Endings

I won't be volunteering anymore at the end of the month, so I'm not sure what happens next.  I made a calendar and put it in the art room so we could talk about endings, and how things are going to end in a few weeks.  It's scary.

It's also odd because the last day of the program (and my last day volunteering) is also Erev Rosh Hashana.  So my new year will start without this volunteer gig, something I have literally been doing since the day I got here in New York.  I'm really not sure what will happen next and it makes me nervous, but I am trying to see it as an opportunity to do something new...

Embroidery

I have really been getting into embroidery at one of the studios where I work.  It's fun, it's like painting with thread!  Plus it is incredibly soothing.

Today I did a demo at work with a bunch of different stitches, I don't know what they're all called but I know how to do them mostly from trial and error:

It started with the blue line, then the brown chain stitch, then the other stitch I don't know what it's called, and then combining stitches to make the orange sun and yellow star.

Fun!

Maybe if I get really good at it I can start doing designs on skirts and other clothes... I would love to do things like that to my clothes.  I have some skirts that I barely ever wear that might want to have some decoration on them...

Conference Success!

I recently got back from the 2011 American Art Therapy Association conference and what a great and successful conference experience!  The picture is of my table at the craft fair that I shared with someone from my program (I'm on the left with my pottery).  It was a pretty successful craft fair for me, and I made enough money to pay for almost half of a replacement camera off of selling my pottery alone.

Selling my pottery was really motivating for me - I charged more than I thought I should, and people seemed to think these were reasonable prices.  It was great because I think I would otherwise very much under-charge for my pieces.  Four bowls broke - four great bowls - so that was money lost, but I brought home the shards to use in my garden, so at least it doesn't completely go to waste.  Also some people took shards for their own art work.

I also presented my thesis again.  I actually had a decent crowd even though I was scheduled during the lunch hour and across from the Town Hall meeting.  People asked really nice and supportive questions, no heckling (which can happen, even from a crowd full of therapists, it's surprising).  My thesis (and a handout summarizing my presentation) will be up on my website soon so that people can access it and cite me in their work.  In general it was great to get my feet wet in national presentations, and I've got two proposals in the works for next year.

(What am I thinking?? I'm also planning to take the ATR-BC exam at the conference next year?? Clearly I am insane.)

Happy Anniversary To Me

Today is my 1 year anniversary of volunteering for this organization in New York.  Monday, July 12, 2010 was my first day of work last year, and it doesn't feel that long ago!  Since then I have run countless groups, seen individual clients, taken on more hours, started an art studio in a residential facility, created workshops, helped organize events and exhibitions, presented at trainings, written curricula, and made so much art.

It just so happens that tonight I've put together an exhibition/opening event for the art studio I started.  It's a pretty good anniversary because I don't think anything illustrates the amount of work I've been doing more than an exhibition, right?

I was about to post the flyer for the exhibition when I realized the flyer has client artwork all over it and I had to delete it...  But the name of the exhibition is "A Peek in the Studio: a show of in-progress work by the artists who live in our residence."  There will be awards, art making, viewing artwork, and of course food.

I also hope this show will revitalize the studio.  We've been seeing dwindling attendance, so I hope that we will get more people to start coming once we show the studio is a fun, relaxing, creative place.

Time to go back to prepping!

(This picture is the awards I made for the participants - each one will have the number of visits to the studio they've made, and anyone who has come at least twice will get one!)

Weaving

Tonight I taught my group about weaving after reading a tutorial about using cardboard to make portable looms on gingerbreadsnowflakes.com.  I didn't quite do it correctly but it came out well enough!  This is my square, it has some stripes, nothing too fancy.

Playing with buttons

Working on a mixed media project, doing some demos for clients, and this is what happened today.  Buttons, beads, embroidery, and some cool b&w fabric.

Professional Nerdiness (I love charts)

Because all of my hours are volunteering, sometimes I feel kind of low.  I keep a very detailed chart of my progress but tonight I made a graphic to show myself getting closer to my goal as a way to stay motivated.  I also calculated the percentage of the hours I've completed towards my two licenses - I am almost finished with 30% of the hours I need for my state license, and have finished more than 50% of the hours I need for my national registration!

