Thoughts on the Link Between Mental Illness and Creativity: Case Study Being Vincent van Gogh By Christine Stapleton

I love van Gogh – not just his paintings and drawings. I love his letters - hundreds and hundreds of letters in which he shares the minutia of his life – from impotence to absinthe. Gossip, advice, critique, paints, colors, hues, canvas, food, weather, God and his mental illness(es). Because the letters are dated it is possible to match a painting to a letter and hear van Gogh describe how he felt when he painted it – his state of mind and health. It as if van Gogh is the docent at his own exhibit.

        Vincent van Gogh self portrait via public domain library    

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via:  Psyche Central

                   

Art Therapy Intervention: Magazine Photo Collage

Magazine photo collage is Cool Art Therapy Intervention #10 and is really based on a medium more than a particular method. In art lingo, collage simply means "to glue," and is the assembling of different images or materials to create a new whole. It emerged as an artform in the early 20th century in the work of Picasso, Braque, and other artists, continuing through the present. One of the most famous photo collages and Pop Art classic, Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing, is a quintessential example from the art world of how found images from a variety of sources are used to generate something completely different than their original intent.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  Psychology Today Blogger Cathy Malchiodi