By Rebecca Day For the arts industry, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Musicians saw incomes instantly wiped out when live venues were forced to close due to lockdowns. The film industry came to a screeching halt as production studios and sets shut down indefinitely. Countless…
By Jacob Devaney Art can heal us, inspire us, and alter our brain chemistry With so much talk about the evidence of the positive effects of yoga and meditation, you might be surprised at what scientific research also says about how art effects the brain….
By Mayukh Saha We can’t say that we are all artists destined for fame. But most of us tend to scribble doodles, write poems, sketch, sing or do something artsy. While there is a difference in the degrees of natural expertise but if you really…
By Mayukh Saha Kristen Meyer, a designer and prop stylist based in Connecticut has found her unique art form. She makes wonderful geometric flat lay art by just using organic material she finds. By using common things like egg shells, petals, pebbles, etc., she has…
By Natural Blaze There is a clear effect of art therapy on severe depression, University of Gothenburg reports. Previous studies have shown a direct effect that art has on stress – any skill level included! Another study takes a look at how art centers us….
By Heather Callaghan, Editor A Scottish sculptor has harnessed both nature and art in a majestic and bittersweet collision. Andy Goldsworthy creates transitory works of “land art” by carefully arranging leaves, sticks, stones and other offerings from nature. It’s not often that you see someone willing to…
By Aaron Kesel, Natural Blaze What It Means If You Are Sensitive to Music Here’s how music can affect your emotions and how some people are more sensitive to music than others. Matthew Sachs, a PhD student at USC published a study last year on music and neuroscience investigating people…
By Kerry McDonald How Schooling Crushes Creativity In 2006, educator and author Ken Robinson gave a TED Talk called, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” At over 45 million views, it remains the most viewed talk in TED’s history. Robinson’s premise is simple: our current education system strips…
By Organic and Healthy A company based out of Seattle ‘Artful Ashes,’ is helping people who are suffering from losing their loved ones who passed away by creating unique glass memorials. “These amazing pieces comfort your grieving, allowing you to hold and treasure your memories.”…
By Ariana Marisol These stunning aerial images reveal a sea of persimmons in Quanzhou city, China. Persimmon production is a vital way of life for the villagers in the Fujian province. Every year, locals use the strong rays of the sun to dry their fruits…
By Heather Callaghan, Editor Three Taiwan university students came up with a brilliant way to raise awareness about their polluted water reserves. By crafting real water samples into frozen popsicles that never melt because they fashioned them in resin. The dramatic array of colors and solids suspended in…
By Organic and Healthy In our modern lives, we all have some idea what success is supposed to look like. Unfortunately, that often means creativity dies – because it doesn’t fit traditional models of success. As a team of Madrid-based animators, Daniel Martinez Lara and…
Richard Taylor, University of Oregon Humans are visual creatures. Objects we call “beautiful” or “aesthetic” are a crucial part of our humanity. Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian roles. Although aesthetics is often regarded as an…
By Steven M. Demorest, Northwestern University A Hungarian film titled “Sing” recently won the Oscar for best short film. “Sing” tells the story of young Zsófi, who joins a renowned children’s choir at her elementary school where “everyone is welcome.” Soon after joining, Zsófi is told…
By Amanda Froelich Have you ever wondered what fruits and vegetables might look like if they were scanned underneath an MRI? Yes? Well, look no further! A project by Andy Ellison, an MRI technologist who works at the Boston University Medical School, reveals fascinating images…
By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness To begin for this week – I’ve been writing a lot about creativity’s role in the evolution of the soul, because it’s a topic that’s close to my heart. I’ve always enjoyed being creative; there’s an inherent sense of…
By Heather Callaghan The real magic of the following yoga photos comes from one of the world’s greatest underwater photographers of all – Elena Kalis. Enchanting doesn’t begin to describe her unique photography that honestly takes you into another world. The underwater yogis below are wearing…
Op-ed by Heather Callaghan Are “cute” bento Box lunches driving Japanese women haggard? Once, I impulsively stated that everything about the Japanese culture is cute. This was before the kawaii craze (meaning “all things cute” – sometimes to a disturbing degree). Someone replied to my…
By Amanda Froelich Until July 3rd, this installation – which is free to the public – will allow visitors to experience what it’s like to walk on water. Anyone may walk on the water whenever they please – which, granted, could be a little risky…
By Heather Callaghan Recently we reported the good news that the so-called stress hormone – cortisol – lowers significantly after just 45 minutes of art creation. Attention: that includes any kind of art creation at any age or level of skill. Cortisol is a protective hormone…