Luckily, I married an engineer.  Everyone ASSUMES he is the nerdy one.  But I am an ARTEEST.  Obviously that makes me cool automatically, right?  Coolness came when I bought my first canvas?  Or pastels?  Right?

This chart is so awesome, and it just keeps getting more awesome.  You can get so much information quickly and easily (well, YOU can't, because you can't see the headers).

The graph just makes the info look pretty, like at a fundraiser, I can see the totals rising.  I hated the color schemes so I put awesome retro wood paneling on it.

NOW YOU KNOW HOW COOL I AM.

Coming soon... art?  Maybe?  Sorry for the intermission of art making, I am going a little nuts.

Mixed Media Inspiration Book

For a group that I am running I am working on a mixed media inspiration book.  I can't wait to write more about this project but it isn't finished being outlined quite yet.  It's very exciting, though!  Click the link below to see the whole book (the images were too large to post on the main blog page).

New Perspectives Directive (or: funky colors and waterspouts)

 In a previous post I showed you some fun pictures I took with my iphone camera of a random plant.  Well, the plant is actually the plant in the art room at work.  How that came about was I was waiting for a client who didn't come, so in the meantime I took pictures (something I often do when I don't know what to do with myself).  I chose to take some close-ups of the plant in the art room.  Then I realized if I took pictures with my iphone then I could email them to myself and edit them at work instead of waiting to get home!  I did just that, then turned them into the black and white images you see in the other post, and brought them to groups.

The first time I brought them to a group I just had them out in case someone needed some inspiration.  Two clients began coloring them in with funky colors.  Meanwhile, I traced one of the images and then colored it in with some interesting colors of my own.

I was really interested in how this came out!  Also what came of making this during the group was that people wanted to learn how to mix colors on the paper like I did - either with colored pencils (what I used) or oil pastels.  The result is that now I will be running a workshop on techniques for using oil pastels next week, since I think it is probably one of the most accessible drawing materials and a lot of "heavy handed" people may enjoy learning how to create illusions of depth, etc etc.

The second time I brought the images to group I pre-cut them into lots of random shapes, purposefully obscuring the image so it didn't look so planty anymore.  I then asked participants to glue one or two of these pieces onto a larger sheet of construction paper and then include those images in a larger art piece.  I said, think of these as the "seeds" for a larger art project.

My project ended up looking like a lot of waterspouts on a turbulent ocean.  I wonder what that's about.  It's probably the most violent image I've made in a long time, even though it's in all blues, greens, and browns.

Anyway, the group really got the idea of the project and ran with it.  It was great to see where people went.  I think pre-cutting the image really helped people move past its origins and try to make something new instead of relying on the original form of the plant.

In general I love using the xerox machine to warp images, so I may continue to stretch the plant pictures beyond their origins and bring them into the groups to have at it!

Superheroes Directive

Superheroes (Strengths-based telling of personal narratives OR developing a positive self image)
Date(s) completed: 2/8/11 - 2/22/11

Single or Multi Session?
Multi-session
Age of Group Members?
Any age (In this group it was adults)

Gender of group:Men and women

Number of members?
10-12 (any size would work though)

Type of site?Outpatient

Other relevant information about population or site?
Clients diagnosed with severe mental illness. The topic of the group is "Storytelling Through Art"

Materials Used?
2d

Describe materials needed for directiveOptional prepped materials included blank comic book strips (boxes on the page to fill with comics), speech and thought bubbles, pictures of classic superheroes for reference

Directive Description:
As many know, superheroes often have a traumatic or troubling past.  Many superheroes have witnessed or suffered severe trauma (Batman saw his parents murdered).  Some superheroes have something about them that makes them different from their family and friends and may have been rejected due to these differences (X-Men).  Superheroes use their experiences and transform them into something good - Batman protects the vulnerable citizens of Gotham, the X-Men protect other "mutants" from persecution and advocate for their rights.  It is important to note that super-villains also experience similar histories to superheroes, so it is up to the person whether they use their experiences for good (Batman) or evil (Joker).


In this project you will create your own superhero based on yourself.  If you were a superhero, what would your superhero name be and what would your powers be?  Who would you protect and why?  You can draw yourself as a superhero, make a comic book, or be inspired to do something else with the project idea.

