Priorities

Ever get that feeling of being overwhelmed with creative inspiration, almost to the point of feeling immobile? What to do first?! It's so good, it's bad.

There are so many coming my way, either self-created or inspiration from another, I don't know where to start. One idea nudges its way to the center of my attention, only to be pushed away by another as soon as it arrived.

It doesn't help when my schoolwork is constantly tapping me on the shoulder.  There is a time for art-making, and a time for school. One must come before the other, but who said one always had to be first?

The best way for me to organize these ideas, regardless of whether they are ever executed, is to make a list:

• postcards...
• bag tapestry (in progress)
• birthday/Christmas gifts
• commission painting
• art journal (personal) - make and create
• wedding photo printing/scrapbooking
• de-apple kitchen, one apple at a time... without landlord noticing (in progress)
• rosette pillow
• canvas crafts
• gift painting (in progress)
• group art projects

*Q: What helps you keep track of new inspirations/ideas for creativity? 

*Q: If one idea is passed over long enough, does it stay on the list or do you drop it?

Practicum journal update coming soon...

Small Art PenPal Swap Preview & New Journal Cover

The Small Art Pen-Pal Swap, hosted by Samantha Kira, is underway! Here's a small peek of what I have to contribute (great idea, Kelley!):

*click to see larger image*

I will post more photos when I receive a letter from my pen-pal, as well as a link to the site where Samantha will post full documentation of the entire swap!

In the meantime, I decided my practicum art journal needed a new cover. I had doodled on the original cover and feel I've outgrown it a little... It's still there! Just underneath.

See you again soon...

-chels

Practicum Art Journal: First 3 weeks

This semester I started my first practicum with adults.
Posts from now on will most likely be only one journal image. Since I fell behind, it's a mega update!

Week 1: Transitional phase
In my frustration and uncertainty, I remind myself that new places always come with this and it is not specific to this site.

Week 2: Creating a space

New art materials were purchased, and since the art space wasn't available to start group I took the time to organize. Would be preferable to have the space ready before it starts anyway, right?

Week 3: Rounding up the troops

Since the site is residential, my supervisor and I decided it was best to call the residents prior to group each week to remind them it was going on. At first I thought it was a little impersonal, but often the men can be protective of their personal space. That, and it's fairly common there to call and remind; the men seem to prefer it rather than someone coming by and knocking. I'm getting used to it:

Someday I will have a scanner that works. Until then, I am blessed with my camera :)

actualization

During the first year of grad school for art therapy, my classmates were assigned to research a symbol we have noticed in our artwork--an image that kept coming up.

Mine was a toy sailboat, with a red body, white sails, and a small red flag on top. It took me a few months to figure out where it came from, but it gave me clues. It was always very small in the middle of a large (and sometimes tumultuous) sea.

I made other boats as well, but they were always small and fragile [I would always realize afterward].

This theme went on for a little over half a year. I realized what it meant over time: it was about being separated from my fiancé by the Atlantic Ocean.  We knew when he would be coming home, it was just the longest and farthest away we've been from each other, and the lack of communication during that time apart really really did not help... hence the fragile boats.

Well.

Just the other day (about 1.5 years since his return) I was wandering around a craft store and passed a display of screen print stencils with a similar image to this: 

Beneath the symbols read "faith hope love" (anchor cross heart).

I had never thought of the anchor before, but in regards to our situation, we really needed to have faith in one another and our relationship.  When I envision our anchor it seems very heavy--almost heavy enough to capsize the tiny boats I had been making--but it was there.  

Somewhere in those tiny boats was our anchor. I didn't know it, but it was always there.

This is why I love the art, and will always keep track of my symbols as they change over time.  It's why I got my bird tattoo and why I intend to get a tiny sailboat in a large sea.  

My visual timeline.