Art Ed - Projects 1 & 2, Nature Walk

The class that I am in now is a little different than the rest of the art therapy courses. First off it is a undergrad course (it was a prereq for the program, and I am just now able to take it) and it;s focus is not therapy, but education. However there are lots of overlaps.

The first project we did had to do with symmetry, introduction and storytelling. We were to draw our name and then draw the mirror image (if you look closely you can see it they are the black lines). Then we were to make a monster out of our name and write a story about it. It was definitely a fun project and quite an icebreaker for the class.

The next project we did was a collage using our silhouette as a jumping off point. We were then supposed to express things about ourselves and create unity throughout the piece. In my piece I used purple, orange and green on the silhouettes because it is my favorite color combination. I then used pencil shavings to fill in the negative space to represent the artistic side of me. I later added the rose petal shreds to represent the romantic/relationship part of me. Inside the silhouettes I created unity with the patterns I created. I used sliced corks from wine to represent my friendships (they were all corks from dinners I had with friends) and I used small wire rings I created to represent my sculptural tendencies. I then connected this with a very flowing pattern using orange twine that I saw as a feminine quality. I almost forgot about the glitter... I used glitter to outline the silhouettes, and to help create unity as well. I love glitter. And although it is feminine, I also thought of how I had used it a lot as a metaphor for mself as a therapist, and this is what glitter represented in this piece. I wanted to give a feel of outdoorsy as well, and it was commented that this was very earthy, so I think that came across well...

And here are some pictures from our nature observations today. We are supposed to be looking for the principles of design in nature: Unity, Emphasis, Variety, Rhythm, Movement and Balance.

Experientials Vol. 35

So summer classes are starting. And my first class is Family Art Therapy, a whole semester in 6 days. Talk about intensive—not only physically but emotionally!

This first one was from the first day of class where we were supposed to draw our family. I wanted to do it abstractly and began to think about the strength of my family, and the bond between my mom and dad. I then thought about the love that they had for the three kids, and how they wanted to protect us from harm—to the point that some have said we were sheltered. And in protecting us from bad, they also kept some good things from getting in as well. Not only this, but it is also impossible to protect from all bad. I don't think that this is a negative thing at all. It just is...

And the next two were pieces done in relation to a chapter that I am presenting on about Humanistic Experiential Family Therapy. One of the therapists Whitaker said "There is no such thing as a person, a person is merely a fragment of a family" and he also said "Marriage is not really a combination of two persons rather it is the product of two families who send out a scapegoat to reproduce themselves." I thought that this was a very interesting concept, and so began thinking about how I could show the person being a product of the family, to the point that the family and the person are one unit. At first I thought that you could see the family in the person (as in the first drawing) but then decided that they should all be one, or merge from one (as in the second).

Experientials Vol. 34

Today was my last official day of classes (still have a final on Thursday though!) and we were doing a lot of closure, wrap up the end of the semester type stuff. In multicultural class, we had a drumming circle and then thought about our trip home, wherever that may be. We then created a talisman to help get us home. Mine was a bird:

We put all of our talismans in the center of the musical instruments and then they were called to maps of our home that we also brought in...

A picture of my bird by Kentucky!

In our group class we did a social dreaming exercise. We sat the chairs in a spiral, and spiraled into the dream matrix. My images were:

A swan swimming in a red sea, who turned black. A fairy then came and the swan disappeared.
A goldfish swimming in the sea, with bubbles coming out of his mouth and as it approached I realized it was not a goldfish at all, but a whale.
Cooking hamburgers in a park and a black bear approached us down a hill, but we were not frightened.
I am laying in a bed, with strong arms wrapped around me. I feel safe, and as a focus on the image, the people turn into a spoon.

It was really interesting to participate in this and see all the images that came into the dream matrix.

Experientials Vol. 33

Well the last official week of school is over, now just finals. I can't believe it. So the first several pictures are of a group project we did that is called the island. The big green paper and blue paper were laid out for us and we were told that we somehow got stranded on this island. Our story was that we were in a plane crash (LOST maybe?) Anyway, we then as a group have to come up with how we are going to live on our island. Our island has a communal living cabin, with a porch swing and towel rack, an outhouse with toilet paper, a cave that we found whiskey contraband in it, a journal writing area, a hot springs, a wine vineyard, campfires, drum circles so we can dance, a fresh water supply, a fishing hole, a boat, fainting goats, nice jelly fish, sushi and a tiki bar.

The girls and the island!!

Our house with the porch swing :)

The tiki bar

Journal rock (and contraband cave)

The outhouse

The vineyard

And this is a mandala that we painted in another class. Mandalas are symbols of wholeness...