New E Book to Inspire and Heal: Making Whole:Therapeutic Art Projects to Heal Your Soul

Hi Friends!

We just wanted to share a great new e book on Kindle for fans of creative challenges that help you define and reflect upon who you are and what you are about.

Making Whole:Therapeutic Art Projects to Heal Your Soul is the fourth book on Art as Therapy published by Diane Fausek Steinbach and is a well-organized and detailed book featuring 19 new projects that will inspire deeper self-awareness and healing.  Many of the process' can be addressed again and again over time with differing results, providing the artist with a look at their own emotional growth.
Great illustrations or samples, simple instructions and perfect to use for self-growth or with groups in a therapeutic setting, it's a MUST download!

Get it here! Making Whole:Therapeutic Art Projects to Heal Your Soul
for Kindle
For other readers try Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/463503

Art as Therapy.... Meditative Nature Art: Stone Cairns

Hi Friends,
Wanted to share this art therapy column ATA Girl Diane Steinbach wrote for another blog; Treasuringgrace.blogspot.com.

Her topic is the making of Stone Cairns, and it sounds like the perfect spring weekend project to get your head clear and find some peace in the chaos.
Check it out...

Making Whole: Healing Through Art: Stone Cairns

 Making Whole is a bi-monthly art therapy column focused on art to heal.

A stone cairn is basically an elegant stack of stones, not held together by any mortar or cement. Found in ancient civilizations all over the globe, they are currently found in desert communities, hiking trails and used not only as an art form, but as navigational and ceremonial markers.

From larger stones at the base, to smaller stones on the top, the rocks towers can be placed in a single placement, or in groups, and in any location. Depending on the stone colors and shapes and the way the stones are stacked, the cairns convey an emotion or feeling to the viewer. For some reason, most people feel a connection to the cairns... do you? 

Collect stones from local beaches, woods or anywhere you can find them. Pick out an indoor or outdoor area where you can safely construct your cairn. Feel free to use superglue or epoxy to hold your cairn together especially if you have pets or children around who may bump or topple your cairn.

Stack the stones into a cairn. Make one or a grouping of cairns.

Process:

The act of creating the cairns is a meditative process that connects us to the earth in a healing and peaceful way.

Read more here:  http://treasuringgrace.blogspot.com/2013/06/making-whole-healing-through-art-stone.html

Guerilla Art: How Art Therapy and Guerilla Art Can Set You Free!

Hi Friends, we just wanted to share this bi-monthly column by one of our ATA Girls on the Treasuring Grace blog to share the inspiration. Its about an art therapy process that involves giving away your artwork... kind of Guerilla Art.... meant to help artists release their emotional baggage along with the canvas...
Check it out. What do you think?

Making Whole: Healing Through Art: Found Hope (Love,Courage, Peace,...) Guerilla Art

by Diane Steinbach

Making Whole is a bi-monthly art therapy column focused on art to heal. 

We have talked about Guerrilla art here before. Basically it is the concept of bringing art into the community in an unexpected way. Usually it involves big, bold artistic statements, but in this case, it is more about a generous sharing of handmade art and a simple message to a stranger that is a gift to the art maker and the surprised recipient.

Making art is a deeply personal expression for most of us, and because of this, the act of giving it away, to a stranger...indeed, to leave it behind is both terrifying and liberating.  This art therapy process challenges the artist to consider a concept on a personal, emotional level, and then share it with a stranger.  By creating something meaningful, then lovingly gifting it away, the artist can work through issues of loss in other areas of their lives.

You'll need:  Small art canvases between the sizes of 4x6 to 8x10" on hard board, acrylic paints, brushes, water, Pens, high quality writing paper, dry glue sticks

Choose a word that reflects something that is important to you:  Hope, Courage, Love, Peace, Faith, Joy, Friendship, Mercy, Forgiveness etc.

On the small canvas, paint an abstract expression of that word using color, line and movement. Use the entire canvas area, covering it entirely.  Let it dry.

Once dry, paint the word your chose boldly somewhere on the canvas, over the painting.  Allow to dry.

Pick up the paper and pen.  Cut the paper down to the size of the canvas.  Write the word "Found" followed by the word you chose to represent on the front of the canvas.  (so, you'd have "Found Love, or Found Forgiveness, Found Courage etc.

Read the rest at : http://treasuringgrace.blogspot.com/2013/05/making-whole-healing-through-art-found.html