Inspiration of first step,
Introversive potential found,
Imagination freed
Interpreting ephemeral to matter.
What is C.A.T.?
Creative Art Therapy (C.A.T) is an utterly joyful experience, of diving deep into the mysteries of existence, of connecting to life.
Inspired by the normal and natural environment of our homes, the spaces around them and places we habitually go, as well as further afield, we explore how to extract our own inherent creativity out of ourselves, as we’re simply living our lives.
Translating the external environment we sense around us, giving it shape, form and movement in creative expressions that transmit something that was not previously ‘visible’ to the naked eye beforehand, our aim is to enfold the meaning of all that we discover into a concise artistic composition.
“Making something from nothing, empowers you!”
The incredible tool to see through the veil of an ordinary ‘black and white’ perception of the world, is imparted in these workshops, helping us truly balance our relationship with wherever we are and whomever we are with.
Through listening to the message that the place we are in wants to impart and the field of energy it embraces, here we build a bridge between some aspect of the physical world and its intended purpose, translating it into a creative expression, a symbol to transmit a multi-layered meaning and ultimately empower its audience.
Eg. PHOTO COLLAGE ART – one of the artforms that Susan uses to express Universal Truths, that were inspired by different places she stayed at along the way.
And nothing is creatively ‘right’ or ‘wrong’! Anyone can obtain a deep sense of achievement through arranging things that seemed random, in an organised manner.
What we end up infusing into our art, is only ever an interpretation of the focus we chose to explore, now interwoven with many factors that are all pointing the way towards a core meaning.
“The Wand is already in your hand”
But to optimally do this, we ourselves need to prepare the vessel of our own system to be able to tune into subtle vibrations.
Therefore, during the workshops, we use Somatic Intelligence based techniques to locate where trauma of any kind is stored in the nervous system of our physical body and decompress the trapped tension it may be causing.
And to receive more in-depth insights as well as maintain equanimity, we practise simple flows of Yoga movements combined with breathwork and meditation.
Having a sense of connection to everything around us and ‘Feeling alive’ is crucial to our existence!
Format of the Workshops:
The workshops may take place one-on-one, or as group trainings and roughly follow this outline:
At a preliminary online discussion, we collectively choose a specific location in the world, an amount of time to stay there and the creative method we’d like to focus on to interpret it.
We are aware that a specific theme will henceforth emerge, so from the moment the location has been decided, each individual member of the group starts to consciously tune into the chosen place.
Ideas for potential themes will pop up at this stage, and these should be allowed to casually mutate one by one as the mind of each individual intuitively picks up what the information the chosen place is vibing out to him or her, before even leaving for the place.
At the time we actually gather at the place itself, many of us will have evolved some potential themes. Now is the time to combine all of our ideas and brainstorm to find an actual title for the theme, whose words will act like doorways into its deeper meaning.
Along with the theme in mind, we go intuitively wherever we feel to discover the meaning of that place. Then while we’re exploring, we gather as much information as possible, while looking at it from multi-dimensional perspectives and going ‘inside’ its meaning as deeply as we can.
Then condensing everything we’ve understood from all that we’ve found out about that theme, we then combine it all into an art form made up of many different shapes, angles and colours that neatly relate to the theme.
From then on, this symbol we’ve created will hold the message of that place within its very form and from then on will transmit everything it holds to whomever sees it.
“Random expressions reveal a perfect pattern!”
The 3 forms of artistic expressions we’ve been exploring to date
In our workshops, we can adapt the focus to the preferences of those taking part, but to date, C.A.T. operates within several loosely defined creative pockets, innovative categories in themselves that nevertheless present us with myriad options of how to become creatively productive.
1. IMAGING PHOTOGRAPHS and translating them into PHOTO COLLAGE ART
2. Making VIDEOS and SHORT CLIPS using the method of KALEIDOSCOPIC FILMMAKING
3. Building DYNAMIC INSTALLATIONS energy devices that can be of positive benefit to the health of humans and the environment.
Through consciously ‘discovering our experience’ in the present while exploring ways of outwardly expressing it in deeper and deeper layers of complexity, we are not only producing pieces of artwork, collage, material goods or turning concepts into action, but are also designing the next version of ourselves.
We thus go through a process of self-discovery, the ultimate aim of which is to become the Master Creator of our own life and reality around us!
The ancients called it ‘MAGIC’, but today we know it as a deeply advanced spiritual science and expression of the highest art, that starts with;
- Preparing your body, speech and mind for a whole new experience,
- Playing around with thought within the basic parameters of our individual interests.
- Studying your life diligently as it unravels in each moment,
- Being spontaneous by not necessarily trying to achieve anything in particular,
- Having knowledge of the requisite blueprints and building blocks required for creating what it is you are aiming for.