Objective:
The goal of this project is to encourage the group participants to recognize their strengths (in spite of or because of their experiences).  For example, the creation of a fictional superhero may allow group members to see themselves as "survivors" rather than "victims."

Prior directives or prep work with group?n/a

Comments/questions/suggestions for improvement:
I thought this would be a one-day project but the group members really got into it, even the people who have a hard time focusing usually.  Some people weren't able to come up with their own superheroes but chose their favorites and made homages to them, explaining why they were their favorite superheroes.  It was pretty surprising (maybe shouldn't have been) how many fans of Wonder Woman were in the group - men and women.  There were a lot of metaphors that could be used for other groups - The Hulk was a great superhero for discussing anger management, for example.

Also, using this directive helped me win over a few of the male group members because I have a pretty decent working knowledge of superheroes.  I did some research on different superheroes' pasts, too.  The guys were impressed.  However, I felt it was also important to have pictures of female superheroes, which is kind of hard considering there aren't that many famous female superheroes (Wonder Woman, Bat Girl, Super Girl, etc), but the women in the group seemed to appreciate it.

love songs playlist

love songs playlist
(for the art room the week of valentine's day... and beyond!)

"somebody to love" - queen
"romeo and juliet" - indigo girls
"i feel the earth move" - carole king
"crazy for you" - adele
"goodnight and go" - imogen heap
"bizarre love triangle" - frente!
"head over feet" - alanis morissette
"i only have eyes for you" - billie holiday
"what i'm trying to say" - stars
"feelin' the same way" - norah jones
"we've got a groovy thing goin' " - simon & garfunkel
"you make loving fun" - fleetwood mac
"crazy for you" - madonna
"love is a good thing" - sheryl crow
"true colors" - ane brun
"i get lost (acoustic)" - eric clapton
"love song" - the cure
"your song" - moulin rouge soundtrack
"by my side" - ben harper 



OK ... there is a CHANCE I overthought this playlist, but here's the story I imagined when I put it together.  

A presenter is me

I've just been accepted to present my thesis at the 2011 American Art Therapy Association Conference!  How exciting!

The presentation is mostly going to be the same as my thesis workshop (minus the workshop part), but I might add a few slides to include questions/considerations that were brought up the first time I presented.  It's a 30 minute presentation, so not a full length "paper" presentation but rather a digital poster.  I was a little intimidated to do a full hour by myself, so this is the right amount of time and probably the right size crowd for my first solo professional presentation!

This, along with a presentation I'm doing next month with my supervisor and other intern at my site will help flesh out the "PRESENTATIONS" part of my resume - which is currently not there because I've only done the one.

This year's conference I'm planning to be all over the place.  I'll be selling my pottery in the marketplace, displaying work in the digital gallery, presenting, and will maybe even submit a 60 second film to the short film festival.  That along with going to presentations, the art studio, and maybe a workshop.  Because it's not too far I'll be there the whole time, instead of showing up Thursday afternoon like the last conference (Thursday morning seems to be the best day for presentations).  And I'll be throwing business cards all over the place because hopefully I will be looking for a job either in December or January once I finish my license.

Excited!

Eraser Landscape

I took an impression of the pieces of eraser left on the art room table today.

It was a lot. A lot a lot.

Some people demonstrate anxiety by
pressing down on a pencil or crayon really hard,
some people
color with a marker over a spot so many times that the paper rips. 
There are countless ways people demonstrate anxiety
with art materials.

One of those ways is erasing.

Erasing until the eraser is gone,
until it's just a nub. 
Erasing until there's a rip in the paper. 
Once a mark is made it's almost impossible to completely unmake. 
Must keep erasing. 
Even after it's no longer making any changes,
erasing, erasing, erasing. 
The eraser is ripped to pieces
and you blow the pieces around the table,
or maybe make a pile of them as you deftly wipe them off the paper like garbage. 
These little sticky white rubber pieces that aren't useful anymore,
not that they were useful in the first place,
at least after the first few passes.

