The Arts Root
Artistic therapy makes use of three modalities: drawing, painting and sculpture. These work correspondingly in the realms of thinking (Nerve-Sense System), feeling (Rhythmic and Circulatory System) and willing (Metabolic System and Limbs), to strengthen faculty and function. In a healthy human being those three functions are penetrated by the conscious Self (I or Ego). As artistic work is always done with attention and intention, balanced penetration of the ego into these realms is facilitated.
Drawing
Therapeutic drawing is essentially working with black and white, studies of line and form, and exploration of the dynamic interplay of light and darkness.
Pencil drawing with its fine, clear line ‘sharpens’ the intellect, our faculty of objective, emotion-free thinking. Form drawing, using continuous, unbroken lines, works with the fluid, formative qualities of the Etheric. Using the broken line, we call more upon the will; working with light, darkness and shadow we address the realm of feeling. The use of color in drawing automatically brings a feeling component into the thinking realm, bringing subjectivity into an otherwise objective area. Shaded drawing, the technique that Steiner used extensively in his own drawings, is recommended for its artistic-therapeutic value. In shaded drawing, light-infused forms are created by applying parallel, oblique strokes to the paper. This technique can be meditative and ego strengthening.
Painting
The activity of color between light and darkness is the language of the soul. The inner resonance we experience with the moods of the natural world arises in our own soul as moving color; as we are moved inwardly we feel . The colors speak a language more universal and archetypal than any spoken word. Color always conveys meaning. As therapists, knowing how to ‘speak’ and ‘hear’ color, we can guide our patients through a transformative journey, which mirrors a healing process. Transparent water colour is the medium closest to pure, colored light; it is therefore the medium of choice for therapeutic painting.
In the wet-on-wet painting method, liquid color is applied to moistened paper. Water, the substance of life, facilitates the movement and intermingling of the colors as they create new colors. Form can flow into being and dissolve again; the process remains fluid until we choose to stop. As with all artistic therapy, the process is what is most important here. The fact that the end product is also lovely to look at attests to a healthy process, but it is not our objective. Wet-on-wet is especially beneficial for painting with children and the elderly. It is also of great benefit to patients with cold or hardening illnesses, since it has a loosening but strengthening effect on the etheric body, while stimulating the soul forces.
In Veil painting, thin washes of transparent color are applied to stretched paper. Each wash of color must be dry before the next is applied.
By applying washes in this way, light-filled forms emerge out of the negative space. The non-material qualities of this luminous realm of pure color and light have a healing effect on the soul, while the conscious work of applying the veils with intention as deeds, strengthens the ego forces.
Lazure painting is a veiling technique applied to walls to create beautiful, healing environments for classrooms, homes, therapy centers, etc. Used in this way, it may be considered an environmental art therapy. When lazuring is done with a group of individuals who will be using that space, it can be a social artistic therapy.
Sculpting
In clay modeling, the central activity is the forming and transforming of substance. The transformation of a set mass, as well as the processes of adding on and carving away, have their inner reflection in our metabolic processes of anabolism and catabolism, and outwardly in our ability to impact the world through our will, to be able to bring form to our thoughts, to our physical bodies, to our relationships, to our work, etc.
Clay is earth and water, physical and etheric substance. It is also foreign substance, cold to the touch, formless and resistant. To make it ours, we must transform it and imbue it with our own ego forces. The more we ‘work’ the clay with our hands, the more plastic, warm and yielding to our touch it becomes. The therapeutic aim in clay modeling is to create forms that are healthy, strong and balanced as well as to experience metamorphosis, the lawfulness that enables one form to change into another. All healthy life is based on the laws of metamorphosis. Creating a balanced three dimensional form is will and ego strengthening.
Using various beeswax-based modeling compounds, and carving in wood, stone or plaster, add to the therapist’s repertoire and emphasize the specific therapeutic intention.
Remedial Pedagogy, Curative Education and Biography