The Art and Healing of Heidi Darr-Hope

Art and Healing.  Powerful passionate works for me.  I’ve been teaching art and healing for over 20 years.  I’ve been making art for over 40.  But not until this year, did I personally feel the terror associated with a serious health scare.  2017 was a tough year, but I was able to forge a deeper relationship…

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Creating Brave Retreat at 1440 Multiversity

1440: Stunning New Retreat Center. Join us for Creating Brave

I am thrilled to be offering this Creating Brave Retreat  at 1440 Multiversity, a stunning new center nestled in a magnificent forest of of redwoods just outside Santa Cruz, California.  This campus is carefully crafted to nurture, educate and inspire! Bring 2017 to a Close by Gifting Yourself Time Step Outside Your Life Pause to…

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Creating Brave eCourses: Survivorship

Mindful Survivorship Mandalas

  Survivorship: to endure to live through to live beyond in spite of a danger, adversity or hardship Frankly, haven’t we all dealt with survivorship in some form or another? Although the word is usually associated with cancer survivorship issues, the residue from a life altering event can cling to us, becoming chronic if not addressed. Underlying issues…

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Art as Healing eCourse: Behind the Scenes

Creating Brave: Mindful Mandalas, an art as healing eCourse

In January, it was a glimmer of an idea: Art as Healing: Beginning an eCourse.  Creating an art as healing eCourse was an overwhelmingly daunting experience for me but with the help of some talented people, the process was actually invigorating.   I want you to meet some of the ones who bolstered my confidence and encouraged this…

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Art as Healing vs. Art Therapy

In dialog with what is being created, having no expectations, letting the process lead...

Art: something that is created with imagination that expresses important ideas or feelings Healing: to restore and make whole again Therapy: the treatment of physical or mental illnesses Art as Healing: My Way Most times when I explain what I do, I am met with the response, “Oh. You do art therapy.” I reply no, not…

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College Interns & Volunteers: Paved the Way for 2016

Our Wonderful, creative Volunteer, Charlotte Johnson

I don’t know what I’d do without our college interns and volunteers.   Last year, we had 3 extraordinary young women dedicate their talents and energy to our cause. Due to their remarkable efforts throughout 2015, Healing Icons became more visible.  The ground has been set, ready to receive our goal for 2016 – the launch of our…

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A Different Kind of Portrait: SCETV’s Original SC

    Creating a 5 minute video portrait that sums up an artist’s work is not an easy task! On Thursday February 3rd, this aired on SCETV’s Palmetto Scene.   The creator of the SCETV series Original SC, Tabitha Safdi, does an extraordinary job.  I received an email from Tabitha the very first day of December.…

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Community Healing: The Monks Are Coming!

The Tibetan monks are ready to begin our community mandala.

    A Video Captures Our Story Our community needed healing.  Three weeks before the Tibetan monks were to arrive from the Drepung Loseling Monastery, our city was devastated by a”100 year flood.”  Extremely heavy rains caused our rivers to overflow, which caused many dams to break, which caused huge devastation throughout our community.  Homes were destroyed. Our water…

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Tibetan Inspired Community Art: Mandalas, Talismans and Prayer Flags

Talisman of Healing

  Tibetan Inspired Community Art For our 20th anniversary exhibition, Circles of Life: Making Art, Creating Communities of Hope, I wanted to pay tribute to the Tibetan Culture, as they had influenced the design of my creativity practices for at least 15 years. Curious why Tibet?  Read our earlier post – Travel Inspiration: Stumbling Across the Tibetan Sacred…

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