The art room was empty. 
I couldn't resist. 
I saw a mountain range of pilled-up eraser pieces
and I had to have a picture somehow. 
I didn't have my camera.

So I gently laid my paper
over the mountain range
and rubbed with a pencil.

First, I rubbed lightly,
but it wasn't coming out how I liked
so I tried adding pressure. 
Then I just kept going. 
And the rubbing of the pencil
seemed to mimic the movement
the eraser must have made. 
A dance to honor the death of a once-useful yellow artist's eraser.

I made four xerox copies of the rubbing
so I could keep it
without getting graphite all over myself
(too late).

 

It wasn't enough.

When I got home I took an eraser and
erased the rubbing of the eraser. 
Erased, erased, erased
until I ripped the page. 
Then erased some more. 
It's very hard to erase a xerox,
and the eraser is useless
after the first layer. 
At first I thought I might make a design
but I realized quickly that was impossible
so I focused on simply erasing the pigment from the page.

Tectonic plates collided,
earthquakes formed a new landscape in the wrinkles of the paper.

I erased so much
the fiber of the paper cracked
and felt soft and smooth like cotton.

I stopped because my hand hurt and
I felt like what I was doing was useless.

After all that work,
all I had was a ripped sheet of paper
and a used-up eraser.


.

Art Room Ladies playlist

I am working on some playlists to bring to the different art groups that I run.  Generally, I don't put music with words on in the art room, but lately I have been rethinking that approach.  I started playing some Carol King in my women's group and I realized that sometimes songs with words have a place.  I've made an "art room ladies" playlist for the groups when we are making art about fun things, or making fun things.

Like yesterday, we are making fun sailor hats so that when we talk about what makes us feel special we can wear hilarious hats.  And I'd like for these hats to make a reappearance after we have discussions about heavy things, like what makes us feel angry or what makes us feel disappointed.

(I don't know if I mentioned this here, but we are working on a long-term project, a book about "What Makes You Feel..." with words like "special," "beautiful," "angry," "disappointed," "vulnerable," etc)



So here it is:


art room ladies
36 songs, 2.1 hours

Everyday Is A Winding Road - Sheryl Crow
Heal Over - KT Tunstall
Just A Girl - No Doubt
Dance Anthem of the 80's - Regina Spektor
Say Aha - Santogold
Finally Made Me Happy [Feat. Natalie... - Macy Gray
I Feel The Earth Move - Carol King
I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll - Leona Naess
Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan
Folding Chair - Regina Spektor
Better Version of Me - Fiona Apple
Halo - Beyonce
Sweet Rosalyn - Sheryl Crow
Come Round Soon - Sara Bareilles
Can't Hide - Sarah Jarosz
Four Walls - Charlotte Martin
How Sweet It Is - Joan Osborne
Record Collector - Lissie
Wish You Well - Katie Herzig
True Colors - Ane Brun
I Was A Daughter - Basia Bulat
Bad Body Double - Imogen Heap
Chasing Pavements - Adele
Hard Believer - First Aid Kit
Rhiannon (Single Version) - Fleetwood Mac
You Can Do It - No Doubt
M!ssundaztood - Pink
Miniature Disasters - KT Tunstall
Many Moons - Janelle Monae
Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine
Strange Little Girl - Tori Amos
Mr Zebra - Tori Amos
I Saw A Bird Fly Away Feat. John Pop... - Dar Williams
Out Of My Sight - Frente
Giggling Again for No Reason - Alanis Morissette
You've Got A Friend - Carol King

Defining Home FINISHED

I can't believe it's finished!

Read about the original directive, my birthday and first progress post, and the last progress post.

This has been a great project to do with my group.  A month may have been too long for some people, and maybe not enough for others.  For me, it was the right amount of time.  I got to invest in my project, but not become overwhelmed or consumed by it.  I worked on it for about an hour a week for the whole Found Object Art Month at work.  Today, I took pictures of all of the clients' projects for a big creative arts celebration we're having on Wednesday, and I have to say I am really proud of what came out!

Since I can't show any of their work here, I will just conclude this directive with my finished piece.  I may also write a formal directive outline for future use (and to pass along to others).

See the individual pages below the cut.

