Page 12 - MY Book - My Voice

A good artistic practice requires competence in the basic skills of art making, knowledge about how to work in an open process, ability to ask open questions, and creative exploration. You have to be observant, able to improvise, and able to see several ways and answers to a question.In practicing art, through exploring di erent possibilities, considering di erent solutions and making independent choices, the participants are training their creativity. Through creativity and con dence in taking initiative and making decisions, you will gain self-con dence and a sense of mastering, which is important for mental wellbeing.Being in the momentWe have experienced that many people living in di cult situations or with a dramatic history nd great comfort and stress release in being able to express themselves visually and share their thoughts and experiences in a safe and inspiring environment.People in a situation of stress and uncertainty or despair do often nd it di cult to stay concentrated and focused. If your mind is full of unsolved problems and mess, your thoughts will wander. To reconnect to here and now, it can help to do physical exercises. The drawing activity itself is physical and will help the participant to stay in the moment, as he or she is focusing on the hand moving over the paper. The drawing exercises are designed to be possible for everyone to master, but at the same time di cult enough to require full attention. The focus will be on the hand doing rhythmic, straight or organic movements along the paper and on the colors, lines and shapes that appears.Another kind of drawing exercises that will force you to shut out the surroundings and help you to stay in the moment, is drawing exercises done blindfolded. Still the physical element is essential; the participants touch their face, their pro le and draw what they feel with their nger. If the participants are not comfortable with that, they can choose to touch and draw an object instead.None of this kind of exercises is about making nice or correct drawings, so we never judge the results or comment on them as good or bad, right or wrong.Methods (warming up exercises)All workshops start with warming-up exercises. Sometimes these exercises are a goal in itself. It may be motivated by the joy of putting imprint and they can develop into independent body of work driven by the improvisation and engagement for the lines, the shapes and the colors itself.In general the warming-up exercises are designed to warm up the body, arm, hand and brain and for going into drawing mode. The exercises are concentration exercises and a way to stay present, in the moment, with all your senses. The exercises can also help to remove some of the uncertainty some feel in the situation and the “fear for the white sheet”.The workshops has a gradual progression from basic shapes and simple lines to more complex and advanced, where the warming up exercises play an important role by laying a fundament for further development. To learn visual skills and to work in a creative process takes time, and the method works best when used over time with competent following up. In all the workshops the focus has been on the process rather than the result. Because we work in an open process, we never know exactly where we are heading; the project develops as we go.10