Prison Pink

What do you associate with the color pink? Love? Romance? Valentine’s Day hearts and flowers? Cotton candy or a baby blanket?

Truth be told, pink represents many pleasant aspects of life.

What if this color was used to encourage happy emotions and combat negative ones?

This is the thought behind a color psychology experiment being implemented in some correctional facilities. In other words, prison walls are being painted pink.

Why Are Prisons Pink?

Several prisons are curious about the affects pink has on inmates. Adding a colorful approach to drab décor, wardens and sheriffs hope to minimize aggressive behavior. One sheriff who overseas a detention center in Buffalo, Missouri says, “Pink is a non-aggressive color.”

Many color experts would agree, saying some shades of pink are believed to have calming effects on emotions. In theory, pink should act as an energy zapper, hopefully putting a stop to conflict before it starts.

What is the Shade of Prison Pink?

The popular prison hue is known as “Drunk-tank Pink.” The official title is Baker-Miller Pink (R:255, G:145, B:175).

Choosing the right shade of pink is important for this color experiment. As one color psychologist points out, “Not all pinks are created equal.” There is some debate over whether or not pink has calming properties. More research still needs to be done on which pinks prove to have soothing effects in intense environments.

Does Prison Pink Work?

Another argument surfacing about the power of pink is how long feelings of relaxation last. Some sources say the positive sensation will only last for a short period of time. It is speculated that within 15-30 minutes of exposure, the body will return to aggressive instincts.

Others believe that it is physically impossible to feel uneasy in a pink environment. One biosocial researcher claims, “The heart muscles can’t race fast enough,” in this type of setting.

Will this technique work? Can the color pink limit violent and aggressive behavior in inmates?

Pink may not create a utopian society within prison walls, but many facilities are willing to test the theory.

How does color effects your emotions. Have you noticed calming effects when in pink environments?

Read more Segmation blog posts about Color Therapy:

Art Therapy Treats more than the Heart

The Psychology of Color

Colors Change What is Beautiful

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The Expressive Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) was a Dutch painter whose Post-Impressionist paintings laid the groundwork for Expressionism, influenced the Fauves and greatly affected 20th century art.

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He created more than 2,000 works, including 900 paintings, three of which make up the world’s ten most expensive pieces of art.

Van Gogh was born in 1853 in Groot-Zundert, a village in the southern Netherlands. His father was a minister and three of his uncles were art dealers, two vocations that were to pull Vincent in different directions at various times in his life.

In letters, Vincent has described his youth as “gloomy, cold and barren,” and he left school at 15. With the help of his uncle, he was offered a job with the art dealer Goupil & Cie, and in 1873 was sent to London and from there to Paris. After complaining repeatedly about the commoditisation of art, his job with the art dealership was terminated and Van Gogh returned to England to work as a teacher and minister’s assistant.

In 1879, after failing a course at a Protestant missionary school near Brussels, Van Gogh began a mission in the poor mining district of Borinage in Belgium. Choosing to live in the same poverty-stricken conditions as the local population, he was dismissed for “undermining the dignity of the priesthood” and returned home. His behaviour over the following months led his father to enquire about having Van Gogh committed to an asylum.
Aged 27, Van Gogh eventually took up the suggestion of his brother Theo, now a successful art dealer, to focus on painting. In 1880, he moved to Brussels and studied at the Royal Academy of Art.

Van Gogh’s first major work, The Potato Eaters, was painted in 1885 shortly after his father’s death. Like many of his early works, the painting used sombre colors, especially dark brown, a preference which would make his paintings difficult to sell; buyers’ tastes were now influenced by the bright tones used by the Impressionists.

His palette however, began to change after he moved to Antwerp in 1885. He studied color theory and began using carmine, cobalt and emerald green. But it was while living in Paris from 1886 to 1888, where he met Emile Bernard and Toulouse-Lautrec and came into close contact with Impressionist art, that Van Gogh’s art really began to develop.

He experimented with Pointillism and painted in the sunflower-rich region of Arles with the artist Gauguin. By late 1888 his behavior was becoming difficult however, and fearing that Gauguin was going to abandon him, he stalked the painter with a razor before cutting off his earlobe and giving it to a local prostitute, telling her to “keep this object carefully.” The following year, after suffering from hallucinations and believing that he was being poisoned, Van Gogh was placed in the mental hospital of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole near Arles.

By now, Van Gogh’s work was beginning to be recognized. The critic Albert Aurier called him a “genius,” and Monet declared that his work was the best in a major avant-garde Brussels art show.

