Day 3: Creativity In A Can...Two to Be Exact

 

It's been a long, tiring week. My brain is fried due to the emotional drain from patients and families and little to no sleep created by doing homework for my Clinical III. About the only creativity I could muster was today was combining these two cans from my cubboard for a "creative"evening dinner. This artist is living on the edge today, as always! 

Do you ever try and "switch up" from two or more existing items to create a unique solution? What types of premium "solutions " have you created and how did that work out?   

Blessings and love,
D.  

Day 2: A Playful Immersion Into Texture Bliss

This "playing" is really fun! I chose to take one of my snowflakes from yesterday and do a little exploring with various filters and additional layers of various textures in Photoshop. 

I allocated just over an hour to these babies...since that was the time I had and I am just going with it. There are some fun things happening here, don't know where they will go. 

These might be backgrounds for some more elaborate digital art or some might stand alone...hmmmm...we shall see where the energy of creative play leads! Not a verbally saturated blog post, but I am letting the images speak for themselves...AND of course anyone that wants to comment can also add a voice to this blog. 

What are your thoughts on these? Do they create any feelings or emotions within you when you look at them? I am curious?   

Feedback if you please!

Blessings and much love,

D.

AEDM 2010...Day One

Well... I have jumped into this Create Art Every Day Month again this year. If you remember, at least for those that were reading my blog last year, that was year one for me. This is year two. Yes, I had that much fun! Leah Piken Kolidas at Blue Tree Art Gallery does a great job of rounding up a bunch of "crazy artist" types, like me, to participate in a month long ritual of creating art every day each November. She has been doing this for 8 years now she reveals on her website. Great idea Leah!

I was super scared of the deadline of having to create art every day, take photos and/or uploading it to my blog and then actually blogging about the art and the experience. I stressed myself out last year thinking that I had to compete with all those other great artists out there that were also challenging themselves this month. I clicked on their posts and saw all the great art that others were posting and blogging about and I felt inadequate, or at the very least, incapable of keeping up with all the time consuming tasks of posting and blogging everyday even if I WAS able to get some art in. Last year I was unemployed during this event and I STILL had problems with time. NOW, I have been successfully employed as a full-time Hospice social worker...and I am STILL in school...this leads to even less time this year. You might be affirming to yourself at this moment, that yes...she IS a "crazy artist type"!

My Strategy This Year

I am being a little less anal this year (can I say that on my blog? Well, it is my blog...and I guess I could say worse things right?). I am just going to do a bit of creative work each day, maybe it will be 15 minutes on a painting every day for a week, or maybe it will be a doodle, or maybe it will be a creative thought I had about something I could do in the future etc. I am not going to have a preconceived plan and an agenda of deadlines looming before me. I have too many of those already in my life with work and grad school. This is supposed to be fun, so here I go. I might post each day, I might post every few days, or if I feel like it, I might only post at the end of the week. Like I said, I am going with the flow as it hits me. Much more laid back this year...at least that is the plan. We will see where it gets me.

Day One Doodles

I found this website that allows you to make really cool snowflake designs and I played around in the early hours of the morning...actually for me it was a continuation of the night before when I was still up doing homework until 1:00 p.m., but then decided I needed to play and loosen up a little bit before  undertaking this challenge. I wanted to set the theme of "play" for myself. I had a good time and I got some cool designs with it. Don't worry, I am not wishing that winter will arrive by exploring snowflake creation, I just was having some fun and relaxing. That is the plan for this month's creativity.

I would love to hear about your experiences with this, drop in and leave a comment and say hello. Even a vote of confidence and support would be nice. Do you ever take time to just play? Do you doodle or does all of your artwork have to be something "serious" and "well executed"? Do you have a hard time loosing up when you work? I do, and that is why I am going this route this month.

I will try and say hello to the other AEDM participants at some point during this "crazy artist" month and see what other "crazies" are out there!

Blessings and love,

D.

Oh my Gosh! Has it been 6 Months!

