it saps the body and mind of intention and drive.This is the scary part. We SAY we want more time to ourselves and relaxation (there are thousands of books, classes, blogspots and instructions on how to achieve this state of being) but in fact we don't know what to DO with the unknown, unstructured time. It takes practice to be a human being and not a human doing. I am practicing and hope you give yourself a break today and try 5 minutes of just that...BEING...not doing.

Oh Oh!!! I have been lost and away from my blog for too too long. so sorry for my negligence. for your art full practice try making a small journal and putting magazine pictures in it. Just tear out wonderful images that resonate for you. I have become an image thief! Wherever I am looking through magazines if I see an image that appeals, I am an irreverent ripper. Take any little book from the dollar store that offers open pages, lined or unlined. Get yourself a glue stick and carry it around with your book. You will find this practice will become a wonderful new way to view the world. Keep grocery lists, to do lists and notes, quotes and other items along with your images. when the book is full start another one.

Art-Full Possiblities: Vibrant Life Design

Welcome to my blog. I am so excited to be up and running! My business of assisting people to live a more vibrant, art-full life is now ready to go live.

I invite you to come with me on this journey. My name is Mary Donald, MA, ATR, BC, LPC. And what does that mean? I am a licensed art therapist and it is my joy to give you, through my art-full suitcase of tools, the means for you to have a more vivacious, vibrant life!