Maricopa Lifestyle Magazine: The Art of Healing

Bent over her canvas, Nyah Larson puts the finishing touches on a painting depicting a cluster of prickly pear cacti set against a bright yellow backdrop where an emerald hummingbird flutters.

“For most of this painting, you can tell I was pretty peaceful,” she says with a thoughtful air that’s wise beyond her 23 years. “I’ve definitely made paintings that were really scratchy and I needed them to be scratchy.”

Her art studio is her bedroom floor. The room is brimming with stones, flowers, bones, sketches, macrame, and more paintings—many which she created. Countless others were gifts from children she’s worked with over the years. Growing up, Larson’s mom provided physical and music therapy for kids. Although art therapy wasn’t well-known at that time, it was an active part of the program—including customized coloring books Larson designed.

“I feel like art therapy was always in my life,” she says. “Art is therapy but, most importantly, it’s therapeutic. It can be anything creative that can be taken on as a therapeutic intervention.”

Read the full article HERE.