Art for Healing

Posted by Harriet Hodgson @harriethodgson1, Oct 26, 2018

Kudos to the Montreal Museum of Fine Art for allowing physicians to write prescriptions for free admission to the museum. And kudos to Mayo Clinic for its art program. From the beginning, Mayo Clinic believed that art can uplift patients and foster healing. Whether it's Rochester, Jacksonville or Scottsdale, Mayo Clinic displays a wide range of artwork for patients. The Rochester site published a brochure for a self-guided tour of artwork. I live in Rochester and every time I'm at Mayo, I take the time to look at the artwork.

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@becsbuddy

@hopeful33250 thank you! Thread painting is drawing the whole picture with thread. The “painter”/quilter moves the fabric under the sewing machine needle and draws a picture. Hard, but fun

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I know I'm showing my ignorance here @becsbuddy, but you must have to have a special sewing machine? Is it the same as a quilting machine? Thanks for helping me to understand this beautiful art. Your parents must have been very touched by this gift.

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@becsbuddy

@jenniferhunter I was inspired by your using art to get through a crisis experience. I was so sick that I couldn’t physically or mentally do any quilting. When I got a little better and tried to use my sewing machine, I just couldn’t. A friend had to come and review the machine with me. But, the whole time, I read my quilting magazines and followed the textile groups on Facebook. I never lost my urge to create. It all started when I became an oncology nurse. Several of us were quilters—we responded to the hard experiences and death with the need to create and heal ourselves. Now I want to create to get though the disease experience of the past 18 months and the rest of my life with the autoimmune disease. I’ve been thinking of some kind of modern quilt that expresses what I’ve been through. I think you really showed me the possibilities and that I could do something for my art and myself. It may take me awhile to regain my expertise but I can have fun while I’m at it. Thank you for the inspiration! I included a photo I did with thread painting for my parents anniversary

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@becsbuddy Becky, that's wonderful! I love it! Thank you for being inspired; that makes me feel good that my story brought out your creativity. I think we are all born with it and can rediscover it when we need it. Bless you for being that person who helped others who were dying. That is a hard job. I helped my dad through it as his caregiver, and I cried myself to sleep every night. I also got a silly cat to make me laugh. I had video recordings of my parents speaking about their lives, and I used them along with my parent's photos to make a video documentary about his life and it became his memorial service. It was very healing for me to do that. I had to care for him and not show him my sadness because he was ready to go and didn't want to live. I had to let go and accept his wishes.

I hope you'll share what you're planning. Have fun. I'm sure you'll come up with something meaningful. Thanks for letting me know!

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@becsbuddy

@jenniferhunter I was inspired by your using art to get through a crisis experience. I was so sick that I couldn’t physically or mentally do any quilting. When I got a little better and tried to use my sewing machine, I just couldn’t. A friend had to come and review the machine with me. But, the whole time, I read my quilting magazines and followed the textile groups on Facebook. I never lost my urge to create. It all started when I became an oncology nurse. Several of us were quilters—we responded to the hard experiences and death with the need to create and heal ourselves. Now I want to create to get though the disease experience of the past 18 months and the rest of my life with the autoimmune disease. I’ve been thinking of some kind of modern quilt that expresses what I’ve been through. I think you really showed me the possibilities and that I could do something for my art and myself. It may take me awhile to regain my expertise but I can have fun while I’m at it. Thank you for the inspiration! I included a photo I did with thread painting for my parents anniversary

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@becsbuddy I just read your post to my husband. I am very moved and teary eyed. You touched me, and thank you.

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@hopeful33250. There are so many sewing machines today! I just use a basic machine. My machine has some fancy stitches, but I use a straight stitch. I move the fabric underneath the machine needle, focus very hard, stop frequently, and hope for the best!

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@becsbuddy

@jenniferhunter I was inspired by your using art to get through a crisis experience. I was so sick that I couldn’t physically or mentally do any quilting. When I got a little better and tried to use my sewing machine, I just couldn’t. A friend had to come and review the machine with me. But, the whole time, I read my quilting magazines and followed the textile groups on Facebook. I never lost my urge to create. It all started when I became an oncology nurse. Several of us were quilters—we responded to the hard experiences and death with the need to create and heal ourselves. Now I want to create to get though the disease experience of the past 18 months and the rest of my life with the autoimmune disease. I’ve been thinking of some kind of modern quilt that expresses what I’ve been through. I think you really showed me the possibilities and that I could do something for my art and myself. It may take me awhile to regain my expertise but I can have fun while I’m at it. Thank you for the inspiration! I included a photo I did with thread painting for my parents anniversary

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@becsbuddy, The thread painting is lovely! Were your parents surprised?

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@rosemarya Well, my father died during the time I was sewing it. I finished and gave it to my mother on their anniversary. I’m glad you like it!

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@becsbuddy

@rosemarya Well, my father died during the time I was sewing it. I finished and gave it to my mother on their anniversary. I’m glad you like it!

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@becsbuddy It really is a beautiful piece. You must need tremendous patience to do this type of thing.
JK

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@becsbuddy

@rosemarya Well, my father died during the time I was sewing it. I finished and gave it to my mother on their anniversary. I’m glad you like it!

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@becsbuddy What a sweet loving thing to do to honor your parents. That must have been very healing for you, and very special for your mom. It really helps the grief process to do something creative like that. Maybe you should do something like that for yourself too.

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Doing art does help heal my mind at times.

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@jenniferhunter

@becsbuddy What a sweet loving thing to do to honor your parents. That must have been very healing for you, and very special for your mom. It really helps the grief process to do something creative like that. Maybe you should do something like that for yourself too.

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It's a real gift to get along with ones parents.

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