Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Doreen

Hi Monica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

I began drawing at five, usually of snow capped mountains with a rainbow in the back and a happy sunshine floating above. Bob Ross on the “Joy of Painting ” was my first inspiration and greatest teacher. His message was one of acceptance, kindness, and love, in addition to his magnificent skill set. He used to say, “Everyday’s a good day when you paint,” and he endeavored to bring joy to others through his painting. My profession today embraces what Bob Ross has taught me.
Looking Up Wellness provides therapeutic wellness paintings to hospice or long term care patients in a facility, or at home. They are mounted above the beds and mimic skylights, glowing in the dark to aid in end-of-life transitioning or healing all hours of the day. After my father passed, I wondered if it was his message I received about how to begin. I was driving back to New Mexico from Nevada and heard ” you will paint beautiful skies and put them on the ceiling.” From there, the research began, combining topics of science, art therapy, metaphysics, healing, and physical health. Research supports that the energy and intention I hold as the artist is transferred into the painting and creates a sort of “energetic companion” for a patient. Because the patient no longer feels alone, the nervous system is calmed because they feel safer. Now the body can heal faster, the mental state is eased out of survival mode, decreasing depression and anxiety. Studies show that those with art present heal faster, and need less pain medication than those who do not have art present. I couldn’t have gotten here without my studies in art therapy and counseling.
I moved to New Mexico on a leap of faith to obtain my Duel Masters of Art Therapy/Counseling after graduating from the University of Cincinnati. I attended the college of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) where I studied fine art, psychology, and art education. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, right down the street from where I attended college, but it was harder getting there than what one would expect. I came from a childhood where I was severely neglected and had to learn how to self sooth and survive with the help of my siblings. Growing up with a household income always under the poverty threshold, naturally, I started work as soon as I could. I was twelve when I came home to find all my things in black trash bags on the porch after finishing my job delivering landscaping flyers on my bike. My unstable mother had kicked me out because I had cut the pad lock off the fridge. I was placed to live with a family in central Ohio whom I had never met before. It was a culture shock going from Cincinnati Ohio’s School for Creative and Performing Arts downtown, to a small town with three stop lights and endless corn fields. I finished high school in West Liberty, Ohio where I was able to finally overcome my depression by realizing people of all walks of life can be incredible humans. Although this town was drastically different than what I was used to, a safe place and stability was provided. My heart is forever grateful to the kind humans who took me in and showed me a different picture of what love and family can look like.
At seventeen I graduated high school and took off back to Cincinnati where I could finally re-unite with my old friends and siblings. I roomed with two childhood friends and worked various restaurant jobs to finance college, oftentimes working 80 hour weeks in the summers. When I was a junior in college my mom was diagnosed with cancer and my dad had a nervous breakdown, and was never the same again. I found myself taking my mother to her chemo appointments in between classes. Around the same time, my siblings and I had to probate our dad for his own protection. He was placed in a mental health facility and medicated. Here is where I witnessed his decline rather than his recovery, and I felt the mental health system was doing a dis-service to their patients. I decided to pivot from teaching art as a career, and instead began searching for schools to study art therapy.
It wasn’t until I graduated from Southwestern Collage’s graduate program in Santa Fe, New Mexico that I realized I needed to pivot once more. Just as I finished classes I got the call that my dad was now in hospice in Kentucky. I flew home and was able to be with him those 8 days before he passed. I returned to Santa Fe and was sitting in my apartment feeling so blank. It was like a flame had gone out inside me. I realized that my passion for working directly with clients was fueled by my subconscious desire to heal my own father. Now that he was gone, I no longer had the yearning to work with clients directly. Was this all for nothing ? A few months later, I received the message about making the skylight paintings. I imagined if my dad had a painting over his bed, how much my family would cherish that painting, and now know it could have eased his suffering. There will always be obstacles and suffering in the world. I don’t believe it is about trying to “save” anyone or “fix” anyone, but rather, how I can be with and support others in a way that brings a sense of peace and love. In my experience, we are the only one’s who have the capacity to heal ourselves as long as we feel safe, supported and loved. I want to be with and support indirectly through my therapeutic wellness paintings to help provide this type of environment for others. The skylight paintings first began as a way to stay in the “here and now” and helped me grieve my father’s passing. Now, I am clear on how these paintings can not only help me, but also so many others in their experiences on this planet. We can’t eliminate the voyage, but at least I can help ease the pain along the way.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

