Posts filed under art therapy

That's how it is...

...if you really, really help!

Ok, here are some details:

No more talk about 'who do you think you are' and 'I admit' (I hope). It is a 'past tense', so no need to talk about it anymore...



The flow goes on.

Because of you, the flow carries me with it in a high speed. Yes, that's how it is if you make
effort to help me to make my dreams come true... Then the following happens:
  • After my daily 'busy-wizi' matters, I spend every free moment for you-know-which project
  • I'm running out of time to publish posts on my blog (reports from Zagreb and Slovenske Konjice are still on the waiting list)
  • I am running out of time to comment on your blogs. I do read them, but don't comment them!
So if you miss my comments on your blog, I would like to tell you that I do read your news, just am not able to comment your posts at the moment. Sorry! - Not a nice 'thank you' for your wonderful help for my phototherapy project, eh?
And on top of that you will now be informed about the project so often, that you will eventually have a full head of phototherapy! ;) Yeah, that's how it is if you do your best to make my dreams come true!

I tell you: it's all because of you! You made it happen!!

Thank you for visiting my blog, thank you for your time, thank you for your comments. I appreciate it!
I'm thinking of you and wishing you much inspiration, a lot of good will, and a lot of creative drive! We can be creative in several ways and in several areas, so, have fun!

*
And here are some news about the phototherapy project if you're interested to hear about it:

  • confirmed mentor (from Slovenia) for the project
  • approved school, where the (first) project will be implemented
  • project will start in March (yeeeees!)
  • intensive studying of researches and literature about this field (ah, in English, again, so I'm slow)
  • translated some literature on phototherapy

What awaits me in the following days:

* Verifying the ethical issues and the protection of personal data relating to children who will participate in the project - because I intend to organize an exhibition of their works

  • Documentation for the school
  • Documentation for the selected (proposed) children
  • Documentation for their parents
  • My 'statement' for children and their parents
  • Meeting with the participants and their parents and arrangements for implementation
  • Literature, literature, literature
  • Searching for sponsors and/or government 'calls' to obtain funding for a project

I can't wait!

Who do you think you are…

…or mind your own business.

First I thought to not write 'provocative' posts anymore like I did with 'I admit'. Because some felt threatened, rather than to feel encouraged to create, which was my intention…
I thought I would shut my mouth and swallow the comments that came to me to my ears, saying that I am jealous of online teachers that I am unable to do something like that myself so I put my frustrations on the others, that I do that to make others miserable etc. And some of the others no longer want to show their works on the Internet because they are afraid of such (unconstructive?) criticism…
However, I've also got some very personal e-mails where people requested and asked for advice and help, so I think the post was worth it, although there were some bad things said about me.

We can look at the things from a wider or narrower point of view. You can see everything or only one thing. You can see the others or only yourself.
In art therapy we look at the situations from several perspectives:

  • I (as a therapist in relationship with others)
  • I as a client (where I look at the situation from client's perspective)
  • I as an external, uninvolved observer (the so-called helicopter perspective).
In such situations, the therapists don't look at the situation from one perspective only, but we need to put ourselves into all. Imagine that we would only look at it from our perspective only! How would we see the World?

Mind your own business. That was a comment that I heard most often after my post 'I admit’. Let them do what they want, create how they want, etc…

Well, let's look at everything from a broader perspective.
Due to the working field that I cover I regularly read professional articles and researches in the field of education, psychology, art therapy, creative process, etc… I recently read some interesting articles that made me think a lot. One was talking about a rape in the middle of the street when the victim, who was calling for help, did not get any help in two hours. Two hours! Mind your own business?!
The second article talked about that it is easier to buy a weapon, rather than get the proper professional help (of psychologist, social worker…) - immediately and now. Mind your own business!
The third article was talking about addiction. What do you do when you meet an addict? Do you mind your own business!?

Why don't my posts on education rise so much noise as it did about creative process and copy-cats in my post ‘I admit’? Or the posts about the victims of crime? Or when I write about how it would be good to help addicts or children, or…? Why no one jumps into the air and write to me and say: mind my own business?
Are addicted happy that we mind our own business? Of course they are, as no one disturbs them, so they may continue to sink deeper and deeper into addiction. But do we want that? Do we really not care? And then these addicts, because of their need for drugs, will attack a person with a broken bottle and cut a person just to steal/get money for drugs!
Now transfer this thinking to the field of creativity. Is this field really different from other fields?
The easiest way is to say mind your own business. The easiest way is to shout: who do you think you are!

When you talk to a person who is trimmed, bruised, raped, and with damaged head because of the brutal rape (I did), you learn that no one ever deserves to hear words like: who do you think you are. When you see the sexually abused child, you don't dare to say mind your own business… We are all humans, we are the World, we all live together. And this is important in every area/field of our lives.

