Mia Clarke has has had a deep interest in the creative arts from a young age and has a love for discovering new ways to develop and deepen creativity.
Studies have shown that there is a strong link between creativity and how it can help brain development and increase overall health.
With that in mind, Mia has created a line of books help foster and develop creativity in children through the display of artistic renderings of commonly recognized objects.
Children have a wonderful capacity for learning and developing creativity can be much easier while they are young rather than later on in life.
As we have come to discover, doing simple things like just looking at art or the simple act of drawing will produce exceptional benefits. Art has been used to heal emotional wounds, to reduce symptoms of psychological illness, to enhance understanding of self/other and to change thoughts and behaviors according to research (Camic, 2008). A recent review published by World Health Organization has reported that all forms of art have proven to be useful in prevention and intervention for mental disorders, non-transmittable physical diseases and other neurological conditions (Fancourt & Finn, 2019).
Drawing and being involved in various forms of Art offer exceptional benefits for both physical and mental health. According to research, doodling can improve attention, memory and ability to recall (Andrade, 2010). Art projects have been found to reduce symptoms of anxiety resulting from academic pressure (Aaron, Rinehart & Ceballos, 2011). Beyond that, art therapy has also been found to alleviate symptoms of anxiety in individuals suffering from heart diseases. In addition to this, Art therapy has also found to reduce symptoms of depression among people suffering from mild to moderate depression (Zubala, MacIntyre & Karkou, 2017). Art and developing a level of creativity also helps fight dementia (Hannemann, 2006). Art can also help people express their traumatic experiences that are difficult to express in other ways.
Art offers benefits for physical health as well. According to Matthew Solan (Executive Editor of Harvard Men’s Health Watch), art can alter pain perception diverting the focus of individuals away from the current pain they feel. He went on to say that it is not simply a distraction but rather an effective way of learning to not let pain control your emotions. Moreover, art therapy has been found to improve the quality of life in cancer patients by reducing their stress symptoms. The same benefits have been shown for asthma patients. According to research, art therapy also alleviates depression symptoms stemming from Parkinson’s disease.
In short, taking part in virtually any form of art art (even simple activities such as drawing or looking at art) can directly improve mental health by strengthening cognitive functions and alleviating symptoms of psychopathology. With it’s ability to influence perception and physiological processes it has physical health benefits as well.
And it is with this in mind that we’ve created these books.
From the artistic paintings and renderings with bright, vibrant colors that the showcase the subject matter, to the facts listed about the subject we’ve tried to make this as fun a learning opportunity as possible.
References
Aaron, R. E., Rinehart, K. L., & Ceballos, N. A. (2011). Arts-based interventions to reduce anxiety levels among college students. Arts & Health, 3(01), 27-38.
Andrade, J. (2010). What does doodling do?. Applied Cognitive Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 24(1), 100-106.
Camic, P. M. (2008). Playing in the mud: Health psychology, the arts and creative approaches to health care. Journal of Health Psychology, 13(2), 287-298.
Fancourt, D., & Finn, S. (2019). What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being. A scoping review. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe.
Hannemann, B. T. (2006). Creativity with dementia patients. Gerontology, 52(1), 59-65.
Zubala, A., MacIntyre, D. J., & Karkou, V. (2017). Evaluation of a brief art psychotherapy group for adults suffering from mild to moderate depression: Pilot pre, post and follow-up study. International Journal of Art Therapy, 22(3), 106-117.