Art Saves Lives: The Sanity in My Crayola Box and on my Screen

I’ve shared in other posts my love for coloring and using free form art as a calming practice for myself and my kids. I want to share a bit on the use of color to enhance/change/affect moods.

Great home decor specialist know this but did you know that research has indicated that color in the visual environment is important because of its powerful impact on the brain? One study attempted to see if colors in the environment had any influence on children’s learning capacity. Several classrooms with low ceilings were painted in different colors. IQ tests were given before placing students into different colored rooms. Students who were placed in light blue, yellow, yellow-green, and orange environments increased their IQ scores by 12 points on average. Those placed in white, black or brown rooms made lower scores when given new IQ tests (Katt, 1997).

Scientists, who have have studied color and light extensively, recognize that colors bring about emotional reactions to individuals. Overall, researchers have found that bright colors tend to increase creativity and energy. Dark colors, conversely, lower stress and elicit feelings of peacefulness. The colors yellow, light orange, beige, and off-white are useful for optimal learning because they seem to stimulate positive feelings (Brain-based learning, n.d.).

Reactions and attitudes to colors differ from person to person. Our attraction to certain colors may very well signal areas where we are imbalanced. Understanding why certain colors effect us favorably while others bring about negative feelings helps us along our healing journeys.

Check out Luscher’s Color Test. Based on your results, is there a color you want to add to your environment, wardrobe, CONSCIOUSNESS?

So maybe we can’t easily paint a wall or buy different clothes, here’s a cool, easy exercise you can do almost anywhere at anytime:
1) Go to Google or your search engine of choice.
2) Query your color of choice (based on your need for that moment; for instance I’d choose RED if I knew I had a busy day ahead and I wanted a boost of energy.)
3) Select “Images”
4) SURPRISE! You have a beautiful and stimulating page of RED images that you can screen capture and print or use as a screen saver to meditate on and absorb.

Want step it up even further? Multicolr Search Lab offers a simple way of finding images based on a color or color combination you’re looking for. See the fantastic results below for images that I felt would inspire me to work out after writing this post…