Color as Therapy

"Purple Hydrangea" 16"x20" oil on canvas

Cindy Mott McGarry

"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts."

- Marcus Aurelius

Have you ever noticed how you feel when you walk into a dark gray or brown colored room? Happy? Scared? Excited? Most of the time we are unaware of how much color effects our mood. For instance, color is one of the most important marketing choices branding professionals have to make about a product. Marketing research shows that 90% of quick decisions to purchase a product are based on color.

Color psychology is an area of research committed to analyzing the behavioral and emotional outcomes created by colors. Each color has its own unique vibration and provides an important function. Decorating styles are heavily based on color. Blue colored walls would be more calming for a bedroom and yellow more uplifting for a living room or playroom. Here is a list of some colors and how they make most people feel:

Blue - calming, tranquil

Red - stimulating, energizing

Orange - happy, positive

Yellow - playful, optimistic

Pink - loving, compassionate

Green - soothing, refreshing

Purple - meditative, creative

White - clarity, purity

Paintings displayed in homes, offices, and hospital rooms can uplift or bring people down. Combinations of color and blending can create a sense of peace and tranquility or a sense of dread. Research also shows that artwork depicting nature scenes and subjects brings about a feeling of calm and or happiness, whereas, abstract art can create a feeling of anxiety.

Color is powerful. It can effect our mood, behavior. and even our thoughts. Color can heal. Therefore, art can be very powerful. The "Purple Hydrangea" painting above is meant to provide an image of nature and beauty which produces a meditative state for viewers.

Enjoy playing with beautiful colors! 

For more information on color psychology Click Here!

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Why Do You Paint?

"Sunset" 18"x24" oil on stretched canvas

by Cindy Mott McGarry

"Color provokes a psychic vibration. Color hides a power still unknown but real, 

which acts on every part of the human body." - Wassily Kandinsky

I paint because I believe there is a distinctive energy transference that takes place through my art.

I believe the love and intentions that I pour into my work is absorbed by those who experience it.

There is a powerful healing, a peaceful kind of meditation, that occurs for me as I paint.  My goal is for people to experience the same sensation when they view my finished work.

Research has shown that patients in hospitals surrounded by art are helped substantially throughout their stay and statistically recover faster.

     

When someone interacts with my art I also want to unleash their imagination.

Creativity heals and moves us beyond where we are presently.

I continually search this wonderful world for beauty that inspires me.  I then harness my energy and imagination to express it uniquely.

My unrelenting drive to paint is best expressed by my artist motto:  “Create, share and heal.” 

Being creative is important and brings challenges and happiness to all art makers and viewers.

Paint away! 

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Letting Go

"Tranquility" 24"x30" oil on canvas

by Cindy Mott McGarry - Sold

"Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive."

- Bryant H. McGill

When the time comes to sell or occasionally donate an original piece of artwork it feels like a deep part of myself is going away. There is pleasure in knowing someone else is experiencing joy in living with my painting and a sadness that it is gone forever - a bittersweet feeling. It helps to think about how "Letting Go" is actually a way of receiving.

Sharing a unique creation that holds so many decisions and happy mistakes within itself can actually be a way of receiving a very freeing and loving experience. Knowing every time other eyes view and take a ride through the art . . . experience the colors and energy . . . provides quite a sense of happiness.

"Letting Go" is to receive - to receive happiness in the art of giving. Giving of yourself, your time, your creativity, imagination, your special gift comes back to you in many ways. Letting go is one of the best marketing tools an artist possesses. Thank Heavens for photography, so that the original piece can continue to be viewed and duplicated in many ways - giclee prints, printed on usable products such as bags, pillows, note cards, mugs etc., etc.! Art can live on through printing technology.

Yet, there is still nothing like viewing original art - the richness of color and texture. Each brushstroke speaking to its audience.

Enjoy painting!

www.cindymottmcgarry.com