The beginnings of success did nothing to help Van Gogh’s depression though, nor did the intervention of the physician Dr. Paul Gachet. On July 27, 1890, he walked into a field, shot himself in the chest with a revolver and died two days later.

Although there has been much speculation about the nature of Van Gogh’s mental illness, he is now recognized as one of the world’s greatest artists and a bridge between 19th century Impressionism and 20th century art.

You can find a great collection of Vincent Van Gogh patterns to use with SegPlayPC ™ here: http://www.segmation.com/products_pc_patternsets.asp#VVG.
Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh

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Have fun and relax with beautiful online painting art. So fun and easy to use with no mess but just a mouse!

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Art Therapy Treats more than the Heart

Sergio Calatroni Art Room in Milan have customized a wheelchair for Italian art director Fabrizio Sclavi.

Therapies that use art have been popular for many years. One notable practice is color therapy. Colors have a strong influence on the human mind and encourages action in addition to guiding reaction, speech, and even attributes to higher-than-normal test scores.

But did you know that art therapy treats more than just the heart? It can help the body too. There are a number of creative activities, crafts, and art projects that stimulate the human body and result in a better functioning person.

People with disabilities know this is true. While having a disability can be challenging, its intensity is drastically lessened when people change certain behaviors that replace negative circumstances with positive action.

Having a bright outlook and light heart can take a disabled person to a new level of personal success. These qualities are available to anyone with or without a disability through the wonderful world of arts and crafts. This is because it keeps the mind engaged and encourages creativity, confidence, and basic motor skills.

Here are some arts and craft ideas for people with disabilities:

Painting

Painting is one of the best craft ideas for anyone with a disability. Because there are a variety of painting techniques available, one is destined to find a form that fits their capacity. Included in this group are, but not limited to:

• oil painting
• faux painting
• canvas painting
• acrylic painting
• watercolor paintings
• fabric painting

Painting can offer relief from the mental and physical pressures of having a disability. In the subjective nature of art, every piece created is beautiful, especially the pieces done with full concentration and dedication. A beautiful work of art also makes a great gift.

Make Greeting Cards

Creating greeting or thank you card is a craft that serves multiple purposes. This is a way to stretch artistic abilities and show caregivers and family members appreciation.

Cards can be made by using these materials:

• colored paper
• crayons
• pencils
• sketch pens

The efforts of creating a beautiful card is beneficial to the artist and he or she who receives it. In addition, it gives purpose to doing the craft project, which encourages the individual to see it through to completion.

Writing 
People with disabilities often have vibrant minds. Writing fiction short stories, full length novels, and even articles about living with a disability is a fantastic form of expressive art. It does not require any physical stress to the body and engages an individual in a long term, focused endeavor.

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Paint by numbers has always been a therapeutic activity. It engages the mind and body to work in harmony and guides the creation of an artistic masterpiece. They are not difficult to complete and as an individual nears the finality of the picture, an edifying masterpiece begins to emerge.

Seg Tech is a virtual paint by numbers program. This means that a disabled person is able to create masterpieces without having the physical capabilities of a non-disabled person. All they need is an adaptive mouse (if necessary).

Virtual paint by numbers merges the properties of number and color recognition in a way that stimulates the mind, while encouraging the individuals to commit themselves to completing a work of art. This offers people with disabilities 3 constructive qualities: Challenge, purpose, and a therapeutic outlet. It emphasizes the artist in each individual and encourages a sense of wellness only art therapy can provide.

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The Healing Power of Color (www.segmation.com)

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As an artist, you are probably aware of the effects that different colors can have on your state of mind and emotional well-being. In fact, in a past article we discussed the psychology of color and provided an overview of how each color can impact your mood.

In this article, we’ll take a look at color therapy, also known as chromotherapy, and how you can apply the basic principles of chromotherapy in your art.

Color therapy involves using, or meditating upon, specific colors to help you find balance and harmony, both inner and outer. There are many forms of color therapy, such as:

• surrounding yourself with a color that represents characteristics that you feel are lacking in your life, to achieve balance

• immersing yourself in a color that represents characteristics, or states of being, that you aspire to

• using colors to “cleanse” your physical body and achieve physiological harmony (such as practiced in Chinese therapy)

While color therapy was once regarded as a New Age fad, today the effects of colors on a person’s mind, body and spirit are well-documented. Even commercial paint manufacturers recognize the connection; some offer a specific range of paint colors that are designed to promote healing and wellness.

To utilize the healing power of color in your art, you can create paintings or drawings based on specific colors to bring about a certain adjustment in your (or someone else’s) mental, emotional, or physical state of being. You can use a combination of colors to evoke a certain state of mind. Experiment with different patterns and compositions and take note of how the paintings affect you.

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