Therefore, look at the creating from a broader perspective. I am willing to help the others with my creative knowledge (the one I have). But I can also say I don't care… I can need help or advice or criticism, but can also close myself and tell the others: mind your own business (I think 'mind your own business' is a very popular sentence in this era, and competing too).

So I'll ask two questions to give you something to think about:
a)
You managed to create the best art work ever. You are extremely proud of it, and soooo happy. Then after a week, you find out that someone has painted a nearly identical piece of art. It turns out that your work was his inspiration and that he painted the image, as precisely as he could to make a copy of your art work. How do you feel? Oh, great, you say, because you find it flattering that someone has painted one of your creations. Ok, really, he did make a copy of your work, but he chose your art work, so you feel great because you have become important and you are an example to someone (or a teacher or a muse)… Well, over a time your work is copied 10, 20, 30 times… Is that still a pleasure for you? Are you feeling important, a star? I doubt it. Would you like that your art work inspires the others, but not like that: that people make copies of your art works?... When it will happen to you, you will understand what I'm trying to say in my post 'I admit'. I do understand the difference between learning the technique and copying. And my purpose and hope is that no one is caught in the circle of copying, which has nothing to do with creating. But I will not point my finger at you and say 'see, I told you!' if this happens to you. We carry our consequences alone, and therefore there's no need to say it out loud (Montessori pedagogic calls that: control points).
Do the addicts know that they fell into the circle of addiction? Do they admit they’re addicted? Do those who copy know that they fell into a circle of copying? Do they recognize it that copying is wrong? What if they manage to sell a thousand copies of ‘your’ art work, and you can't? What if people start to say that you copied his works?...
The answer of one of the persons who copies, was: but I didn't copy a photograph of the art work (copy-paste), I made it myself and put it on my 'blog' (identical to the original art work of another author). Until you will experience this with your own art works, until you will put yourself in the shoes of the author of original, you probably will not understand what I mean…
Some have even snapped at my education. As the art teacher I therefore have no rights 'to be smart'? What is your profession? What if I say something not nice about your expertise, your profession? I don’t claim to be an artist. You see: I am not a painter, I am not a sculptor, I'm not graphic designer, but I am art teacher. I am a person who helps the others to create, which is not the same as if I create art works myself. For many academic painters, sculptors... it was known that they were lousy teachers and vice versa. I am not an artist, but I am art teacher and art therapist, with experiences. I'm not ashamed to say it out loud. And I do know I'm not the best, I am not the one and only. I know where my limits are and I know that I will learn to be better and to create all my life.


(Creatissimo Art therapy Workshop)

b)
What do you do when you see someone who is trapped and makes the same mistake over and over again? Whenever he takes a glass in his hands, the glass falls to the floor. Whenever he writes, he forgets to put a question mark at the end of the question. Always, when you are at the dentist, the dentist forgets a tampon in your mouth. What do you do? Are you quiet? Do you make fun of his awkwardness? Are you angry, because he makes the same mistakes a thousand times and doesn't learn from them?
And what would you do if you see that someone has the same problems over and over again as he creates? He always gets stuck in the same place, always ruins his art work with the same 'mistake'... What would you do?

In art therapy, we have a principle that the client should see (and test) a sample(s) of behavior 'patterns', with which he would be able to replace the old (bad) behavior pattern. How about in creating? Which ‘bad’ pattern prevents you from going through?
Art Education is, therefore, not there to teach you to draw perfect eyes, fantastic realistic drawings, etc… As I wrote then, realism and abstraction have nothing to do with my point about which I talked about in ‘I admit’. Art Education (or any other good teacher or mentor or…) serves as a support and a place to show you the patterns from which you choose one that suits you to go your own way… Your way!

When I was abroad I had no problem with ‘criticism’ like I see it here, in my country. Wherever I went (U.S.A, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Bosnia…), people were open and wanted to know more. Therefore I ask you, what would you say if I was from abroad and would be a participant of an Internet e-course? Would you accept my ‘critique’? And how would you accept my criticism, knowing that I am an art teacher from Slovenia? I noticed the difference. I see that we are open to persons who are ‘at a safe distance’, so that we do not feel any competition and a threat. But when there are people from our country, everything is different. Hiding information, no comments to help somebody to move forward, lack of confidence… I’m sorry but that’s how I see it. I wish we would see that life is too short to not live it fully.

There is a support and a technical support. We need both. We all need support, and I am sorry that some focus all of their energy into defense, rather than focusing their energy for exceeding the limits.

I give you the opportunity to tell me that I am wrong. Here, now, 'face to face'. To prove to me that there is a different point of view. I will not argue about it. I will try it and determine whether this pattern will work for me. I want to believe that I’m wrong.
I see the World as a beautiful place. Because I believe in the collective consciousness and because I believe we should be positive, creative, energetic, I don’t mind my own business only. I care! I am nothing and nobody if I don’t care, if there’s no 'you' near me...

