Art Is a Way of Knowing: A Guide to Self-Knowledge and Spiritual Fulfillment through Creativity

by Pat B. Allen

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Author: Pat B. Allen

Publisher: Shambhala

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 1570620784
ISBN 13: 978-1570620782

Making art—giving form to the images that arise in our mind's eye, our dreams, and our everyday lives—is a form of spiritual practice through which knowledge of ourselves can ripen into wisdom. This book offers encouragement for everyone to explore art making in this spirit of self-discovery—plus practical instructions on material, methods, and activities such as ways to:

   • Discover a personal myth or story
   • Recognize patterns and themes in one's life
   • Identify and release painful memories
   • Combine journaling and image making
   • Practice the ancient skill of active imagination
   • Connect with others through sharing one's art works

Interwoven with this guidance is the intimate story of the author's own journey as a student, art therapist, teacher, wife, mother, and artist—and, most of all, as a woman who discovered a profound and healing connection with her soul through making art.

From Library Journal

An art therapist and member of the art therapy faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Allen gives excellent instructions on using image-making as a way to understand personal fears, dreams, and identity while giving us a look at her own life and image-making process. Especially useful for nonartists, Allen's text explains which art materials to purchase and how to begin a drawing or sculpture. Led into the field by the mother of art therapy, Margaret Naumburg, Allen tells the story of her life and struggles: coming to terms with her mother's death and her father's alcoholism, finding and understanding her feminine side, dealing with a loss of tenure and a change in professional identity. Through it all, she shows how image-making has helped her to understand herself, her emotions, her relationships, and her dreams. Allen has produced a wonderful book for anyone, artistic or not, who is interested in using art to know more about himself or herself. For public and academic libraries.
Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, Washington State Univ., Pullman
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Allen has produced a wonderful book for anyone, artistic or not, who is interested in using art to know more about himself or herself."—Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, Washington State University, Pullman, Library Journal

"Art Is A Way of Knowing has a practical, hands on, and experiential feel to it. It is like a guide book or a manual for those interested in self-exploration through creative activity. Allen persistently invites the reader to join her. I found her to be an encouraging and competent guide."—American Journal of Art Therapy

"Finally, a self-help book that is true to the passionate and turbulent movements of the soul in the process of creation."—Shaun McNiff, Ph.D., author of Art as Medicine

About the Author

Pat B. Allen Ph.D., ATR, is an artist and a registered art therapist who teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She produces workshops, events, and collaborative projects around the country and directs an online image community at www.patballen.com, where readers can post their images and writings, communicate with the author and one another, and subscribe to an electronic newsletter.