Art Adventures

A six week workshop was recently held in Bairnsdale where participants were invited to explore their own creativity and gain confidence in expressing themself. Experimental art activities extended their perception of colour, shape and texture as they explore the use of paint, pastels, collage and clay.

This is what some participants said at the end of the series.

“I was very nervous about joining an “art” class because I hadn’t done art since I was in primary school. I soon found the environment was very supportive. My first attempts at creating art were accepted in the group and I now have the confidence to explore further artistic endeavours.”

“I’ve enjoyed exploring my own creative responses during these workshops. My awareness and observation of the world around me has really grown as a result.”

“At first I wasn’t sure about this class. It was not what I expected. But now that we’re at the end of the term, I wish we could keep meeting every Friday.”

“As a landscape oil painter of many years, this approach seemed a bit strange at first. After experiencing the emotive and intuitive side of my own creativity, I have a whole new appreciation for modern and abstract art. Now I’m doing lots of intuitive artwork in soft pastels – a brand new medium for me.”

Art project reconciles people

New York school children were recently encouraged to patch up their differences while creating huge mandalas. Read all about it here.

Group art projects are an effective way of building a sense of community, shared purpose and respect for others. While this story features children, the power of art works equally well with adults.

• Does your workplace have interpersonal tension between staff?
• Are you trying to establish a new department or special projects team?
• Are you amalgamating, regrouping or simply trying to inspire your current employees?

Why not get Right Side Up to design and deliver creative team-building activities for your next staff meeting or professional development day.

Studio sessions are available in Bairnsdale, or you can request RSU's Portable Program to visit your workplace or conference venue.

Clay containers

Participants created a symbolic clay container using raw clay sculpture and embellishments as desired.

Banish the winter blues

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A new business in East Gippsland helps people find creative solutions for life's challenges.

As the shorter, colder days close in, many people in the southern states of Australia get the “winter blues”. Those who work, find they are leaving home and getting home in the dark. There is less opportunity for outdoor activities and less exposure to light and sunshine. For some, however, symptoms are severe enough to disrupt their lives and to cause considerable distress. These people are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Art therapy workshops and individual sessions can help people look at life “Right Side Up” during the darker months of the year. A creativity coach and consultant guides clients through creative modalities such as journaling, drawing, painting, sculpting, guided meditation, visualisation, music, movement and environmental awareness to encourage right-brain activity and offer a fresh perspective on dealing with daily challenges.

Creative art as therapy helps people explore their issues, blocks, and personal resources in a right-brain way. It puts the logical and analytical left-brain to rest for a time and allows intuitive solutions or answers to arise. When used in a non-prescriptive way, creating art helps the client dialogue with things that are important to them, be validated, accepted, and assisted in moving forward.

Right Side Up workshops can be a lot of fun. It’s all about having a go and discovering your own innate creativity.

Mid-winter workshops include;

Not SAD Sundays: foster a spirit of exploration and play in a supportive and social environment. For those seeking relief from the winter blues or who simply want to explore their own creativity.

Art Paths* can help those facing crossroads and transition to clarify goals and make confident choices.

The Art of Healing*: provides nurturing and inspiration in times of stress, burnout and disease.


For bookings or more info: phone 0403 856 993 or see email link on sidebar.

Council of Gamblers Help Services

A group of social workers, psychologists and counsellors, who work almost exclusively in the area of problem gambling, met in Marysville for their annual conference this week. Right Side Up facilitated three creative workshops to expose participants to art therapy techniques for the purpose of networking, teambuilding and learning new self care techniques.


A group mural offered attendees an opportunity to creatively share their workplace achievements from the past year and facilitate discussion on what worked and what didn't.


Personal artworks were also created to depict a place of peace and provide a mental "retreat space" they could return to at anytime.

The workshops concluded with a session on body awareness. This helped participants identify internal responses to external stimuli through the use of music, movement and sculpture.

Right Side Up results

Creative art as a therapy helps us approach issues in life from a different perspective. By working through thoughts, memories and emotions via images or symbols, we move away from cognitive thinking and tap into a more instinctive and intuitive level within us. This moves us beyond repeated cycles that continually block our ability to move forward.

Creative art workshops, or individual sessions, provide a safe and supportive environment to enable clients to discover resources that will help them effectively deal with stressful thoughts or issues and move beyond surviving to thriving.

A recent Right Side Up project was entitled “Red high heels on the Yellow brick road.”


It explored the experience of 12 women working in an organization that is strongly male hierarchical in its structure. Each participant prepared 2-dimensional art works and wrote a summary of their journey as a woman in leadership.



This was presented at a conference in Sydney and is being prepared for publication as a special report in the organization’s magazine.



While the administration of this organisation may benefit from the staff insight gained in this project, the participants who prepared the art pieces found the experience to be personally beneficial. Many expressed a greater understanding of their own response to their work environment and have developed new resources to thrive instead of survive on the job.



Other current Right Side Up projects include; exploring spirituality through art, weekend workshops which use audio-visual presentations, bodywork and art to facilitate team building and personal growth in a community. For enquiries on hothouse weekend workshops or fertiliser fun days for corporate or community groups, or for private sessions see email above.

Masks

Right Side Up co-facilitated mask making sessions for a group of Yr 11 students in East Gippsland as part of their retreat camp.

Students were introduced to a variety of masks - cultural, religious, festive, disguises - and discussion centred on when and why such masks are used. Moving onto invisible masks we wear in our daily lives, students were encouraged to create a mask that expressed an aspect of themselves.

Participants then showed their masks in a small group and told the story or emotions behind it. The group was invited to reflect on each person's mask and share what it reminded them of, or how it made them feel.

The final session involved students laying their masks along a cross laid out on the floor. This was to symbolise reconciliation and a desire to live more authentically in the future.