Here's a toast to learning to accept ourselves for who we are! I sure have not kept up the promise that I made to myself to keep doing this blog once I started it back up again. I thought maybe it had been a few months, TOPS...but not SIX. Where does all the time go? Well, I can tell you, after that wild thesis writing nightmare and pressing the send button on my thesis proposal as my last few blogs reference, I DID get my life back at least for the summer...and it was GLORIOUS!

I played and relaxed all summer and it was heaven. I made wonderful day long excursions to the beach with my dog and a few lovely snacks, drinks and books to while away my time without worrying about homework or the demands of anything. I had the whole days of those beautiful weekends to just do nothing but enjoy life. It was so freeing to have that bliss after almost seven years of graduate school. I enjoyed myself so much that part of me did not even want to go back to my classes in the fall, but here I am back at it. 

Now the crispness of fall is beginning to set in, I am behind on homework and frustrated with how it is going this semester, and longing again for the freedom that I had this last summer. I look back longingly and realize that I was healthier (more time for the gym), more rested (no late night homework sessions), less grumpy (also do to late night homework sessions), and just overall I felt more centered and in tune with my life (due to not dealing with all the deadlines and general hoops that going through grad school requires). It is times like these that I try and reflect back on my opening sentence. Learning to say a toast to learning to accept myself fully. 

Yes, I am a grumpy, disgruntled, frustrated and sleepy student right now in my second master's degree program, but I have to remind myself what it is all for. Sometimes that is a daily reminder, sometimes it is hourly and even some days...I have to get out the stopwatch to accurately watch the "seconds". I tell myself "someday I will be an art therapist" and smile. I think of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and silently sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow..." and hope that the Wicked Witch of the West does not get the best of me before this adventure is over!


Blessings and Love,
D.

Final Day...Tomorrow I Have a Life Back

I suppose that saying "Tomorrow I'll have my life back" might be a little extreme. I know that that this thesis proposal, and later, the second class where I actually do the research and put all the data into the thesis is a part of my life. I am just not enjoying this particular part of my life. It is one of the many academic "hoops" that I am required to jump through on the way to the Master of Arts in Art Therapy degree that I am completing. Somehow, I still don't get how writing a research thesis is really proving to anyone that I am going to make a good or a better art therapist than if I did not complete one. Having already completed an undergraduate degree in fine art, lots of hoops there...though most of those were conceptual and learning how to talk the "art language" as I call it, and then completing a Master of Social Work degree, I know all about the "hoops" that are set up and the "games" that must be played to get to the end of the academic degree that is being sought. Someone else sets up the criteria that is deemed worthy of allowing you to enter into the professional circle that they "covet". This is my second career, the first being a graphic artist/art director for over 25 years, and now a social worker and soon to be art therapist. Each professional "circle" has it's criteria, it's "initiation process" as I like to think of it. It's like making the new person pay their dues. I realize it is in the name of academic excellence and learning the craft/profession...but sometimes I think the "hoops" are there just to see if you can really cut it. After all, it takes some stamina and some real passion about what you want to do to stick with any degree to the end. Whatever the particular passion for that is, you have to have it.

Persistence and Passion
If it wasn't for my belief that God has given me this gift of art, and that I am supposed to use in it in the second half of my life as a way of helping others to heal, I don't think that I would have been able to survive this second Master's Degree. I have been shown time and time again that I continue to be on the path that God has laid out for me. When I am almost ready to give up, or I think I just cannot keep up the stamina to complete all the work required, God steps in and shows me that I can. Doors have opened to amazing internships, jobs and connections with people that have proven to me time and time again, that this is the path that I am supposed to be on...hard or not. So I trudge forward. I pray each day as I sit down to write this thesis proposal. I light three candles and say a special prayer as I light each one and ask God to step into my soul and speak through me and give me strength and clarity to go through yet another "hoop" in the academic circus to get to the the other side, and to ultimately become an art therapist. Each time that I think I am going to give up, and I pray to God about what I am supposed to do...my answer is always that I have been given this gift for more than just making pretty pictures...and a door opens, my strength returns, the words flow. So once again, today I will light the candles, say the prayers, and hope that God continues to lead me as I write the final version of this thesis proposal.

