Day 9: Red

I really like that this one is not as busy as some of the others.  I purposely stopped myself before I thought I was done and I walked away for a little while.  When I came back and viewed it with a fresh eye, I decided that it was done. Sometimes less IS more.  That is outside of my comfort zone, but it does seem consistent with trying to do less, better (monotasking).

I mentioned in another blog post that I like stairs and ladders, while here is that symbol again - without intentionally putting it in.  I think I may spend some time looking up metaphors, meanings and mentions of ladders and stairs.  That is what I tell my clients to do when images and symbols begin to reoccur in their artwork.

I am ascending something - moving towards the future.  The "Bliss" (free floating images) are still in the background as the circles, but now there is a path. A direction.

The red is very dynamic, energetic and powerful.  I have had some emotional challenges in the past few days, and I believe that I am calling on my inner strength for power, direction and stability.  I have to accept my limitations, and understand, and maybe alter, my own response to frustration. I may have to change my role in the family dynamics.

There is a lot of texture that is created from removing the wrapper* and spinning the crayon on it's side. That is how I made those circles in the background.  I purposely broke the crayon into several different sizes so I could get different circle radii.

*When I was a child, it was very easy to remove the Crayola wrapper. All I had to do was open it at the seam and it lifted right off.  Sometimes it even slipped off by accident (maybe that is why they changed it).  But it seems that the wrapper is now glued to the crayon, and in order to remove it I have to scrape off small parts at a time and often my fingernail digs into the side of the crayon - leaving unwanted grooves and gouges. 

Day 8: Indigo

Paisley!  That is what today's drawing was copied from. My brother once told me that the paisley shape is from the Indian culture and it originated from the mango shape.  I LOVE mangoes!  The color is indigo, and that makes the paisley shapes feel like drops of water too.  They feel like they are moving slowly in a meandering manner.

Although there is a lot of repetition in this drawing - just like in yesterday's floor pattern - the composition, as a whole, is more free floating.  If this were a mandala, it would fit into the 2nd stage, free floating images, titled "Bliss".  I like "Bliss" because this is where anything is possible.  Where ideas are coming together to form a new picture, but not yet formulated enough to fully understand what that picture will look like. 

I really feel as if I am on the verge of something new, but I am not sure what that something is yet.  I am excited, and trying to be open to possibilities that I haven't even thought of yet - or maybe would have rejected in the past. One thing that I have been trying to do recently is to "monotask".  That is simply do only one thing at a time.  So, instead of reading emails WHILE I talk to my husband, I do one and than the other. I am trying to eat without watching TV, and simply enjoy eating.  But I will always run AND listen to music (some things just go together).

When I watch TV, I put my computer away, and watch TV fully.  I was watching "Celebrity Rehab w/ Dr. Drew Pinsky" yesterday.  Every time I see that show, I think about how powerful Art Therapy is with people in all stages of rehad and recovery.  The art just allows them to gain some distance from their own overwhelming feels, while forcing them to face the realities of their own pain, motivation and behavior.  I have worked for years with all types of addiction, and one thing that I have found to be consistent with every addict is the LYING.  They lie to themselves as often as they lie to everyone around them. The art bypasses that censoring, rationalizing ability, and forces them to face the truth. The art is such an amazing alternate form of communication - when we just do not have the words. 

Hey Dr. Drew, if you ever want something really powerful, healing and visually enticing, I will come to Pasadena and run some Art Therapy groups for you celebrities.  I'm just down the street in Calabasas.

Day 7: Burnt Sienna

I was at an a Capella conference with my sister at UCLA today, and I was sitting in one of the workshops while I drew this. The other drawings so far have been very abstract, and I felt like creating a more representational piece. I almost always draw while I am in a class (I have been doing that since, well, since I have been taking classes - 3 years old). I often draw figures while in a class.