It has definitely not been a smooth road, growing up in inner city poverty, and with a neglectful chaotic household. I was “homeschooled” up until age 10, which meant I opened my own text books for years on my own accord. I was at least supplied with the tools to teach myself with, and thank God I found them interesting. In order to go to public school I had to take the 6th grade proficiency test at a school in my neighborhood. The 4th day of testing I was riding my bike to school and got hit by a car. I was still on my bike while the car pushed me 13 feet into the parking lot he was turning into. The strange thing is, my mother appeared that morning to pray a prayer of protection over me, but not to give me a ride. I wasn’t harmed at all from the accident other than a bruised ankle and an annoyance that I couldn’t take my test.
At age 10 I went into the 6th grade at the School of Performing Arts downtown Cincinnati, and thrived. However my mother often would punish me by not allowing me to go to school for weeks on end, and I would retrieve my assignments by calling friends. If I missed my bus in the morning, my mother surely wasn’t taking me, so I would not be going to school that day. I somehow managed to maintain the honor roll. I was heart broken when I had to leave Cincinnati and go live in other homes.
Having to adjust to a variety of living situations before I ended up with the family in central Ohio was also extremely challenging. I bounced around first living with my Jewish friend from the performing arts school, then went to North Carolina to live with my uncle for about 6 months in the suburbs. Then it was back to Cincinnati to my dad’s place which wasn’t suited for me. Then finally to the family in central Ohio for high school. I was always working a job after school to raise money for my own driving school, my own car, my own gas, and then my own living and tuition in college.
Financing college was especially difficult. Because I lived with a family who was not my biological family nor an official foster family, I fell in a “special circumstance” category when filing for federal aid. They only had custody until I was 18 years old, so after that I was considered “independent status,” which typically isn’t a status for anyone under 24 years old or before graduate school. I had to get written statements from various parties to prove this “special circumstance” of mine when filing for federal aid. When the college converted their filing format from paper to digital, nearly everyone now applied for federal aid through the online portal. However, my situation required me to still file in person with the paper forms. I remember handing my paperwork to a woman in the financial aid office, but once the school year began did not receive any federal aid. I found out she never filed my paper work. I ended up having to take off nearly a year of school and wait until I could file again for the federal aid the following year. It was incredibly difficult always working to support myself and pay my own tuition throughout my academic career. Although, it is profoundly rewarding to know I have earned everything I have today.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I create therapeutic wellness paintings that emulate skylights, glow in the dark, and are mounted above patient beds. This can be for a hospital or long term care facility, and also for at home patients. It wasn’t hard to find the research on how art in hospitals helps. Patients with art present heal faster, need less pain medication, and experience less anxiety and depression than those who don’t. Those with artwork present perceive a higher quality of care and it actually boosts staff morale, aiding in a more effective environment for everyone. Further research shows that hand made artwork holds energy in ways that printed artwork cannot. The law of conservation of energy applies, (energy is neither created nor destroyed, only transferred) and the energy from the artist’s hand is transferred into the painting itself. A painting has an aura held in time and space that a printed image does not possess. My paintings are created while holding the intention of serenity and love and that energy carries over to the patient. This helps us understand why research supports that the presence of hand made artwork increases how safe a patient feels, as though they have an “energetic companion,” and no longer feel alone. Neuroscience, and Dr. Porges’ polyvagel theory specifically, touches on how our nervous systems are able to come out of survival mode when we have a companion present (or anyone we are able to share the load with). When our nervous systems are calm, the body is able to spend more time on healing and the mental state is relaxed. My therapeutic wellness paintings help dismantle that sterile cold feeling we all dread while in a hospital. Studies of the brain while looking at artwork show that viewing artwork gives the same pleasure as being in love.
Additionally, the paintings serve as a shared experience for the patient as well as family and friends who visit. The skylight images can serve as a talking point for bonding, and later as a shared memory of the recovery time or end of life transition. It can be an image of triumph and empowerment for someone who recovers, as well as an image to help a family grieve after the loved one transitions. Research shows that there is a need for a more continuous transition of care for those grieving the loss after the hospice experience. A print of the skylight painting from their hospice room in the home can aid in this transition. The paintings help one remember how to stay in the present moment in the act of looking straight up, rather than back (depression) or forward (anxiety). Studies have shown that when the patient experiences less anxiety and depression symptoms, the loved ones also experience less of these symptoms. Additional research teaches us that images of calm nature, from a biological perspective relaxes our nervous systems, which is why images of skies are so calming. My paintings are unique not only because of the intention held while they are created, but also in the way they glow in the dark. They are essentially two paintings in one, and the daytime transitions into night starry skies when the lights in the room go out. The paintings naturally charge on their own by any form of light, including daylight, and glow all night with the patient 24/7.
Artwork in hospitals isn’t new, but hand painted energetic artwork above beds that are able to be viewed all hours of the day, is revolutionary. These paintings merge metaphysics, fine art, and healing into a unique category of Wellness Art. The skies are relatable and able to be enjoyed by all people, transcending race, socioeconomic status, religion, age, gender, and culture. I am most proud that I found the courage to listen to that message I received about these works, and that the creation of the works can be so valuable to patients, and loved ones. I always felt gallery work wasn’t for me as an Artist, which is why I pursued my Duel Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I am proud that I have given myself permission to forge a non-traditional path that suits my strengths and abilities. My artwork has now found a profound meaning that is able to help others heal, transition, and grieve. The affect my art has on others drives me and my creative purpose.

