Colors in Motion

As promised, here is more information about Colors in Motion, a company I recently learned about from my time at the Boston Alumni Afta Work.

1) What is Colors in Motion?

Colors In Motion is an inspirational body of art that encompasses visual art, poetry, music, dance and movement, artfully synchronized into moving digital displays. Colors In Motion offers art that shapes the environment and captures viewers’ attention in our fast-paced world. From busy waiting/reception areas to peaceful meditation rooms, Colors In Motion is an invitation to pause, to engage and calm body, mind and soul. As a primary art installation, Colors in Motion transcends disciplines and cultures to integrate spaces and people. With today’s technology, Colors In Motion can be scaled to fit any environment, from the largest architectural spaces to the screen of an iPad.

2) Where did the idea originate?

In a 45-year retrospective of my art and design, I included a work of art consisting of 97 of my watercolor images, scanned, projected onto a large screen and synchronized to an original musical score. At that moment, I saw the potential of Colors In Motion, realizing that my 4” x 6” paintings could be so powerfully projected and so move this audience. Dr. Rick van Pelt, a former anesthesiologist and now Director of Global Programs at Partners Harvard Medical International, began using this work in his lectures to hospital staff and administrators around the world. Dr. van Pelt said:

“I have had the opportunity to use Colors In Motion by Linda Dehart in several national and international presentations on the importance of transparency, apology and support following adverse medical events. These presentations can elicit powerful reactions as healthcare providers are reminded about the emotional stress of these events and the impact that they have on patients, families and themselves. Closing the presentation with the showing of a segment of Colors In Motion provided audiences with an opportunity to restore a sense of peace and calm before returning to their hectic healthcare routines. Members of the audience frequently came up afterwards in gratitude and expressing the great benefit that Colors In Motion could have in the daily care environment for patients and care providers. Their responses convince me that Linda DeHart’s work will have a profound role in the compassionate transformation of healthcare.”

Frederick van Pelt, MD, MBA
Partners Harvard Medical International

These 97 images came from my installation, A Thousand Windows: A Long Walk In Beauty. This installation consists of 1000 of my watercolor paintings, arranged five per column, 200 columns long, on a 135-foot continuous wall. Inspired by Dr. van Pelt’s recognition of the healing potential, I revisited this body of work and created nine additional “sojourns,” using all 1000 images synchronized to ten musical works, creating a major work of art, Colors In Motion: Set of Ten The Human Journey.”

The Human Journey carries us through ten different healing moods, providing refuge for our minds and souls. Designed for the Health Care Fields, this New Healing Art Form is a powerful and accessible addition to the growing universe of therapies in the healing arts world. (See names and descriptions of each sojourn below.)

3) Why is Colors in Motion important?

Colors In Motion is on the leading edge of the wave of recognition and acceptance of the power of mind, body and spirit in healing and medicine. As stated by Anne Avidon, the USA Lead Officer for Healthcare at the British Consulate-General, Boston:

“In today’s economic climate, healthcare providers are increasingly required to demonstrate the value and effectiveness of treatments. Practitioners that incorporate healing modalities such as Colors In Motion into the care pathway will, I believe, demonstrate the greatest evidence of improved outcomes. This, in turn, will transform the way healthcare is delivered in the future.”

Dr. Herbert Benson published his book, The Relaxation Response, 35 years ago, opening the door to the acceptance of mind body medicine in the western developed world. In June, 2010, Dr. Benson followed with another book, The Relaxation Revolution. In this book Dr. Benson reports his research over the past 35 years, confirming the power of the mind in health outcomes right down to changing the expression of genes influencing our health.

Colors In Motion is an important new way to incorporate live and vital art into people’s experience of healthcare environments in ways that inspire, uplift and soothe patients, their families and staff.

In fact, Colors In Motion, by carefully merging several original art forms to engage viewers and transform spaces, helps people anywhere – while waiting in line, at airports, in hotels, doctors offices, in meditation rooms, at home or while traveling.

4) How have you incorporated your RISD education with your current work.

RISD prepared me to transition from being a fashion designer (‘61-’72); to opening DeHart Design Studio which created custom large-scale environmental artworks for atrium spaces and corporate settings (‘72-’91); to painting watercolors during my travels throughout the world (‘91 forward); and more recently, incorporating all my art forms are into the calming, yet evocative digital collaborations called Colors In Motion (2010 ongoing). I started Colors In Motion: The Creative Team in February 2010 and we are working with architects, developers, and CEOs to develop custom content that engages people, calms moods, and creates beautiful settings in public spaces.

