Posts Tagged ‘drawing’
Fear No Art: Trust & Blind Contour Drawing
Many times, it is plain, old-fashioned fear that keeps survivors from signing up for our offerings – not the fear that comes with a cancer diagnosis, but the terror associated with the words creativity and art: “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly. I do not have a single creative bone in my body.” We believe that everyone has creative bones;…
Read MoreTranquility Practice: Creating Radiant Mandalas
There is a wonderful strangeness about meeting in a classic business boardroom for our Lunch and Learn series. A very large, stately, dark mahogany table fills the room. Two of the four walls are almost floor-to-ceiling glass. It is an elegant space that holds us well. This boardroom is transformed when we meet the first…
Read MoreCalming Practice: Creating Mandalas
When I arrived last Wednesday to set up for our new Lunch and Learn Series, Mickey and Linda were already there, setting up the registration table. Our “greeters” Donna and Mae arrived soon thereafter, and Evelyn was not far behind. These five women are our ambassadors. They are experienced, seasoned participants who are well on the…
Read MoreDon’t be Afraid of Drawing
I stumbled upon this article on Buzzfeed about a graphic artist and her four-year-old daughter who draw together. It reminded me of the surrealist’s game exquisite corpse, which is a fantastic, playful way of drawing collaboratively. Try this when you are feeling down, stuck, or uncertain how you feel: Gather a couple of pals or family members, and don’t…
Read MoreGratitude in Difficult Times
I recently found this passage about gratitude among Dana Jennings’s reflections in the New York Times on his cancer journey: When you have cancer, when you’re being cut open and radiated and who knows what else, it can take a great effort to be thankful for the gift of the one life that we have been blessed…
Read MoreReleasing Anxieties to Gather Inner Strength
As we continue this summer to explore the art of the mandala – creating within a circle – our practices begin to intertwine. Our first workshop addressed how to release anxiety through the process of intuitive mandala drawing, which we featured in our “Mandalas for Centering Strength” post. During the workshop, we discussed the importance of recognizing…
Read MoreMandalas for Centering Strength
Our latest class gathered at Lexington Medical Center to explore the idea of art making as a form of healing. A few had been outside of cancer treatment for many years but still possessed a nagging fear of a recurrence. Others had just finished treatment. One was heading to Duke University on Friday for exploratory…
Read MoreOur Inner Lives
Opening my Gmail this morning, I landed on a message from my daughter containing a link to the article How Not to Be Alone by Jonathan Safran Foer, saying it reminded her of me. I was deeply touched by this gesture, and it reminded me of all the cancer survivors I have worked with and of our…
Read MoreWordless Wednesdays – Mandala in El Espinal
In El Espinal, Oaxaca, Mexico, nature inspired this mandala of curled sepals, vivid pink tufts, creamy white flowers, stones and seeds. If this were your mandala, what would you title it? Share your ideas below.
Read MoreThursday Travels
Travel: to move forward towards a given direction or path; to journey through or over a given distance; to follow a course or path, going from one place to another; to cross over boundaries and borders Travel Beyond Your Comfort Zone The idea of movement from a known, comfortable place to an unknown, mysterious place…
Read More