What were you like growing up?

Growing up I was often left to figure things out on my own, wandering, discovering, and problem solving with whatever I could find. I was always an observer first, until I felt safe enough to join in. I was small, but I was scrappy, I learned to fend for myself with 5 other siblings and mostly absent parents. I was often quiet and curious until it was time to compete in any type of race or game, then there was a fire inside me. I enjoyed just being in nature and exploring, including the farm animals. I used to lay down in the middle of the cow “calf pin,” cover myself with hay and let the calves eat the hay off me. Or lay in the shed and let the new litter of kittens figure out what this human is in their space. I enjoyed picking the cherries in the cherry tree or helping my great uncle garden. There’s nothing like a freshly picked garden tomato.
I always enjoyed drawing and creating things. I remember I would try to master drawing whatever I saw and started drawing people. I used to look at National Geographics for images to draw and then found myself tuning in and hurting for all the suffering and poverty in the world. In general, I have always felt a pull and desire to try and ease someone who is in a less than fortunate situation. Growing up with very little resources and oversight, I learned how to be grateful, resourceful, creative, alert, aware, and self-determined.
When I asked my siblings how I was as a kid, they described me as bubbly, cheerful, and a deep thinker. They said I was “quiet but always wanted to be in the mix,” smart, thoughtful, made friends with everyone’s friends, unafraid when others were, and had a good manner. They also found me to be creative, “too clever for my own good,” funny, able to have a quick come-back, and “per pound, my fierce was very saturated.” From their perspective, I was never afraid to be myself and was a true individual by choice. When I asked my childhood friends they described me as brave, strong, authentic, intelligent, reliable, independent, determined, funny, happy, adventurous, fun, and a “bike hog.”

Pricing:

• 36″ x 36″ Oil Glow paintings for $5000
• 24″ x 48″ Oil Glow paintings for $4435
• I operate from donations and grants
• Commissions always welcome

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lookingupwellness.com
• Instagram: @Monica_Doreen_Art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MonicaDoreenArt
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI_W-PRVarM

Image Credits
All images were taken by the artist Monica Doreen.