“Seeing versus ‘Seeing’”
While going from A to B, doing the chores at home or outside of it, we always have a choice as to what we observe through our ‘Vision’ that sees our world through a pair of eyes, a telescope, a camera, video camera, or other optical device.
But ‘Truly seeing’ means going beyond just surviving the route from A to B and involves all of our senses, of actively being in the world around us and fully experiencing where we are moment to moment.
Or we can stay imprisoned by the constant flow of thoughts bouncing within the confines of our head and not even notice when we’ve arrived at our destination and what went on in between!
The first causes us to become whole, because we are where we are and are doing what we are doing, at the same time.
The second causes disjoint, whereby we become 2 aspects; one that is running all over the universe inside our head, while the rest of us is on automaton so that we don’t even know where we really are and what we are really doing.
“Create whatever you dare to!”
Why we do Creative Art Therapy (C.A.T)?
Because…
…each one of us has the inherent capacity to become the creator of our own reality and C.A.T. kick starts this healthy process, allowing the inspiration of our life force to pervade through our physical body and take root in the outside world, by creating something tangible within it.
…we need an outlet/s for the incredible amount of life force energy running through us on its pathway from infinite Source to the physical Universe.
…as much as we allow may pass through us, something that is determined by the quality of the vessel we ourselves provide for it to manifest within, something that may hold that energy within this field of physical matter whether they be activities, creative expressions of any type or business corporations.
… conceiving ideas and the different scenes within which they may be nurtured, finding a solid expression of what we desire to create and giving it passage through us rather than damming the flow with the insecurity of our capability to produce it, allows us to remain in harmony with our essential being and not obstruct the natural flow of energy coming from Source.
…every object we see in our environment has been created by a thought process, has come from someone’s creative imagination. Bringing anything that is just an idea or ephemeral state of thought out into the world, into manifestation as an actual physical object or process, is creativity, is magic!
…nothing is static, everything contains consciousness in it; whether natural things that evolved through their own processes from Source or the machine in a factory assembly line that needed Consciousness to create it.
…consciousness stamps its mark within its own creation, as its transmissible frequency to others since it originally appeared when the consciousness of whatever capacity created it.
…making functional objects, things which are useful to our everyday lives like chairs, tables, pens and computers or enriching our lives with thought provoking work like art, writing or photographs are ways in which we become more whole in ourselves and give ourselves the capacity to cope with the fluctuation of life.
…with the conscious release of life force onto the canvas, into words, or as a display, we the designer become infused with that life force, freeing us from the fixed boundaries of what we’ve been taught as ‘correct’ and enabling us to perceive things which are not as aesthetically perfect as we are culturally adapted to accept.
… our own perspective of truth may help us to become a facet of the whole, so we may operate in truth alongside others within this physical dimension, but unless we connect to Source, there’s no way we can come to know the ultimate Truth of existence.
“To forge a flow for life force.”
How do we do C.A.T.?
The most wonderful thing about C.A.T. is that that there are no rules at all!
If it’s a purely subjective creation coming from our own imagination and we have the expertise to express it, it’s up to us how we bring it into manifestation. But when working with others, we need to communicate well, agree on what we are creating, combine our skills and designate tasks to each other so that our efforts are spread out.
Some people need to create more wrathfully through insistent motion, such as by flicking paint at a canvas, while others need to work on the method more analytically by using their mental faculties, whereas others let the emergence of their invention flow naturally with whatever’s going on around them, infusing and integrating that into the piece of work, allowing it to be organically revealed rather than contrived in any way.
But ultimately and in our own time, we ourselves are the ones who need to find the path of our own art by travelling along the hidden pathways of its labyrinth to the resultant goal we alone are setting ourselves, the more we uncover causing us to inject more and more inspiration into the process.
If our goal requires scientific or business knowledge or even encompasses a specific skill, then we may need to follow a stricter process of study before bringing our creativity to fruition. Or we may simply decide to focus on what we already know, enhancing and perfecting that while hiring or partnering with someone else who does know that aspect, thus complementing and adding our talents together to produce something more spectacular.
When we share our creations with others, it’s important they understand that as the viewer, they are also tapping into the infinite source of energy, no different from that which we, the creator, tapped into to produce them, inspiring him or her with harmony and grace.
“The dynamic between action and reaction”
How do I get over the obstacles of creativity?
The biggest questions that arise before we start getting into the creative process are:
“How do I create what I want to?”
“What happens if I can’t match my expectation?”
It’s absolutely key to remember that our expectation is only a blueprint of the idea and should not hinder the potential of the actual output, which is unknown to us at the start and will develop its own dynamism, as we allow it to unravel.
And between those two ends, is a process…
When we’re in the motions of creating something, it sometimes happens that there are some obstacles and frustration. It’s like going merrily along the road in the car and then suddenly there’s a tree blocking the way and we simply cannot go past it until it’s cut up and removed.
