Ars Nova

Intentions For 2011

arsnovatherapy — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 21:58:14 +0000

Revisiting 2010

arsnovatherapy — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:21:38 +0000

The new year is rapidly approaching and I have begun to review what my intentions were for 2010. Over this last year many things were accomplished and experienced. Some of my intentions were met in ways that I expected, some in unexpected ways, and others continue to be a work in progress. Below is a brief summary about what I’ve learned.

Balance: As I continue to work for a mental health agency that is struggling to stay afloat like so many others during this economic time balance has continued to be a challenge. With this intention in mind last year I committed to keeping work at the office 90% of the time and avoiding over booking myself on the weekends. I consider myself very successful in keeping work at work, although I worked a lot! Because I want to spend time with friends in family I continue to learn how to balance out my weekends so that I have time to recover from my work week, but am still able to socialize with those I care about.

Calm: As with many families in 2010 there was much family drama. I focused on staying out of other people’s business and focusing on what helps me to have a calm life. Sometimes the decisions I made were viewed as hurtful by those I love, but it enabled me to have an overall calm life.

Create: My focus was on learning how to create in a different way rather than in my comfort zone (music). I experimented with ATC cards, art journaling, art journal round robin, sewing, multimedia art, and continued to grow as a musician. I also created an ongoing art journaling group at my mental health agency for teenage girls that is going into its third round.

Gratitude: I continue to work on practicing gratitude everyday. This year I was grateful to become a licensed MFT, take several trips with friends, grow spiritually, grateful to survive lay offs, and continue to spend time with those closest to me.

Service: As my life gets better and better I have become more focused on giving back to those that need support. This has been a great year of service. From helping to organize a benefit concert to my everyday work I believe that I have continually strived to be in service to others.

Spirituality: I’ve continued to learn more about my higher power and improving my relationship with God. Speaking to God on a daily basis is something I still work on, but I continue to try. Trusting that God has a great plan for me has been proven over and over again. Committing to continue learning about my spiritual beliefs is something that will continue in 2011.

Learn: This has been a year of learning. I’ve gained friends and lost friends, set boundaries and unset boundaries, read books, took classes, participated in workshops, taught workshops, learned about work politics, and watched YouTube Videos. After exploring what I would like to learn about next I decided that in 2011 I would like to apply for and be accepted into a PHD Program.

Trust: This has been a great year for learning how to trust myself and others. I was forced to trust some close friends for support with a medical issue and was taught a great lesson about trusting myself when I feel something is wrong with my body even when medical professionals say I’m wrong.

Next up will be the revealing of my 2011 Intentions. So exciting to do this for another year.

New Year

arsnovatherapy — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:59:22 +0000

Been awhile since I posted on here. Life got super busy. In the process of re-evaluating what I want to focus on in the new year. Updates coming soon!!

My photo shoot

arsnovatherapy — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:56:21 +0000

Wow…these last six months have been busy! After passing my last CA MFT exam I decided to open a small private practice complete with business cards, website, and finding an office. Luckily I was able to follow the path of some friends making it a fairly smooth process. Just needs some clients now. On Wednesday I met up with a good friend who agreed to help me obtain a decent head shot for my website and a decent headshot with my newest Native American Flute. The shoot was fun, easy, and no stress. I love the sneak peek pictures and wanted to share the link for anyone who is interested: http://cassiegreenphotography.blogspot.com Let me know what you think and if you need photos done consider my talented friend Cassie!

Collage Unleashed Artist Trading Cards Have Arrived!

arsnovatherapy — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 03:55:00 +0000

I was so excited when I arrived home today after work to find the artist trading cards waiting for me in my mailbox! There’s something so special about receiving a piece of art work from someone you have never meant before and a different kind of connection is made with that person that isn’t influenced by looks/status/ethnicity/etc. The first card that I pulled out of the envelope is entitled “Peace” by Sarah Watson. This card immediately made me smile, because as I drove home I was thinking about how chaotic my life has been these past two weeks and how much I just want some piece and quiet. The colors of blue are so calming and the world is made into a heart shape. This card reminds me to breathe and appreciate life. The next card titled “Hard Days Night #3″ immediately made me sing the Beatles song even before I saw the pictures on the card. I love all the texture on this card with the different types of paper and the colors that seem to represent both night and day. The card titled “Circle of Life” by Bev Therkelsen is gorgeous. I love the image of the backless white dress with a different head image on it. The woman is facing beautiful white flower and the overall feel just reminds me of one’s wedding day. Last, but not least is the card titled “Collage Unleashed” by Melanie Glassey who was the organizer for this artist trading card swap. The card has so many different colors, layers, and textures. It reminds me of celebrating life and being “unleashed” into doing what I want to do and being who I want to be. I’m so sad that this swap is over and I’ve enjoyed having a connect with other therapist/counselors/community members who use different art forms in their work and personal lives. Hopefully there will be another swap of this kind or something new!

Art Journal Round Robin: Two more journals

arsnovatherapy — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:39:50 +0000

This art journal round robin has inspired me to using art journaling with the teenage girls I work with. Myself and a colleague have organized a second round of a therapeutic art journaling group with middle school and early high school girls. The first round was absolutely amazing and the girls requested a second round. We will be meeting twice a month and as the girls prefer that the facilitator work alongside them, I will post my journal pages as we go. This is a great example of how community projects can be incorporated into my everyday life.

We had a little hold up in the art journal round robin as life happens to various members of the group. I quickly worked in these two journals a couple of weeks ago, quickly sent them to the next recipient, and now have completely forgotten whose they are, haha. In both these journals I experimented with not using a paint brush, using stencils, and adding more layers to the pages. Can’t wait to receive the next journal and hopefully I will remember whose it is!

