Art for the Heart: Creative Art Expression for You and Your Friends

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

This colorful, out-sized Girl Zone Book is lively and imaginative. It
proposes to take preteen girls on an amazing journey where the goal is
self-discovery. Through art, the girls are encouraged to express
themselves.

Suggestions for getting started include keeping a personal art journal,
and thinking of art as “a kind friend.” Seventeen projects suggest
ways to explore and express thoughts, feelings, and creativity. Projects
include making a “friendship necklace,” a device called “spiral
weaving” to commemorate friends and events, a “personality pot,”
and an “illuminated manuscript.” The “quilt for me,” a
collage-style self-portrait, can be made of paper, photographs, and
ribbons. The directions for making the projects are easy to follow and
the materials required are easy to find.

The text covers a range of topics, including art techniques (e.g., how
to use color and textures to suggest meanings and moods), supplies and
tools (e.g., the advantages and disadvantages of using certain art
materials), and art forms (e.g., weaving, mandalas). Its exuberant
points are made with numbered illustrations that demand attention.
Scattered throughout the book are Girl Talk sidebars that feature
girls’ own voices.

Author Mary Wallace is an artist and an art therapist. She is also the
award-winning author of many craft books, including The Inuksuk Book
(1999) and Make Your Own Inuksuk (2001). Art for the Heart is
recommended.