RISD is an ongoing experience for me as well, through its excellent alumni services, including seminars like the Art of Business, alumni gatherings, alumni publications, and through activities in the larger RISD community.

I am grateful to have been so well prepared and trained that my art is my life, and I continue to use my art and skills, going strong into my 50th RISD reunion this October, with two new businesses: Colors In Motion (wwwlcolorsinmotion.com) and DeHart Art (www.dehartart.com).

5) You let me know you have hired RISD alums, tell me about that experience.

Colors In Motion: The Human Journey was created with five RISD graduates. I found them all through RISD networking!

I attended a RISD/Boston After Work in 2008 expressly looking for digital compositors and a graphic designer – and I found them: Andrew Lamkin (Film Animation Video ‘08), David Schachter ( Film Animation Video ‘08), and Liz Collins (Graphic Design ‘08). In 2009, I met Susan Bayley (Technical Illustration ‘93) at the RISD seminar series, the Art of Business.

As our Colors In Motion Creative Team was forming, two more RISD alumni joined us. Christopher Graefe (Young Artists Program ‘88) was introduced through Sue Bayley. Finally, Jeff Grantz (Industrial Design ‘98) and I connected at RISD/ Boston After Work in 2009.

It has been very creative and a lot of fun!

 

THE TEN SOJOURNS OF COLORS IN MOTION:

ONE Invitation: We begin our journey into places of inner transformation through the power of color, image, and sound; restoring balance in our wounded and over wrought being: toward Being Healed
Composer: Ruth Mendelson “Amazing Jellies”

TWO Growth: Images of life-sustaining clear water flowing from its source spreading through our lands into deeper still places. The music imparts a feeling of moving towards something that holds surprises, mystery, and discovery; all nourishing Growth
Composer: Blake Rowe “Convocation”

THREE “Mighty Aspirations” opens pathways to life experiences that shape our Being. We struggle, we accomplish, we crash, we mature, we become contributors in the Human Journey: Creation, manifesting and dissolving
Composer: Christopher John Curcio “Mighty Aspirations”

FOUR Rhythm, a Blues piece, comes from a place where being in pain meets a rhythm that helps in healing a broken heart. This journey is a meander through the abstraction of images, color, and intensity: towards Acceptance
Composer: Hiroaki Honshuku “The Arrow”

FIVE “Abundant Nature”: images with clear sounds of fullness unfolding into burgeonous growth, moving towards the light, supported by a healthy Earth. Generative cycles that include re-integration: Life and Death
Composer: Christopher John Curcio “Abundant Nature”

SIX: Letting Go: Tones of Shakuhachi, with the impermanence of moving images, invite a letting-go of worldly struggles, an emptying out of past and being receptive for the future. Through Contemplation and a return to being present we experience a powerful place to align with Nature, our own nature
Composer:  C.G. Deuter, “Amida”

SEVEN: Deep Resonance: Our loss, our sorrow, our pain, and our grief lives in the depths of our Being. These deeper feelings, Recognized and Acknowledged, can open in us an acceptance and a potential for greater compassion within ourselves and towards others. This music, harmonized with deep resonant images, provides a healing process: towards Resolution
Composer: M. Rimbach, “Deep Resonance”

EIGHT: Acceptance: Lifted by the light, moved by the clouds, and held in Divine Embrace, we learn compassion as experienced through our personal journey, feeling safety within; toward the One with all that is: Acceptance; Beauty unveiled
Composer: Deborah Henson-Conant, “Merceditas”

NINE: Creation: From Observation we can see far and feel our hearts open wide; expanding our appreciation for all that Is; in a place of Awe, Overwhelming gratitude fills our souls; all Creation expresses itself in Love
Composer: Gustav Mahler, “Symphony No. 5 – Adagietto”

TEN: Inner Stillness: Culmination of our journey encompasses wandering out from our source; worldly ambitions; wounded hearts; abundant nature; letting go into spiritual spaciousness; deep pain of loss; arising compassion; overwhelming gratitude – Love of all that is experienced; and a return home to our source without vibrato: Inner Stillness
Composer: Ruth Mendelson, “Cochiti”