Inspiration
Studio will be opened in the Church in honor of St. John of Shanghai and San
Francisco soon. This church is located on the territory of the National Applied
Research Centre of Mental Health. The lessons will target those who undergo
rehabilitation in this Centre.
This is
what the sisters who will hold the classes tell about the idea, about its
importance and various aspects.
Nun Martha (Matveyeva), icon painter and
artist:
— We
dreamed of having a studio like this in the church built on the territory of
the hospital for a long time. Finally, this dream is coming true: the church is
already built; a big and bright room where we plan to have classes for those
who undergo treatment and rehabilitation in the Centre of Mental Health has
been equipped. I believe it is immensely important and precious that the
classes will be held in this holy place, in the building of this wonderful
church. It is no coincidence that this church is dedicated to St. John of
Shanghai and San Francisco whose entire life was a vivid example of loving God
and his neighbors. Even now, many of those who pray to him receive aid and are
healed.
Our
students will master various kinds of art: painting, wool felting, paper
folding, etc.
I will be
teaching classes on paper art, which is a vast array of crafts, including paper
folding, quilling, origami, modeling, making sculptures from paper clay,
scrapbooking, and a lot more. I like working with paper because is a flexible,
light, and accessible material that you can use to make amazing things even
during one short class.
I have
already had experience working in the Centre of Mental Health. I used to teach
classes in the rehabilitation department and several other departments. It was
there that I noticed how meaningful and life-changing it could be! When we do
something together, we immerse into a special creative and kind atmosphere and
build mutual trust and respect. Our souls are relieved, and in addition to
that, thanks to God’s help, we manage to make very nice works of art.
I praise
God for having the opportunity to open our Inspiration Studio now!
Darya Yaskevich, a psychologist:
— Our
main goal is to give people a chance either to get well or to learn to coexist
with their illness, to be able to accept themselves and their illness. We will
practise various methods, primarily the means of art, to help people during our
classes.
Speaking
of the materials we need for the classes, I personally like the resource-based
approach, when you make things out of what you have at hand. It often turns out
that you only need cardboard and a black marker pen to make a whole lot of
things.
You never know in advance what you’ll use but we always need high-quality paper, good brushes, acrylic and gouache paints, and the already mentioned marker pens. We need wire, a lot of duct tape, and glue. We also need fabrics. Generally speaking, we will need materials that you can glue and paste — everything that you can cut out from and everything that you can paint.
Xenia Mamykina, a specialist in wool felting:
— When I
conduct workshop sessions in wet felting, I simply do my best to make life
easier for people.
Felting
teaches you to love working with your hands, doing handicrafts and
experimenting. Felting can help a person to get out of a difficult mental
condition that she experiences. Felting helps individuals to discover new
abilities. This kind of activity boosts one’s creativity. People start
tinkering with things; pieces of wool turn into certain objects and grow in all
three dimensions, and that’s happening right in front of their eyes. When you
do felting, you are not fully aware of what kind of picture you will make in
the end. These constant discoveries reveal one’s hidden potential of
creativity.
I don’t
have any science to back it but I can see that God helps us all, and it is
especially visible when we are all together.
Natallia Zhigamont, an artist, a teacher, and
an art therapist:
— The
most crucial thing when doing art therapy classes with people in crisis
situations and with those who are in hospital is a personalized approach to
each and every person. Fine arts can therefore be regarded both as a means of
communication and as a self-help opportunity. One should choose the kind of
activity that will help her to get distracted from her problems and to divert
her thoughts into a more positive channel. It may become an eye-opening lifehack
for some people, which will improve the quality of their lives and give them
meaning and purpose after they leave the hospital. Creative work is essential
for everybody. It allows them to seek and find, to change and never stop
improving. This is vital for those who, for a number of different reasons, find
themselves in a difficult situation and see no way out.
September 22, 2017
St.
Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION