2006-10-20 05:42:11 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Other - Visual Arts
I'm an artist and I suffer from depression myself. However, I had a very dear friend commit suicide about 10 years ago. I happened to be the one who found him and believe me I was devistated! I withdrew from my circle of friends and just sat around moping. About a month after his death I decided to take out my watercolor palette and some paper and just doodle. You know, smear around some color and just play with the paint. I needed to paint, but my mind and heart couldn't focus. Well, when I was finished with my piece, I got up and walked around a bit. When I came back and checked out what abstract I had come up with, I was shocked! There on my paper was an image of Dan, with 4 or 5 images relating to his life. Including the gun, the blood on his head. I didn't have a clue what I was painting, but my subconcience mind knew. It's a painting that helped me to actually deal with his death. It's one of my best works. Yes, art can help in the healing process, it's that intense emotion that makes a painting powerful. It doesn't have to be something you decide to draw or paint. Abstract is a good start. You just need to allow yourself a chance to try it. You might just surprise yourself. Sometimes we just need to free our mind and allow the spirit within to speak. I hope this helped a little.
2006-10-20 06:20:26 · answer #1 · answered by artinmyheart 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know if pain creates better art. I think art is a way of managing the human condition. So much art is from the universal human condition, that is why art can touch someone else, it speaks to that human experience. Use it as a an escape, a therapy, a communication, whatever you want.
2006-10-20 20:44:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
From the early 1900’s on, the artwork of patients with a variety of illnesses has been examined and found valuable in their care. Art therapy emerged as a profession in the 1930’s.
You don’t have to be an artist; you don’t have to even understand what you are drawing at the time. Often patients will fixate on certain subjects or themes at a particular time, only to find months later they were actually processing emotions they were not even yet aware of. Patients are encouraged to keep their art and to reflect on it over the ensuing months. With time, the art brings a deeper understanding of their present situation and of their deeper emotional state.
2006-10-20 23:59:18 · answer #3 · answered by Wicked 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that artinmyheart has a great answer,but I would like to add a little. I think that artist are the most observant people in the world so we tend to see the sad plight of our world on a deeper level. This is what makes our creative juices to start flowing and therefore our art to have appeal to those who would not have thought of it or created it!
2006-10-20 13:45:42 · answer #4 · answered by withhope14 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Art can heal. When you look at the work of Georgia O'Keefe and read about some of her bouts with depression, you can see how her paintings seem to be an escape. It's not bs if you take your anger or sadness and express it (which is what musicians and artists have been doing forever).
2006-10-20 12:52:12 · answer #5 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Van Gogh and Mark Rothko suffered from Clincal Depression as did many other artists. I guess it exaggerates the feeling within the work, maybe beyond what others could achieve.
2006-10-20 12:53:11 · answer #6 · answered by Neilio 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a form of pain management as you concentrate on drawing or-painting you learn to focus on that and not your depressed spots give it a real chance
2006-10-20 12:50:29 · answer #7 · answered by kustomflames@verizon.net 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