Note
[1] Change Your Brain, Change Your Life:
The Breakthrough Program for
Conquering Anxiety, Depression,
Obsessiveness, Anger, and
Impulsiveness, by Daniel G. Amen,
MD (1999).
Memorial Garden—Plants on Driftwood
Memorial Garden—
Sun, Bird, and Spirits
Memorial Garden—
Driftwood with Flowers Through art, I have been finding out
who Ava Lynn Williams is. My art brings
me to life and gives me the joy of living
in the present.
Mélange art, made up of broken
things or what others had thrown
away, became a way for me to
express my broken life, mind, and
dreams. At MeadowHaven, we were
diagnosed and given medication and
therapy but we also were given
books, tapes, and classes about the
traumatized mind. Inspired by Change
your Brain, Change Your Life,1 I created
several pieces about the traumatized
brain. I created three-dimensional
pieces instead of paintings because
paintings reminded me that my life
felt flat. As I created these pieces, I felt
as if I was taking my trauma out of my
brain and putting it there before me.
Those feelings and images were no
longer inside they would not haunt
me anymore.
Three-dimensional art is still one of my
favorite art forms, but I have also
evolved to paintings, poems, happy
pieces with humor, and what I call
“Memoryscapes.” Art is my avenue to
allow the phoenix inside to rise up
from the ashes of defeat. The phoenix
is an icon for the goal of my art, and
to give hope to the hopeless where I
had once been. ■
22 ICSA TODAY VOLUME 4 |NUMBER 2 |2013 23
ICSA_volume4Issue2_Final 8/9/13 8:31 PM Page 24
[1] Change Your Brain, Change Your Life:
The Breakthrough Program for
Conquering Anxiety, Depression,
Obsessiveness, Anger, and
Impulsiveness, by Daniel G. Amen,
MD (1999).
Memorial Garden—Plants on Driftwood
Memorial Garden—
Sun, Bird, and Spirits
Memorial Garden—
Driftwood with Flowers Through art, I have been finding out
who Ava Lynn Williams is. My art brings
me to life and gives me the joy of living
in the present.
Mélange art, made up of broken
things or what others had thrown
away, became a way for me to
express my broken life, mind, and
dreams. At MeadowHaven, we were
diagnosed and given medication and
therapy but we also were given
books, tapes, and classes about the
traumatized mind. Inspired by Change
your Brain, Change Your Life,1 I created
several pieces about the traumatized
brain. I created three-dimensional
pieces instead of paintings because
paintings reminded me that my life
felt flat. As I created these pieces, I felt
as if I was taking my trauma out of my
brain and putting it there before me.
Those feelings and images were no
longer inside they would not haunt
me anymore.
Three-dimensional art is still one of my
favorite art forms, but I have also
evolved to paintings, poems, happy
pieces with humor, and what I call
“Memoryscapes.” Art is my avenue to
allow the phoenix inside to rise up
from the ashes of defeat. The phoenix
is an icon for the goal of my art, and
to give hope to the hopeless where I
had once been. ■
22 ICSA TODAY VOLUME 4 |NUMBER 2 |2013 23
ICSA_volume4Issue2_Final 8/9/13 8:31 PM Page 24