I think this dancer came out because I was attending a class on something which I know very little (music), but it is not so dynamic to draw a singer as it is to draw a dancer. I know even less about the world of dancing. I used to draw musicians a lot when I first started dating my husband and he was working as a professional musician where I sat through many many gigs by myself as a groupie.

The floor tiles became a little obsessive, but my mind likes that while I am listening to a lecture. I believe that the only reason that this dancer is naked is because I prefer to draw the body than to draw clothes. I realize that this lights in this drawing look like breasts, but I was copying the actual lights in the class room. However, this particular teacher was very pregnant and her breasts were huge, and I remember thinking that at the time. There are no accidents in art.

I used new technique with the crayon - I drew very heavy, and than I scratched out with my nail - muting most of the color, but leaving a darker outline. I like that affect (except for the crayon left under my nail).

Day 6: Spring Green

Sawyer, my daughter 15 year old, picker out this color. It was a difficult color because it is so light. I had a hard time getting much variation in tone until I started melting the crayon. (Amy, my sister, liked the smell of the melting crayon). About half way through I wished I had drawn on colored paper -I will do that for the next light color. Sawyer says this is her favorite drawing so far because there is so much going on and she wants to look at it all. This is my least favorite because there is so much going on - it feels chaotic and disjunct (have I said that about a previous drawing? Yes, I said that Blue Green was chaotic too). So far, with everyone of these drawings, I have not liked the drawing as I was creating it, but became attached and appreciative of its uniqueness after the fact. I need to stop being so quick to judge.

I started with the heart in the middle and everything grew out of that (I like the way that sounds metaphorically - "start with the heart and everything grows out of that"). I do like the combination of the organic and the architectural. For the past 16 years (from the time that Sawyer was born) I have really liked to draw stairs and ladders. They seems to be going somewhere - even if they're not. There is a scene in a 1953 musical fantasy film (5000 Fingers of Dr. T), by Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss), where the main character is running away from the bad guys, and he climbs up a huge ladder that goes nowhere - so he has to climb back down. I love that idea of the climb to nowhere. Its unexpected and nonsensical.

Maybe that is why I have always felt a deep connection to Dr. Seuss' drawings. I need to embrace my inner chaos and nonsense. This project so far has been great for forcing me to commit daily to something, and it has also ripped me out of my comfort zone (crayons have never been my medium of choice.)

Your thoughts?

Day 5: Cornflower

This drawing took about an hour - longer than the other drawings so far. This is also the first time that I was not alone in the room while I drew - I was talking with my sister, Amy, who is visiting from Marblehead, MA.

Since this crayon is called "Cornflower" I felt, at first, that I needed to draw a flower. That is how it started out, but I was quickly disappointed with what was evolving. This drawing kept changing as I drew one thing, drew over that, scratched out and redrew. I tried using different pressures to create several shades and multiple lines and shapes (IE circles, straight lines and squiggles).

It no longer looks like a flower, but I want to deny that it looks like a lion or dog face, but it does - I have to admit that out loud. Now that I am looking at it, I think it is kind of sweet as a lion-face. In fact, if I were to draw my family as animals (which is an assignment that I often give to my clients) I would draw my sister as a lion. She has long, red, curly hair - like a mane. So, I guess this drawing is an abstract interpretation of my sister. I will title "Amy in Blue".

Day 4: Carnation Pink

This color felt yummy, like cotton candy or bubblegum ice cream (not that I like bubblegum ice cream, but it is definitely childhood yummy). These shapes seem light and airy and floating - there is a lot of movement. Most of the shapes are clustered together, while just four seem to be escaping.

This is the first drawing that is horizontal - it needed to spread out. Expand.

My interpretation: I am in a place in my life right now where I feel more independence. My teenage daughters are moving out in their own directions, and I have more time to focus on me and my passions (like when I was in my twenties). "Me" is taking up more space in my world and I am moving out in new directions. This is exciting and new (and yummy). Even child-like.