Pressing the "Send" Button
I have a bottle of special Toasted Head Chardonnay ready for a special glass of wine to celebrate the end of a long research and writing process. I know that I will make it to the end, one way or another, with God's support. I want to celebrate and savor each success along the long road to the end—SO when this proposal is sent in, via email, I intend to drink my wine, and swirl the lovely, buttery, oaky flavor in my mouth and swallow it slowly as I say "thank you" in a silent prayer.

What things are your striving toward in your life that you feel the "hand of God" upon? Are there times that you wonder if you are strong enough to make it to the goal? Do you pray? Do you ever have doors open or special messages come you way that help you to see that you are still on the right path and have not taken a wrong turn? Please share your own experiences, I would love to hear how God works in other people's lives.

I'd  better light my candles and start typing, I have a long day ahead of me, but I know God will help me.

Blessings and Love,
D.

photo credit: stock.xchnge.com

Day Two...

I am taking a break from typing all these revisions to this thesis proposal to write an update. My dog is really wondering what is going on and when he is going to get his friendly, happy, and "ball throwing", fun "mommy" back. His eyes are very telling of the social reclusive person that I have had to become to the last three months. I was really worried that I would not make it through this thesis proposal process, and I had to cut back on all social excursions except work, the gym, and homework...only one of which is even remotely social. At work I do have to talk to patients as part of my job, so that is some social contact anyway.

What a process this has been. I have often felt like the old saying "an elephant being pulled through the eye of a needle—backwards"...and I have felt all of the the stretches, pulls and "jamming" to make that kind of event happen. What a picture, don't you think? But, very accurate in it's metaphoric imagery for me and how I felt about this whole thesis research process. I have really come to believe that right brained, artist types really have a hard time thinking in that left brain analytical mode for extended periods of time without any creative "right-brained" activity to break it up. I actually am one of those "few" artsy types that have been blessed with what I would consider an equally weighted ability to function on either side of the brain and within both the analytical/logical thought processes and the creative/emotional processes. BUT...to function for months on end in just the "analytical", even someone like me who has the ability to manage both perspectives can find themselves flooded with what I can only refer to as "BRAIN MELTDOWN". I am looking forward to some very creative, free-flowing, unstructured, radically rebellious time off after I press the send button on my computer tomorrow for my midnight deadline.

I will let everyone know how it pans out. Does anyone want to help me select a flavor of wine or a good vineyard to try for a celebratory drink? Your comments and suggestions are welcome...maybe we could even have a virtual glass of wine together to celebrate having my life back...even if it is only until the next semester!

Blessings and Love,
D.

The Official Countdown Begins...

Day Four of the Countdown Back to a Life

I have taken several months off from blogging...not the most recommended choice for a blogger's success, but for my personal sanity and personal success I needed to do so. I have been working on my Thesis Proposal for my Masters in Art Therapy program and it was all that I could do to manage that tremendous amount of work with just school, work and staying up with my gym routine. I cut out all other social life events for months...and even blogging—though I love it, was not part of the mix.

I have started an official Countdown to having a life back, as I am calling it. My whole, revised, and completed Thesis Proposal is due on Sunday, April 25th by midnight! Yes, that is THIS coming Sunday! Yeh! So...I am letting everyone know that I am itching to get back to blogging, doing some art and especially creating my Mandalas. I also can't WAIT to do some reflections on here and see what other peoples thoughts and feelings are about what I write about.

More to come...I hope you who had initially followed me will come back.

Blessings and Love,
D.

Photo credits: stockxchng

The Churning Mechanics Of Life

I am amazed that it has been so long since I did my last Mandala, which also appears to have coincided with my last blog entry. Time has been whirling by very quickly for me lately. The last few weeks of December and the first week of the new year are always busy, but this year I had an additional element to juggle. I started a new job as a social worker with Hospice. I am still juggling these new duties, and learning the ins and outs of the job, and it is going into the second week of this new year. I know that I will soon get a handle on things and life will balance back out, that is one of the advantages of age...I have had enough upsets and imbalances in my life due to short-term changes to know that there is another more "sane" side to come. In the meantime, as I reflected upon this new year, I definitely found myself thinking of the abundant gratitude that I feel for my ability to have found employment and to have been be gifted with such a wonderful opportunity to work with families and their loved ones during a very significant and intimate time in their lives. I feel extremely honored that my journey has taken me to this place at this time.

