Art Therapy:

Sometimes I just make things. Things that are not for anyone else. Not to be used in any way. Things for me. Things that allow me to settle to let the day roll away, to let my mind drift and be free of all the thoughts that run through it. Feeling textures paper, sand, wood, clay, fabric. Moving paint. Building structures. Ripping paper. Gliding a pencil. Attaching objects. Pouring over images. Threading needles. Different feelings arise. Time drifts past without any attention to it. Intuition guiding, a knowing. Trusting it without questions. This is right or this doesn’t belong or maybe this should move. What about trying something like this?

It feels good to make things to see what was inside your mind now existing in the world. Becoming concrete. This I have made. I have agency. I have control. Have the ability. Smoothing, holding, ripping, pounding, sliding, scrunching . All these actions accessing some deep knowing within the body. Ignites the creative fire that sits within each of us. Time passes slowing during art-making. Seeing things differently noticing things about ourselves. Information that has been tucked away in the unconscious. Here it is perhaps this is what is bothering you. Perhaps this is what you are feeling. Repetition of movement creates soothing, calmness.

The creative process itself like life. We start with an idea. A brilliant image from our imagination. It’s all great at the beginning as things start to take shape and form. The struggle to bring something new to life. The part where we want to trash it all and not go forward anymore. This the place where transformation happens. This is the magic of art-making. Can I keep going when things get messy? If I can push pass the frustration. If I can tolerate those feelings. Then something new emerges.

Art allows for nonverbal healing, for a way of making things concrete and visible. Helping us verbalize what has been hidden. Creativity is a natural language of all humans. Expressing ourselves allows us to gain insight into our internal world and explore on a deeper level. Creativity helps us problem solve and find ways to navigate obstacles and challenges that arise while we are creating.
Mediums:
Drawing
Painting
Sculpture
Collage
Anything else you can dream up

Education and training:

Claremont Graduate University, MFA in Sculpture

The University of Iowa, BFA in Fibers and Sculpture