Day 3: Orange

This started out with the dark center line- which was originally supposed to be grass-like, but now it feels more like an EKG (a life line). There seems to be mountains that are growing up and out of that lifeline - moving upward. Underneath I interpret this as multiple layers of Earth - very subterranean and/or tunnels.

Near the end, I was pressing really hard with the crayon to get the darker orange color, and the crayon broke. So I removed the wrapper from one half and spun it on its side to create the half circles - which now look very celestial - sun and moon like.

I am interpreting this as if there are many layers in my world - things that may still be unseen below the surface. I am feeling as if I need to start digging deeper to get to something new - get passed the superficial.

This feels a lot more positive than yesterday, and even inspirational.

Day 2: Blue Green

I wanted to use the crayon in a different way, so I decided to melt it. I was getting frustrated because the candle wax was mixing with the crayon wax and I had some difficulty getting the paper wrapper off. Once I decided to embrace the elements that I was trying to avoid (the wrapper and the candle wax), the whole picture started to come together. Once I had melted about 3/4 of the crayon, I blew out the candle and reverted to using the crayon in it's traditional way.

I do not like this drawing. I feels forced and contrived. I feels confused and disjunct.

Usually "Blue Green" would be a calming color for me, but not today. It is early morning, and I feel as if I am in a rush. Also, my 15 year old daughter is ill today and is staying home from school. She has been sick for the past two weeks, and she was getting better, but there seems to have been a relapse. I am frustrated and confused as to how to care for her. That is why this drawing reflects those feelings.

If I learn from this drawing, it may be to allow the outside elements to contribute to the whole picture. Maybe my vision is too myopic right now. I have to include things that I thought were trash and needed to be discarded.

Your thoughts are welcome and encouraged!

Day 1: Red Violet

This drawing seemed to evolve out of the color. It feels very organic, but almost in the opposite color than I would expect it to be. I've always thought of "Red Violet" as a Victorian and uptight color. This does not feel like that.

I am open to your interpretations. And I am curious to see if others want to draw their own picture with a "Red Violet" crayon.

Crayon has never been my favorite medium. I am going to have to explore unconventional ways to use this art material. Any suggestions?

New Box Of Crayons

Today I bought a brand new box of 64 Crayola Crayons, and there are so many new colors that did not exist when I was a child, and other colors that have been retired or have had their names changed. I am fascinated!

I have decided to choose one color each day, and allow that color to create a drawing. (See next blog for this first drawing.)

History:

In 1903 Crayola introduced 8 different colors: Black, Brown, Orange, Violet, Blue, Green, Red and Yellow.

By 1957 there were 48 colors: including "Purrsian Blue" which was changed to :Midnight Blue" in 1958, and "Flesh", which was changed to "Peach" in 1962 - partially as a result of the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1971 there were now 64 colors: including "Indian Red" which was changed to "Chestnut" in 1999 because many people thought it was offensive to the Native American people.

By 1989 Crayola was up to 72 colors with the inclusion of fluorescents.

80 colors by 1980 and in 1992 several colors were retired: including "Orange Red", "Orange Yellow", "Raw Umber", "Grey Blue" and "Maize". These colors were replaced with such colors as "Vivid Tangerine", "Cerulean", and "Fuchsia".

In 1993 Crayola introduced 16 new colors that were named by the public: including "Asparagus" and "Macaroni and Cheese".

Today there are 120 colors with new colors like: "Inch Worm" and "Wild Blue Yonder".

Info from: http://www.crayola.com/colorcensus/history/chronology.cfm

New DVD Available!

Hey everyone! There's a new DVD in town!

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January Seminars

Upcoming Webinars:
1/6-11:30am PST: Art Therapy - Interpreting the Art & Facilitating Communication, pt 1
1/10-11:30am PST:Art Therapy - Interpreting the Art & Facilitating Communication, pt 2
1/20-8:30am PST: Introduction to Art Therapy

Upcoming Live Seminars:
1/12/2011 - Springfield, MO
1/13/2011 - Tulsa, OK
1/14/2011 - Oklahoma City, OK