Here's A Video To Make Someone Smile

Hi Everyone,

I thought I’d share a cute video that seemed to put a smile on a lot of faces —even normally grouchy ones. (LOL) My goal when making videos and art is to help create health, healing, and happiness in others. Enjoy!

Life Threatening Illness and Evidence-based Art

Have you ever had a life threatening illness? Most of my life was major illness free and then—WHAM!—I ended up in the hospital with 2 major operations within 30 days. It was no picnic, and it took me over a year to recuperate.

From this experience, I learned on a life-or-death level about fears of dying, overcoming physical trauma, fighting for hope, and the need for real evidence-based art. Real evidence-based art uses design principles based on “real medical studies” for human health and healing.

I went on to become EDAC (Evidence-based Design Certified), and often when I paint, my goal is to create beautiful, happy art that soothes and relaxes—but also stimulates. In the recovery process, it’s important to heal (rest and relaxation) but also essential to stay upbeat and in motion (stimulated) for recovery.

Here’s another evidence-based art video for you!

An Artist, EDAC Certified, and A Business Plan

People don’t normally associate artists with business plans—but I have one—and my business plan makes EDAC a foundational part of it.

“EDAC stands for Evidence-based Design Accreditation and Certification.  It is a program that has established new standards for individuals who are using an evidence-based design process for healthcare building projects.” (which includes art)

Some people say EBD (Evidence-based Design) is an “old hat” concept. They say design professionals have been using research to guide their decisions for years and years. 

This is true, and in the 6th century BCE, the Asclepieion hospital in Ancient Greece, which included patient rooms facing eastward to promote healing, may have perhaps used some form of “old hat” research. Today, however, Evidence-based Design has a new focus which not only considers evidence but “strong” evidence.

Other critics say EBD employs “cook book design” strategies. They say decisions made using the Evidence-based Design process focus too much on evidence and not enough on experience or imagination. I once freely created wild abstract art where colors of death (black or white) and pours of blood (red) and the hideous or representational woes of society came together in an image—BUT NOW I DON’T. 

I made a choice—especially since today’s “evidence” shows credible connections between design (which includes art) and positive health outcomes. My “chosen” artistic style/brand is a mixture of landscape and an abundance of flowers, which falls directly inside the type of art connected to positive health outcomes. 

If anything, I think using Evidence-based Design has made me a better artist—not just for myself but for the health, healing and happiness of others. 

Why I Call My Paintings "Evidence-based" Restorative/Healing Art!

I’d like to talk today about “evidence-based” restorative/healing art. Lately, I’ve noticed more and more people (a few art pros, too) who are claiming many paintings are “healing” works of art, but after looking at the pieces (sometimes with daggers and dripping blood and twisted heads or totally “abstract” images), I’ve started to wonder if they’ve actually read (which I do) the “medical outcomes” research and if they really understand the depth of the psychological and emotional wounding that almost always occurs when patients and their families are dealing with major illnesses. 

Before I even began calling my paintings “evidence-based,” I first did extensive research on what the exact requirements and qualifications were in this category of art. Research from “actual studies done” in Norway, England, the US, and other countries, shows there’s a general patient preference for landscapes (regional, generic, or seasonal); waterscapes (regional, generic, or seasonal); florals (garden or bouquet styles); still-life (but used sparingly for variety); and a “whole host” of other detailed requirements. 

Some of these “whole host of details” to consider before claiming a work of art is “evidence-based” also includes things like waterscapes to be calm or non-turbulent; landscapes to have visual depth, open foreground, trees with broad canopy, verdant vegetation, and positive cultural artifacts; flowers to look healthy and fresh, familiar in shape; and the background knowledge to do this kind of painting goes on and on and on. To say a work of art is “evidence-based” first requires knowing and meeting the requirements of the “evidence-based” studies. 

The other thing I consider when painting is the depth of the psychological and emotional wounding that almost always occurs when patients and their families are dealing with major illnesses. Sitting in a hospital or home recovery room with full of force and impact “abstract” art on the wall or having to have to look at—especially just after having your body “penetrated” by a medical procedure—the powerful and penetrating colors of black and red (and to make it worse images shaped like daggers or pours like dripping blood) is the total opposite of what’s needed for health, healing and happiness.

I don’t have all the “evidence-based” art answers, but I do try to know many of them, and I know people (many of them cancer survivors) tell me—all the time—how the paintings I create for this market make them feel happy, healthy, and full of hope!

(For some of the information in this blog, I would like to give credit to NOAH Resources and The Center For Health Design.)

A Garden of Hope And Happiness by dorotheasandra.com (Acceptable as evidence-based art.)

Hopeful Happiness by dorotheasandra.com (Acceptable as evidence-based art.)

Hope by dorotheasandra.com (Acceptable as evidence-based art.)

Visual Dynamite From An Interior Designer

The art of interior designing has always amazed me. As an acrylic artist, I mostly work on canvas rectangles or squares from 11”x14” to 5’x 8’ but interior designers often have to consider WHOLE ROOMS…ENTIRE AREAS…ENORMOUS SPACES! How cool is that?