Feeling The Need To Create
As I sat in a lonely hotel outside of Detroit (where I was for 2 days and 2 nights for new employee orientation), this past Thursday night, I felt a very strong need to create and to center myself. I needed something to take me away from all the new material, forms, phone lists, phone training, new faces and names and the whirlwind of information overload that new jobs can create in our heads. I am glad that I had decided to throw my Mandala supplies in my suitcase at the last minute, just in case I had some down time. I drew my outside circle and slowly began...never having a preconceived notion of the outcome or even the colors that I would choose. It always works. It always comes. Ah, resting in the relaxation of those moments. My head could finally stop the cascading waterfall of names, dates, times, rules, regulations, do's and don'ts, that make up an intense orientation schedule. I was amazed to note when I had finished my Mandala that an hour and a half had flown by while I found solitude once again within my design and the colors that flowed onto my paper.

A Cog In The Wheel Of Life
As I always do when I have finished a Mandala for my Circles Of Time Mandala Series...I looked intently at what I had just created and waited to see if any free association words came to me from within. I wrote these words around this new piece for my series "The Mechanisms of LIFE tick and turn and CRANK...winding and CHURNING, up we go, and down the other side." Hmm...how fitting.
I guess I have been feeling like I am a cog or a gear in life's big engine the last few weeks, turning, moving, going through the motions that I needed to take to do what I had to do, but I have realized that I am tired. BUT, I am also rejuvenated each time I allow myself to explore art as a way of processing my life's changes. I also workout regularly, eat as healthy as I can, and try to get enough sleeping time (though it has been difficult these last few weeks). All of these coping skills will help me get to the other side, a side when I will feel balanced again and hopefully, proficient at my new job.

Blessings and Love,
D.

Reveling In The Treasures Of Simplicity

I was having some trouble sleeping last night, I have that sometimes...maybe that is just the fun process of getting older. After laying in bed for hours without being able to get to sleep, I went to the internet for some possible solutions to my dilemma and found 10 Ways To Cure Insomnia. I started using this list to evaluate if I had done my part in preparing myself for adequate and healthy sleep patterns. I have found that as I have gotten older, along with a number of other significant changes, I have noticed that it is even more important that I get an adequate amount of sleep. No longer can I run on 5 hours or less of sleep and still be at my best (I suppose even when I was younger I was not ALWAYS in top form with little sleep...but maybe now it matters more to me how I feel, and how I react to the world?).

Checking The List
As I went through the list I realized that I was doing pretty good on 1-4, and 7. In addition, 8-9 did not apply since I am single, and #10 was a little hard to maintain since I have been working full-time while being a graduate student in what is now my second master degree. So I blew 10, was that my problem? Hard to say. As far as #5 and #6 went, I found these to be the most helpful. Even though I often read before falling asleep (usually a textbook is a great resource for that), most nights I do pray, and I listen to relaxing music sometimes also. This list seemed to be great for attempting to GET to sleep, but it seemed to not provide me with what to do when I already could NOT sleep. As I reread #5 and #6, I realized that I had to stop fighting the fact that I could not sleep which was causing me to get frustrated and anxious.

Mandala To The Rescue
Once I let myself off the hook by realizing that most of the things on the 10 Ways To Cure Insomnia list I was pretty good about, I decided to take the pray, meditate, and paper suggestions of #5 and #6 to heart and I decided to start another Mandala for my Circles Of Time Mandala Series at 2:00 a.m. Well, ironically when I was done I felt peaceful, relaxed and I was ready for sleep even though it was 3:00 a.m. I have learned that being creative does not always come at the most convenient times, but I have found if I can just let it flow as it does come, it can provide the right comfort at the "right time".

