Exploration of Watercolors

I made this in one of my art therapy groups that I ran a few weeks ago. It was a day when the directive was mostly to explore a medium, which was watercolors (one of my favorites). I don't usually do watercolor paintings without using my favorite pens but here is what I made.



Sometimes it's good just to stop using the markers and crayons. Markers and crayons are good, but it's easy to get in a rut and make the same things over and over. By just changing the medium, the subject matter will change and hopefully it will inform other (marker and crayon) work. Even if it doesn't, it's nice to break out of the repetition - or, at least, it is for me!

Another time (in a different group), we explored clay and sculpey. I wasn't quite sure where I was going with it but I really felt like it was a clay day that day. This particular kind of sculpey is interesting because it doesn't make your hands messy, but at the same time it is very hard and takes a lot of strength and endurance to make anything out of it. It turns out dealing with frustrating clay is kind of like dealing with other frustrating things... you just kind of have to keep at it, and know when to change your strategy. So much potential for conversation and metaphor!

Art therapy is so neat.