Recently I had a really awesome “How Cool Is That?” online experience with a designer I had never met. Here’s the story:

“As I usually do, I got on Instagram early in the morning to see what’s new. I noticed one of my paintings got a LIKE from a design company I didn’t know, so I clicked on it. Wow!  Was I blown away!  Pamela Hope Designs pamelahopedesigns.com had posted a photo of the coolest mahjong sofa set I had ever seen. Hyper-vivid reds, greens, yellows, super cool patterns, all arranged Asian style! It was like visual dynamite going off inside my head, so I clicked on her website link for more—and I wasn’t disappointed. What a lovely site! What talent! (You’ve got to check her out!) I went from photo to photo to section to section until I ended up at her blog. Her 2020 predictions were to “go bold with color” and “blues and greens” would be popular this year.  So impressed with Pamela’s blog, beautiful website, and color selections, I decided to make green my other “it” color in a painting on which I was working.  What I didn’t know—which is what makes this story so cool —is after I had added all the green flowers to the painting, I found out my business manager had sent Pamela an intro to our studio letter and she also liked dorotheasandra.com enough to start following my work on Instagram. Hurrah for social media and destiny and fabulously talented interior designers!”

Here’s a photo of the painting “BEFORE” being influenced by Pamela Hope Designs.

What a “blah” beginning “BEFORE” being influenced by Pamela Hope Designs!

Here’s the same painting “AFTER” reading Pamela’s blog. See how her “interior designer” talent added to this painting getting more POP! 

The “greens” definitely added POP and gave it more credibility as an “evidence-based” restorative/healing work of art.

Here’s the finished painting! Heartfelt Happiness by dorotheasandra.com. Acrylic on 36” x 48” heavy duty gallery wrapped canvas. Can you see the heart shape inside the painting? Can you see how much Pamela O’Brien at pamelahopedesigns.com had a big impact on my art? How cool is that!

Is Creating Art For Health, Healing and Happiness Science or Mysticism?

Hopeful Happiness by dorotheasandra.com

Is creating art for health, healing and happiness science or pure mysticism? I think we’ve come a long way in “evidence-based” art design. For many hospitals or medical facilities “evidence-based art” is the only way to go. It isn’t just about an artist creating something for artistic impact, it is art based on the scientific analysis of the impact of art on healthcare environments, on patients, and on staff. This isn’t mere mysticism. This involves art based on rigorous scientific studies and a reporting of their outcomes.

When I create art for health, healing and happiness, I draw from my knowledge of what makes up “evidence-based” restorative/healing art, and I try to put myself in the position of the individuals purchasing art for these reasons. I often imagine myself as an interior designer tasked with an important job or as a healthcare art consultant responsible for making major decisions impacting the health and well-being of so many people.

“Evidence-based” restorative/healing art carefully considers colors and subject matter and overall impact on its viewers. It takes a viewer’s state or situation into consideration and tries to keep it positive and—if the viewer is not doing well—perhaps even turn it around.

Whether working on a 5’x8’ canvas or 9”x12” print, the feeling of HOPE is something I try to build somewhere inside most of my art. I try to create art that people look at and say, “This painting is so cheerful. It makes me feel happy. No matter how difficult my situation might be at this moment, these colors and shapes and Nature-based subject matter (high in the “evidence-based” criteria) create inside me a feeling of HOPE.

For me, this kind of art isn’t about artistic whims or muses or mysticism. It’s all about relying on “evidence” and using my talent/creativity to create health, healing and happiness!

Great Lakes Singing by dorotheasandra.com

HOW “POSITIVE” MODERN ART HEALS

24”X36” Acrylic Painting on Heavy Duty Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Love Along The Lake by dorotheasandra.com

I fell in love with Lake Huron when I was a teen. Like a lover, it grabbed my heart and spoke to me. I’ve visited the other Great Lakes, which seem equal in beauty and majesty, but they feel more like a brother or sister to me. Whenever I walk along the shores of Lake Huron, the Spirit of Love finds me and greets me!

When I can’t get to the lake, which isn’t often, I surround myself with real art with real power, which brings me closer to Nature’s love and healing powers. Eco-therapists tell us that time spent in Nature reduces stress, improves our mood, and even increases the flow of energy within us. Some even say being in Nature has the power to lengthen life. Studies, of which there are many, show that people with easy access to Nature have fewer health complications and remain a lot healthier.

But what if we can’t make it out to the Great Outdoors? What if our lives exist in a busy metropolitan area surrounded 24/7—at least on most days— by smartphones, tablets, computers and all the other technologies we have come to depend on and perhaps even love?

Actually, real art—not just some artsy wall decoration—with real power can help. The colors in this painting were handpicked to create happiness. They were specifically chosen to calm and soothe and reduce stress. The browns reconnect us back to the land, which provides comfort and safety to many. The greens remind us of life and food which, from the beginning of human existence, nourished and kept us alive. The blue lake in the background speaks to us and tells us we are one with the planet and all is well.

Real art with real power doesn’t stand a chance next to Real Nature, but it certainly can bring many healing gifts to those with this type of art on their walls.