🌻🌻🌻Wild at Art Studio News June 24th ! 🌻🌻🌻

Hi Everyone I have recently been reminded that when people hear the two words Art Therapy, they often think of colouring books, crayons and children!  Since I am often asked about this, I thought I would unpack a little of what Art Therapy is and can be over the next couple of weeks.   One of my wise teachers, Cathy Malchiodi reminds us that Art as Medicine is an age old practice, humans have used the arts for thousands of years as a way to communicate not only experiences of celebration and beauty, but also those of struggle, crisis and trauma. As many of you know, in the right setting, we can use hands on art making to manage stress, build resilience, find growth solutions, develop coping skills and to strengthen a sense of self. This is very pertinent in a high-pressure environment like Hong Kong. We know that people benefit from seeking support from various types of helping professions at different times in their lives. Many of us are used to being the experts of our own problems and generally access this knowledge via our cognitive brain. Expressive art-making can provide a conduit to thoughts, self limiting beliefs and feelings that are buried very deeply and help people to access and work with those in new ways. Nowadays Art Therapy is a fully recognised mental health profession requiring specialised graduate level training. It can now be found widely in Hong Kong, in a number of clinical, private and educational settings, Art Therapists need to be fully accredited and affiliated with the Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists who offer a very clear summary of what Art Therapy is and what it can be : What is Art Therapy ? At Wild at Art Studio my group workshops are designed with a focus on emotional health, well-being and creative self-care.  Some workshops facilitate decompression and mindfulness through art, others help people explore stories and events through art making which can help to reframe challenges, to develop new perspectives and to help people access sensitive topics in a safe moderated situation. So colouring books might offer an opportunity for a therapeutic moment of quiet in a stressful week and this can be the first step to recognizing the benefits of how it feels to enter a flow state, this is your jumping off place to dive a little deeper in finding ways to make and create your own art. I leave you with a beautiful and powerful film that says of all of this so very well: Can Art be Medicine ? Our summer workshops and new courses can be found here :  http://wildatartstudio.blogspot.com/p/wild-at-art-studio-offerings.html Register with me on wildatartweekly@gmail.com Our next Monthly Mandala Meet Up  " Celebrating Summer with a Floral Tribute! " will be on Thursday 6.30-9.00pm  July 11th I look forwards to greeting you very soon at the Wild at Art Door! Artfully Yours from Katie

🌻🌻🌻Wild at Art Studio News! 🌻🌻🌻

Hi Everyone As a practising artist, art teacher and art therapist, this is what I know: "Within all of us is a silent language that reveals the truth of our thoughts, feelings and emotions far more fluently than words". These words coined by the Art Journalers Barbara Ganim and Susan Fox lead us beautifully into the world of Art Journaling which has been a very big part of my own life and artistic practice. An Art Journal can be a wonderful place to build, grow and experiment with that silent language! A place to use art materials with which to play and articulate thoughts as well as daily experiences, without words and without taking the shape of a conventional diary. Your journal can play a key role in enabling thoughts and feelings to be processed, setting up an arena for self dialogue and chatter.  It can grow into a place to source new ideas, grow inspirations, and play with the dreams that flow in and out of our conscious or even sub conscious mind.

My Art Journals take so many forms and contain so many threads, they are keepers of memories, of dreams, ideas and schemes. A collection of experiments, try outs, plans and musings.....I use Art Journalling as reflection, and a way to process my life and my day. They can be a way to treasure and savour some of the seemingly mundane moments in a day, which are actually often the most sacred. They can be a place to scribble, stamp and shout!

These pages have been created by Art Journalers in our current "Find your Voice Course". In our journals we have explored identity, developed a gratitude practice and devised ways to treasure some of the very small moments of each day, and invent ways to express those; we also have created secret ways to write our inner thoughts and used a variety of techniques to play with text, while using paint, stencils and collage techniques. In case you feel excited enough to leap in....the next 'Find Your Voice' 6 week course starts on 4th September, so why not come along and Find Your Voice!

Find your Voice Intro to Visual Art Journaling 6.00-8.30pm Wednesdays 8th May-19th June ( 6 x weeks) NEW GROUP 4th September- 16th October ( 6 x weeks) Register with me on wildatartweekly@gmail.com

Our summer workshops and new courses can be found here :  http://wildatartstudio.blogspot.com/p/wild-at-art-studio-offerings.html Our next Monthly Mandala Meet Up  " Celebrating Summer " will be on Thursday 6.30-9.00pm  July 11th

Loosen Up Painting

Lunchtime Destress Doodling  12.30-2.00pm Wednesdays $150 per session Do you sometimes feel it’s all just too much? whats app me for the doorcode and come on in!

I look forwards to greeting you very soon at the Wild at Art Door! Artfully Yours from Katie