Collage Unleashed

arsnovatherapy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:02:26 +0000

After participating in the first artist trading card swap, put on through the Art Therapy Alliance on their LinkedIn subgroup for Materials and Media in Art Therapy, a second swap was proposed. After taking a vote amongst those interested in participating the theme was chosen: Collage Unleashed. This time around Melanie Glassey volunteered to host the swap. The guidelines to this swap was simple: create 4 artist trading cards and you will receive 4 artist trading cards created by other members of the trade. This time around I felt much more relaxed in creating the cards focusing on the process not the product. These were created using regular sized playing cards, acrylic paint, metallic acrylic paint, stencil, and magazine images/words. It’s amazing how such a small space can make such a powerful statement.

My favorite one is called Beyond. The definition of the word beyond is: to a degree that is past the understanding, reach, or scope of. When I made this card I was spending many hours studying for my last CA MFT licensing exam. It was hard for me to imagine life after the exam, a life that seemed out of my reach. I love the dancer on this card because she looks so graceful and relaxed as she reaches to the side of her. The card Today was made as a reminder to allow my body, mind, and spirit to recover from this CA MFT licensing process! After my exam I found myself to be completely exhausted! I needed a lot of sleep, alone time, and quiet time. I needed to just focus on today instead of immediately moving towards the next steps. The card Clear-Mindedness represented the feeling of too much information, inability to make decisions, and feeling overwhelmed with my possibilities. This was how I felt about a week after passing the exam. See It is a card I created while deciding what my next steps are as a newly licensed MFT. Sometimes I don’t see things clearly after an accomplishment because I’m just exhausted! This card reminded me to look at my options and keep moving towards the future.

It’s amazing to me how the different art forms always connect me to what is going on in my immediate life. This swap helped to remain focused on my MFT exam while helping me process my next steps. I highly recommend participation in these types of community art projects as a way to enlighten yourself and to share yourself with those in your community.

How art therapy helps others, our community, and the world update.

arsnovatherapy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:30:05 +0000

On 7/29/10 I received my ATC’s (artist trading cards) in the mail sent by Gretchen Miller (MA, ATR-BC) who organized this swap through a subgroup of the Art Therapy Alliance. The timing of their arrival was perfect as I was just preparing to take my last California MFT exam and beginning to feel a little nervous about taking the exam and feeling resentful towards the CA BBS for creating such a mind numbing exam. The card titled “Earnest afternoon 2″ by Theresa Zip reminded me to stay “real” and true to the therapist I am despite working for an agency that only values evidence-based practices. It’s been a challenge to balance my beliefs in expressive arts therapy with the need for the evidenced based. “Creative Expression flows from the heart” by Doreen Meister encouraged me to keep art journaling as the pressure and stress of the test began to wear me down. It also reminded me not to think so much as I’m working on my art journal and to just let my heart take over. I made an amazing art journal page the night before my exam that really helped center me before the test. Molly Kohut made the card titled “Art therapy is power” which just says it all. Being creative helps me stay true to myself, stay sane, express myself, and encourages me to try new things. Gretchen Miller included an “Art Therapy Revolution” ATC reminding me that there are other’s in the field who know the power of the creative arts and how important it is for us to find one another. Below are pictures of the ATC’s that I received and by the way I PASSED my exam!

How art therapy helps others, our community, and the world

arsnovatherapy — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:06:56 +0000

About a month ago I signed up to participate in the ATC (artist trading cards) swap through a subgroup of the Art Therapy Alliance and organized by Gretchen Miller (MA, ATR-BC). The swaps theme: How art therapy helps others, our community, and the world. We were tasked with creating four cards based on this theme. Three cards will be given to other participants (there is over 50!) and the fourth will be kept by the Art Therapy Alliance.

Many thoughts went through my mind as I began to view all the guidelines and creative ways ATC cards are made. The amount of information was overwhelming! I began to wonder if my ATC’s would be good enough to join the ranks of all these other talented artists. For me when feeling overwhelmed and doubtful it is best to start one step at a time. So I began by finding a deck of standard playing cards and covering both sides with Gesso. Then I began thinking about how the arts have helped me personally and how they have helped me to reach out to those around me. Finally ideas began flooding my mind! I thought about how many times playing music and creating art have allowed me the freedom of expressing exactly what I need to express rather than keeping negative, or even positive, thoughts in my head indefinitely. There were times while growing up that music and books were the only things that gave me hope for my future. I thought about how I’ve made a difference in so many lives through connecting children and their families to musical performances, something that many of them had never experienced before. My career choice to work with others using the expressive arts and my recent experiences working with many foster children and their families. Once I got started this project took on a life of its own. Below is the finished product of my ATC card journey and I love all of them!

Ann’s Journal

arsnovatherapy — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:28:35 +0000

Loved the hand bound journal that was made by Ann from the Art Journal Round Robin group! I got a little stuck on what I wanted to do in this journal and began by just adding different colors to the pages with acrylic paint/water-color crayons. I also experimented more with layering gesso on top of the bottom layer before adding more colors. To add some texture and shine I added some metallic silver tissue paper along with covering different parts of the paper with different stamps. The page on the left ended up looking like planets and stars which made me think of all the times I wished on a star when I was little. The next page has some butterflies which represent change and flowers which represent growth. There is a secret message at the bottom of the page using a technique I found on YouTube called “ghosting” with sharpie markers and gesso. The message talks about the changes and growth that I have been experiencing in the last couple of months. Can’t wait for the next journal to arrive. I am learning so much about art journaling and more importantly about myself.