*
Thanks for the lovely birthday wishes and words of support. I saved them in my heart and I carry them with me all the time as precious diamonds now. :)

And I have another happy news to tell: I received a confirmation from Finland that I’ll have two great mentors for my phototherapy project. You bet I jumped up high from happiness again! :)

Flow

This year I will leave myself to the flow. I will let myself carry into the direction of the flow. Even when I will occasionally freeze (in time), the Sun will melt me and help me continue.


(an impression from Zagreb)

I leave myself to the flow and am not scared...

Thanks to your response to my post Wishes, dreams... I didn't have holidays, but I already swam with the flow, full of excitement! :)

It seems that I will first try to implement the project of Phototherapy. I can't wait to receive donated digi-cameras, then I will have to find memory cards for them, printer ink to print photos, etc... Ok, I'll have to find some work to earn money, so that I can do the project 'voluntarily'. I would love to work out of pure love of course and not think about money, but unfortunately we are all made like that that we need to do something to get the money for our survival ;).
But the wheels started to turn, and I'm soooo happy about it, because I know that there is no turning back! Yeeeee!
Thanks to you I will change the world, thanks to you there will be more smiles, more tears of joy! Thanks, dear friends!


Wishing you a beautiful and inspiring January and I hope your flow will take you far away to the places you haven't imagined!

Colors and kids

The question in one of the comments has been on the use of color among children. What if the child is using a specific color?... So I said to write a few words on this topic.



Colors impact on humans a lot, although we are consciously unaware of that. Their vibrations irritate our eyes, which send stimuli to the brain, etc. Simple logics. Then there is the psychological effect of colors too, which can be summarized in one sentence: the colors are important!
Today I see many people manipulate with the others with the colors. Advertisments, painted rooms, packaging, fashion. But there are also those who use colors just ike that, without thinking, and unwittingly do damage to themselves or others.

It is popular to have a colorful apartment, and even more 'screaming' facade, purple hair, red sports car... The result are the people who respond to those colors accordingly.
I know a school that has classroom walls painted with red paint. Completely wrong. But I also know another school (Waldorf), who has painted the walls of classes with exactly chosen colors, based on research. They also use red, but the color is different and how the walls are painted is also important because their effect is totally different from the above-mentioned school.

But I could write a book about this, so let's get back on the track and talk about color and children now.

Research has shown that children choose the colors the way they feel it (their emotions, emotional mood), so we should not say to them that the Sun on their drawing should not be red. Children, before they enter the school or. approximately before the age 6, don't draw a realistic world through observation and with realistic colors (green grass...). Some will test all crayons (they are more interested in the traces the crayons leave on paper rather than the color of that trace), the youngest children tend to choose only two colors.
Upon entering the school, most children enter a new level - a realistic portrayal of the world, including with the colors. Whether or not the child during this period depicts objects in realistic colors, that is something that the experts (art teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists) don't agree yet. Some believe that it is not necessary, others see in unrealism pathological signs.

My opinion is that the child should not be 'judged' only from his choice of colors. It is necessary to consider the drawings, his behavior, speech skills, his development..., that we'd understand his personality as a whole.

However, the most "problematic" colors when used by younger children are: black, purple and bright red. These are signs of suffering, aggression, hidden anger. But he might just have a period of his favorite color, so we should be careful with our conclusions.


(hm, which would be her favorite color, huh?)

It bothers me that the various 'experts' quickly put the children into a 'box' according to some quick conclusions without checking if their findings are right.
At art therapy, I first analyse the client, to learn more about him and his problems. However, this result does not end there. After several meetings, I give the client an additional task on the basis to re-analyze the previous results and determine whether I really set the correct 'diagnosis' (I compare first and second analysis). When I am in doubt, I give the client more such exercises, where I can get more useful information for working with the client. Playing with people, especially the weak persons, I find it highly inappropriate.


Therefore, I would say as follows: Observe what color you choose, and why your child choose exactly 'that' color.
Do not judge it just on general and superficial basis, and do not paint the bedroom in purple, because purple is a hit this year or because you like it this month. Be careful with colors and chose them with your own feelings, and that's when your health and mood will look like a big, bright rainbow!

Now, get yourself on the feet and explore your place to find the color that will give you a new, creative energy! Go, go, go!


PS - Have you ever wondered:
Why is the most popular Ferrari red and not white or in any other color?
Why are witches depicted in black and purple (+ orange for fire)?
Why are life jackets orange or yellow?
Why you never notice people on the streets, dressed in brown clothes?
...

Posted on November 3, 2010 and filed under about me, art therapy, creative process, education, misc.