Words To Live By
The free association words that I wrote along the outside of this Mandala proved to be very insightful to me. They read "The power of HUMILITY reins...RELINQUISH control and seek and you will find. Revel in the treasures of SIMPLICITY—SEEK NOT—What is not for you to find...knowingly surrender". Wow! These words really spoke to me. I wondered to myself how much of my inability to fall asleep was around trying to plan, control and otherwise foretell or imagine what my future career, school and life in general, held for me. I often find that I spend way too much time in thoughts about the future and a good amount of time dwelling in my mind about the past. I am consciously trying to remain in the present and to experience life as it unfolds with God's plan. It's hard when you are guilty of being a "Control Freak" about some things. I am definitely getting some messages about learning to relinquish that control and learning to live more simply and to question less the things that I don't really need to be concerned with. Faith...it paves the way if we listen.

We Are All In This Together
Do you suffer from difficulties getting to sleep or waking up at odd times in the night? What do you do to help yourself get to sleep or get back to sleep? Do you ever try anything creative such as creating art, playing the guitar, writing in your journal, creating poems or songs? Have these types of right brain activities helped you to quiet your left brain "analytical" processing that might be keeping you up and making you anxious or frustrated? I would love to hear your thoughts about my Mandala message, and any of your own personal stories about sleep or your lack of it. I would welcome your comments and I may even find some other ideas of how I might relax in the night for the future.

Blessings and Love,
D.

Bouncing With The Glow Of The Holiday

Once again, I am posting from the Art Every Day Month Challenge, this was my art activity for Day #27, which was the day after Thanksgiving. I have only three more posts and I will have it all up for everyone to see. I am slowly trudging along, slow but steady as they say. I would rather trudge ahead slowly, than not move at all...so here I go!

This year I was lucky to be invited to one of the best Thanksgiving celebrations that I have ever attended. After many consecutive years of spending this holiday with my family (I am a prime target each year for ALL holidays now that I have officially been single for close to four years), I chose to do something different this year. During the years that I was in a relationship, the holidays were negotiable as to what ones were spent at what parents house. I know this may sound bad, but I liked the variety that this arrangement provided. Since I have been single, it is just assumed that I will have "nowhere" to go, I will just be alone and depressed, sitting at home eating Kraft macaroni and cheese and drinking myself into a stupor. Maybe that is over exaggerating, but I sometimes wonder. This year I chose to add some spice back into the event when I accepted an invitation from a couple of very good friends of mine to spend the holiday with them and their very large family of four daughters, their husbands, their grandchildren, a brother and his wife, and an elderly uncle from out-of-town. This was a lot of people, but it was "glorious"! So different from my small family.

A Bouncing Ball Of Energy
After such a wonderfully exciting and fun holiday, I was exuberant the following day! I got up, shot off to the gym, treated myself to a hazelnut latte, and came home to create my Art Every Day piece, Day #27. Once again, I chose to play with the spontaneity of the moment. I took out a big pad of 18x24 inch paper, pulled out some big bottles of tempera paints (you know, the ones that we got to use as kids in school or art class) and squirted out some big blobs of each color on some paper plates and went to work. What I ended up with kind of reminded me of a big ball of energy, so I called it "Energy Ball". So original you are probably thinking. Yes, that's why us artists get paid the big bucks! (Refrain your laughter to a minimum please).

Glowing Emotions
Anyway, I thought it really captured my emotion for that day in visual form. I had lots of fun with it at least. Have you ever tried to just paint the emotion you are feeling at a particular moment of your life? Or have you asked yourself what certain emotions might look like if you had to represent them in painted form or some other art medium of your choice? This exploration can become a finished art piece, or it can just be a nice way to begin a painting session since it allows some connection to begin with that place in your heart and soul where our true art originates. Once the connection is ignited, or the wick is lit, it will continue to burn into whatever you choose to do next. Try it and let me know how it goes for you by posting a comment or a link if you would like.

Blessings and Love,
D.