Lilla Matheson Ohrstrom

About the
Artist

Lilla Matheson Ohsrtrom, MA, ATR-BC is an artist residing in The Plains VA. She is the Creative Director of Youngblood Art Studio (YAS). As such she is the artist in residence and primary art therapist at YAS. In her early years, she worked and exhibited in France. Eventually returning to The Plains where she grew up she continued to pursue her career as an artist while raising her family. Currently, she is focused on art therapy. She has developed YAS as a three-tier art and idea incubator, with a mission towards art and healing. The three tiers are: her personal art studio for continuous art-making, a therapeutic art space for healing and the YAS gallery, where art and ideas are shared.

As an artist, Lilla’s medium of choice is clay, but she experiments widely in mixed-media including metal, wire, plaster, paint, and paper. She identified herself as an artist when she was in Kindergarten and has stuck with it. For her, art making has always been a way towards self-expression, experimentation and a better understanding of the world. Over the years her figurative sculpture background has given way to looser interpretations of the world and expressions of internal experiences, but she continues to vacillate between figurative and expressionistic work.

As a teacher and art therapist, Lilla works with people of all ages and abilities, teaching them how to access creativity and to find their own artistic style. Nurturing her clients and students through art-making Lilla employs a variety of medium to support well being.

As a small gallery operator, Lilla encourages two to four art shows a year at YAS which may include the works of established and up and coming artists as well as her own work.

A Calling Insinuates Itself

2014–On

Lilla completed her Master of Arts in art therapy from GWU, has worked at Sibley hospital inpatient mental health clinic 7 West, and at A Place to Be music therapy for special needs individuals, as well as working with private clients at George Washington University (GWU) Trauma Clinic. She is an Art Therapist (ATR-BC) through the Art Therapy Credentials Board and has brought her practice of art therapy to Youngblood Art Studio.

In addition to completing her Master of Arts in art therapy, Lilla received certificates of completion from Thich Nhat Hanh in "Transformation and Healing: The Art of Suffering", under the auspices of the European Institute of Applied Buddhism. Lilla has 75 hours of generative trance induction work under the instruction of Steve Gilligan, at the International Association for Generative Change from Instituto Neuron, Barcelona. She has received Reiki I and II-level attunements. Her interest in accessing the unconscious mind led her to train in sand tray therapy and to gain certification and training in Harmonic Resonance Process™ (HRP) and SoulCollage®.

Lilla's first teaching began when her own children were small. As they grew so did she. Her teaching includes teaching George Mason students' study of creativity and nature. She currently sees individuals and provides group workshops at YAS as well as doing outreach. She welcomes opportunities to connect with all ages, nationalities, ethnicities, orientations, and abilities.

In 2014, Lilla began volunteering at A Place to Be (APTB), a music therapy organization. This inspired her study of art therapy by connecting the arts and healing. So, while pursuing her master's degree at George Washington University, she interned with A Place to Be to develop an art therapy program.

Today, A Place to Be refers clients to Lilla for art therapy at The Youngblood Art Studio.

1988-2014—The Foundation Story

Lilla built her foundation at Parsons School of Design in Paris, France where she studied painting, sculpture, ceramics, French and art history. While in France, Lilla studied classical sculpture with Cyril Heck, followed by an apprenticeship in sculpture with Austrian-born sculptor Felix de Weldon in Rhode Island. Lilla also studied at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After earning her BS in Sculpture from Skidmore College University Without Walls, (she navigated her education between France, Rhode Island, and New York), she returned to France. She was allowed "Année de la perfectionment" from the École supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg and space as the guest artist for a year in the sculpture department at The Strasbourg School of Architecture. Later, she took instruction at The Virginia Commonwealth University and The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington D.C.

Throughout her development and mastery of sculpture, ceramics, metal casting and art making, she has completed commissions and had solo exhibits in the United States and in France.

Memberships & Affiliations

The Washington Sculptors Group (WSG)

The American Art Therapy Association (AATA)

The Potomac Art Therapy Association (PATA)

The Mindfulness Practice Center of Fairfax (MPCF)

About the
Artist

Lilla Matheson Ohsrtrom, MA, ATR-BC, is an artist residing in The Plains VA. She is the Creative Director of Youngblood Art Studio (YAS). As such she is the artist in residence and primary art therapist at YAS. In her early years, she worked and exhibited in France. Eventually returning to The Plains where she grew up she continued to pursue her career as an artist while raising her family. Recently she has been focussed on art therapy. She has developed YAS as a three-tier art and idea incubator, with a mission towards art and healing. The three tiers are; her personal art studio for continuous art-making, A Therapeutic art space for healing and The YAS gallery, where art and ideas are shared.

As an artist, Lilla’s medium of choice is clay, but she experiments widely in mixed media including metal, wire, plaster, paint, and paper. She identified herself as an artist when she was in Kindergarten and has stuck with it. For her, art making has always been a way towards self-expression, experimentation and a better understanding of the world. Over the years her figurative sculpture background has given way to looser interpretations of the world and expressions of internal experiences, but she continues to vacillate between figurative and expressionistic work.

As a small gallery operator, Lilla encourages two to four art shows a year at YAS which may include the works of established and up and coming artists as well as her own work.

A Calling Insinuates Itself

2014–On

Lilla completed her Master of Arts in art therapy from GWU, has done over 1,000 art therapy internship hours, which includes having worked at Sibley hospital inpatient mental health clinic 7 West, and at A Place to Be music therapy for special needs individuals, as well as working with private clients at George Washington University (GWU) Trauma Clinic. She is an Art Therapist (ATR-BC) through the Art Therapy Credentials Board. She has now brought her practice of art therapy to Youngblood Art Studio.

Today, A Place to Be refers clients to Lilla for art therapy at The Youngblood Art Studio.

1988-2014—The Foundation Story

Throughout her development and mastery of sculpture, ceramics, metal casting and art making, she has completed commissions and had solo exhibits in the United States and in France.