My call out for contributions to this edition of Creative Space was simply the word LOVE.
I was thrilled to receive Mindy Jacobson’s Altered Books art. Her images are beautiful and bold (and for our U.S members I deliberately didn’t say bold and beautiful!). Mindy’s art work is a journey of love, of abandonment, of re-invention of identity and purpose, of the emerging of something not previously in existence, of accidents and coincidences, of mylenated pages telling a new story.
I asked Mindy some questions about love and her art work. Here is what she said.
“Love is present in my relationships with others (humans + animals), and as a vital force in my daily life. I feel love when I am surrounded by nature, when admiring the changing sky, as I tend to my orchids, when I creatively cook, and of course when I make art!
Love is always present, and we just have to be open to it…to notice that it is there, and to embrace it.
Love enters my work through colors, shapes, and the layering process when I work in an altered book. I feel love as I am creating, and when I complete an art piece that embraces important life elements.
People tend to respond to the warmth and depth of the images as they connect on the altered book page. And yes…when they view my books they are often “altered” in that they want to try the process. Creativity is a common thread that runs through us all, only sometimes, people don’t “trust this.” When people share in the altered book process, it becomes a community bridge.”
About Mindy:
Mindy Jacobson-Levy, MCAT, ATR-BC, LPC, HLM PAATA is a board certified, registered art psychotherapist, and licensed professional counselor specializing in complex trauma and eating disorders. She is in private practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is also a mixed media artist. Within the scope of her art therapy practice, Mindy teaches altered book methods to clients and professionals, and engages in this process in her personal artistic journey. Mindy is on the faculty of the Expressive Therapies Summit and on the board of the Pennsylvania Art Therapy Association. She is co-author of Finding Your Voice through Creativity: The Art and Journaling Workbook for Disordered Eating (Gϋrze Books, 2010). She was also a contributor to the ISSTD treatment guidelines (2005; 2011) and has authored a book chapter and articles about art therapy.