Term Paper on "Creative Arts Therapy 1 Discussion"

r />motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought,

And rolls through all things.

Wordsworth W. Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey... Lines 95-102)

As the above lines suggest, art means a creative process of going beyond the basics of the material world and transcending the restrictions of time and space to enter into a greater and more profound understanding of what life is. The creative process is therefore about understanding the meaning of life and not just accepting what other say and how the world is represented to us. The artistic process in this context is therefore firstly an experience of spontaneity and a natural, unrestricted response to life and living. In this sense it is also a healing process.

Spontaneity and the ability to react without obstruction is a central and important method in the creative process. As Nachmanovitch states in Free Play (1990), spontaneous action is "...where art comes from." (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.5)

Improvisation for the author is a form of "...spiritual connectedness." (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.6) I identify with the fact that art is experience that denies the boundaries of form and discipline and breaks "....the artificial boundary between art and life..." (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.6) in essence Nachmanovitch describes improvising as a " unitative experience" that is at the heart to creative mysticism.

Furthermore, "....The heart of improvisation is free play of consciousness as it draws, writes, paints and plays the raw material emerging from the unconscious. " (Nachmanovitch, 1990, p.9)

In other words the creative process, as I envisage it, is not a formalized or strict set of rules that one has to follow. Rather it is an alertness to the world and to one's feelings. This alertness is a form of seeing and sensing that enlarges and expands our consciousness and awareness of reality and allows us to see and understand, in a deeper way, the interconnectedness of things, as Wordsworth states in Tintern Abbey.

A relate to the above sentiments in my own art, which is concerned with healing crystal pendants. These creations are also spontaneous improvisations in that they are derived from the use of pure colored forms which are not able to be "controlled "or pre-determined in a logical way. These elements are transposed to highly textured mixed media panels. The interest that I have in these artworks is that they are points of transcendence and move one towards an enlightened state of mind in that which is beyond the normal conception of time and space. Working with these art forms it becomes obvious that the true creative process is unrestricted and spontaneous innovation, and, like all creativity, has a spiritual basis and aim.

Essential to the artistic and creative process is the inculcation of the ability to perceive reality beyond the mundane world of opposites.… READ MORE