Richard Salley, and intention in found object art making

I found this image of a beautiful found-object jewelry piece by Richard Salley on vintaj.com, a jewelry website/magazine/blog.  The wrote that Richard said,

"...the thing about found object art is that the pieces themselves don’t have much value. The value comes from the creative process of putting those things together in some artful way" 

Yes!   He says he doesn't consider himself a jeweler, more like someone who can make wearable art, since he doesn't use any materials that have intrinsic value.  I love that.  That's really why I love found object art.  These materials are lowly pieces of trash (more often than not), but they can be raised to a higher level by the creative process of assemblage and intention.  It sometimes feels like a parallel process to art therapy work - that someone's challenges, set-backs, sadness, could be something they would want to throw away, but it can be transformed into something beautiful.

(Read Richard Salley's blog!)

Defining Home continued

Posting twice today to show an update of the defining home project (the last update was posted on my birthday).

I really like how it's coming along.  I like this project because I feel like I am really working alongside the people in my group.  Sometimes, especially when I get out the magazines, I am tempted to cut out pictures of flowers and pretty things, but I don't.  I'm trying to model the level of complexity and intention I am hoping they will achieve through this project.

I'm also trying to include other found objects, not just collaging and painting on the cardboard (although it's very tempting!)

In this end this project will have 8 pages (four physical pieces of cardboard).  We will be working on them for another 3 weeks, finishing on the last Monday of November and creating small write-ups about them for our gallery.

Happy birthday to me!!

Today is my birthday :) Hooray!

I am very excited to show you the progress on the "Defining Home" directive. I started this in one of my groups last week and now I love how it's going. The beans will be painted blue so they match the nest.

Maybe this is a boring post to you, but I am writing it the night before my birthday, and I have no idea what my birthday will bring (probably working in the ceramics studio and then going out to dinner). I also just got back from the American Art Therapy Association Conference in Sacramento, which I will tell you about a full month late in December - after Found Object Art Month is over.

So, enjoy the progress... I know I am!

"Defining Home" directive

I'm on the prowl for some good magazine subscriptions. Even though I read a ton of blogs, having a physical magazine to read, cut out, and share is exciting. Before my trip to this past weekend I stopped into a bookstore and picked up a few magazines.

One of the magazines I picked up was the Somerset Apprentice, which has some great ideas for projects and descriptions of new techniques. How exciting!

This directive, "Defining Home," was taken from their autumn 2010 issue. I scanned in the images from the magazine, but full credit goes to them and the artist who submitted the project, Bethany Kartcher. Visit her blog at creativeruminations.blogspot.com!

This project is perfect for an art therapy group, especially during Found Object Art Month, which starts next Monday! Today I prepped some cardboard pieces for my group. I love this project because it combined book making (which I love) with a three dimensional element (which many of the clients love). It's kind of like Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables, in that its form directly relates to its content. I hope it will be a hit.




I like what she wrote about how she came up with this piece:

"There is a definite spiritual component that is sometimes lost in the hustle-and-bustle of every day living. I created my Home Album to celebrate, and perhaps more importantly, define this intangible feeling." (p75)

Check out the Autumn 2010 issue of this magazine to see more pictures of her finished piece and to learn about the techniques that she used. I'll post pictures of my creations when they're finished!

Beads!

I promised to lead a bead workshop at work so I had better get practicing! I haven't made those sculpey beads in a long time, so today I experimented. I made lots and lots of beads, and even a pair of earrings.




They're all right, not amazing. I used leftover sculpey from the art room that was going to be thrown out, so I was limited on colors, but that doesn't really excuse the lack of design. I'll keep working on it.

However, I'm not sure how this bead workshop thing is going to work out. I think I will postpone it for after Found Object Art Month. It took three hours to make all of the beads, bake them, and string them. Granted, I made a lot of beads, but still, it will be more than a 45min project.

The reason I've decided to do a bead making workshop is because a lot of people make bracelets and necklaces but I wonder if they could invest more in their jewelry making. Some people have pioneered making beads or clay rings on their own, but when I mentioned the possibility of teaching people how to make their own custom matching beads people were excited about it. Maybe that's a December project, which could be made into gifts to give for Christmas (or "winter holiday season" gifts).