But it’s impossible that we don’t possess imagination and creativity, because we are naturally meant to be Artists of our own existence, however life could have blocked that urge due to one or another circumstances that have lodged themselves in our system as trauma.
Trauma is none other than compressed energy within the nervous system and affects every aspect of our lives. There are many places that this could have come from, including accidents, surgery, or from parents, teachers or peers who may have told us something that forced us to create a belief about ourselves that is not ultimately true.
We may have been told that it was stupid or wasteful to dream away and in doing so someone took imagination and creativity out of our lives by making these qualities seem like something to scold, wasteful of time, or simply not a useful quality to have.
But for sure they’re still there, hiding somewhere close by, probably not so far from the surface. And if we allow ourselves to play, they will emerge in full force, like being released from behind a dam!
And we’re not all necessarily artists with a sketchbook and pencil, or photographers. Building a business also requires incredibly creativity!
Really there’s absolutely no such thing as ‘Artist’s block’ just FEAR of the unknown, which is easily overcome by ‘just starting’ to do something, ANYTHING and if it doesn’t come down right the first time, we can edit or delete it later on.
The most important thing is to just take the first step and allow expression to occur, STEP by STEP. Don’t jump ahead! We must exist right on the step we are at now, fully.
Playing with our inspiration like a child in ecstasy is what gives us the freedom to explore and develop our skills, while allowing ourselves to make all the mistakes in the world is our birthright, because these are the very things that will form experiential rungs on the ladder of our success.
Sometimes, we just need a warm up period of time to get our creative juices flowing, which brings us naturally onto the path of what we’re seeking. We can also give ourselves space to get into the right frame of mind, allowing the life force to flow more easily through us by releasing our tensions with a walk, a conversation with a friend, sitting quietly making some notes, dancing or going for a drive. A change of scene is always good when we are stuck in a rut!
But also listening carefully to the situation and circumstances going on around us is crucial, because life will always tell us exactly what we need to know, when we need to know it. Inability to creatively progress may also be a warning sign that’s telling us, “It’s not time to do that yet, work with what you have now and it will bring you to your way.” Everything is always perfect, so we must trust our instincts and intuition.
Above all we must love whatever we are doing and do it with joy, feeling it coming from within ourselves as an expression of our very life force, which belongs to all of us.
Creation itself, is simply running through us continuously, our own life force ready for us to tap into!
“It doesn’t matter!”
How does creativity actually occur?
At a fundamental level, we can bring everything back to a metaphor of the 5 elements that form existence.
All action starts with the subtle elements bringing creation to its initial stage, as an idea. For this, the element of Wind arises, movement within the Space that causes friction, the quality of Fire that inspires and impassions us to bring that idea into something tangible, something concrete, the Earth element aspect and then to share its usefulness or meaning with others, which is the Water aspect, the nectar of life force.
And in between, there are many micro stages where the five elements play out their fractal drama.
Now presented in a way that the theme becomes intelligible for others in a purely symbolic message, a transmission of life force that may come into their vision to help increase their capacity to interpret the world around them at a more subtle level, taking them to an overall richer experience of existence.
The qualities of the elements reside at their most refined level. In Wind, we find ‘method’, because it’s through movement and action that we achieve something and in Fire, we achieve the level of perception to just know what to do with our inspiration and how. Earth holds the stability of ground below us, supporting us, a platform from which we can spring into action, whereas Water when stilled becomes a Mirror showing us how appearance is but a reflection of our own conscious state.
And all of this can only happen because there’s Infinite Space within which this Dance of the Five Elements may be performed.
“Ever translating our own perspective”
This nectar of pure understanding that’s being sculptured by the universal quality of the elements, can be mirrored to other beings, through externally creating something like a piece of art that symbolically reveals a pathway to essence, or a business that has a beautiful ethos and attracts customers that appreciate what they produce.
Each person will interpret the creation at their own frequency to understand it at some level when coming into contact with it, even if they themselves don’t consciously ‘know’ what it means.
Each physical manifestation bears a relative truth to it, and we have to obey the limitations of the psyche of consciousness that accompanies that physical form, by wearing its mask in order to comprehend how to translate its needs.
This is how and why things are always changing in our lives, because we are constantly changing the frequency of output, attracting what matches that which we put in.
Ultimately, we can actively become an expression of the meaning of what we truly are at an essential level, and then assist in the manifestation of the reality around us.
It all depends on how we perceive it, as to how we interpret it.
“Listening is an Art form of its own”
C.A.T. workshops to date:
‘Meditation in Nature’, immersing ourselves with the 5 elements, Kullu-Manali valley, India
Children’s Workshop, building a 3D meditation pyramid, Bangalore region South India
Adult Workshop to interact with the shapes of photo collage art, Bulgari region, Russia
Children’s Workshop to create pictures with photos, Kathmandu, Nepal