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Aazam Ir i l ian

https://heal-the-heart.com

http://w ww.aazamir i l ian.com Al l images in this book are copyr ighted

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Did you know that many consider art making as a way to relax, calm down and clear the

mind—similar to meditation?

so much research has been done on the impact of being engaged in the creative process

and mental and physical health. Art has been used as a tool by therapists to support their

clients and by individuals to express themselves creatively and to gain more insight about

their life situations. Over the last two decades researchers and clinicians have explored the

effectiveness of non-traditional creative/expressive therapies on heart health and reducing

PTSD symptoms. (http://www.artandhealing.org/initiative/ptsd). There are now programs

such as the Social Emotional Arts (SEA), to empower artists and educators to develop

expressive arts curriculum in order to manage behavior and improve emotional well-being

of youth and adults. (See Social Emotional Arts from UCLArts and Healing, which is an

organizational member of the UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine. https://

www.uclartsandhealing.net)

As an artist, art educator, and SEA certified practitioner, and one who experiences the

benefits of being creative first hand, I am fully incorporating expressive arts into workshops

and healing sessions I offer. This gives me an opportunity to support others to engage in

the creative process, to express themselves freely, clear and calm their mind. It is an easy

and inexpensive way to integrate creativity in one’s life rather than suffer physical impact of

bottled up emotions later.

Creativity As A Healing Practice

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Creativity: One Day At A Time

Over the years, creativity and most specifically painting has been a personal passion. Dur-

ing those times when “life” did not allow me to be engaged in the creative process, I felt the

impact of it on my whole being; being in pain, short tempered, anxious, and just not being

able to fully enjoy “life.” Art making is a process that takes me beyond this world and allows

me to be in the moment. When engaged in the creative process, I do not feel the passage of

time—I am not hungry, thirsty or tired. My mind becomes completely clear. In many cases

these are the times that I get flashes of ideas on something that I had tried to resolved with

no success.

Through this download, I though to share some projects so others can also experience the

creative process to calm and clear their mind. The trick here is to understand that there is no

right or wrong way of doing any of these exercises. If something is not drawn the way you

would have liked it to, make it into something else. Remember it is about the process and

not the product. The way I have written each exercise is to do them for thirty days and then

assemble them together. If you would like to do each for one day only, it is your choice.

To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and

private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

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Lucid VisionOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas36X36”Click here to view

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Material

• 30 2X2” paper squares

• Color pencils, markers, pencil or any other drawing tools

• Poster board or designated surface for posting drawings (optional)

Instructions:

• Use one square daily

• Decide on a shape and/or color and start drawing and coloring

• There is no right or wrong. Just have FUN!

• Post them on the board daily and enjoy. (Use double sided tape or glue to keep the

paper in place)

• Here are some examples.

One Doodle A Day

To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

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Songs of SpringOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Sold. Click here to view

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Instructions

• Go through your junk drawer and find different material and items that you have

not used for a while. Attach them together and see what kind of creature you can

make. As an incentive of meeting deadlines, I use to give my students a small box

that contained just a few items, such as a couple buttons, wire, yarn, etc… Every

time they would amaze me with what they could come up with. I hung them all as

mobiles for all of us to enjoy.

Examples here are taken from Pinterest and more complicated than what I had in mind.

Junk Drawer Creatures

To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

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Lights DancingOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

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Material:

• Go for a walk and collect 30 or so river rocks (I like the ones that are about 2-3”)

• Acrylic paints and brushes

Instructions:

• With a pencil draw a design on each rock

• Choose three different colors and start painting

• Hint: add white to your colors to get them lighter (this is called tinting the color).

This gives you more color options.

Here is an example from the book From Ordinary to Extraordinary by Ken Vieth. I did

this project as team building exercise with my students and they loved it.

Rocky Design

To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

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LifeLinesOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

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Material

• Medium packaging Tags

• Markers in different colors

Instructions:

• Play by drawing some lines and shapes to turn each to a funny face with different

expression

Here are some examples.

I was feeling down one day and just went to the studio and started playing around.

Before I knew it I was laughing and having fun.

Tag Face Expressions

To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

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EffusionOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

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Material:

• A couple of your favorite magazines

• Glue

• 3X5 index cards

• Markers/color pencils (optional)

Instructions:

Note: Do not spend too much time going through the magazines looking for images.

This should be very quick (5-7 min.) and intuitive.

• Tear out 3-5 images/text that grab your attention (5-7 min. only)

• Isolate the image/part of the image by tearing off the extra paper around the

image

• Organize the images on the index card (overlapping parts of the images can make

the composition interesting)

• When pleased, glue them in place

• You might want to add some text as part of this composition

• Turn the card over, put a date on the back

• Make 30 of these, one each day

• After 30 days, spread them around on a table and figure out your story

Story Cards

To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

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AscendOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

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Material:

• 2 sheets of 18X24” drawing paper

Instructions

• Divide each sheet of paper into fifteen sections (do this randomly and without too

much though.)

• Work on one section for each day, filling the area with different designs, lines,

shapes and colors

• Have fun!

Drawing Collage

To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

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LucentOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

Aazam Irilian is an artist, art educator, and healer with a Masters degree in Art Education and a

certificate in Social Emotional Arts from UCLA Arts and Healing (an organizational member of the

UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine). Aazam has been sharing her passion with

students of all ages for over 25 years. Through private sessions, workshops and retreats, she uses

the creative process as a tool for healing while employing a variety of mediums and

modalities.

For more information about heal the heART™ visit http://www.heal-the-heart.com

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VisionOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Sold. Click here to view

Deep BlueOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

CreationOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

YearningOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X30”Click here to view

E-Motions IOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Sold. Click here to View

PsycheOil, ink and fabric dye on canvas24X24”Click here to view

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To learn more about the heal the heART™ program, workshops and private sessions I offer, visit http://heal-the-heart.com.

Aazam I r i l ianinfo@heal-the-heart .com

http://heal - the-heart .com

h t t p : / / w w w . a a z a m i r i l i a n . c o m A l l i m a g e s i n t h i s b o o k a r e c o p y r i g h t e d