Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity. Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr. Come by on Mondays and share with others here. I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity. Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr. Come by on Mondays and share with others here. I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Weekend Reflection: Art is...

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Weekend Reflection: Focus

Take the time to 

REALLY

look.

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Weekend Reflection: Bloom

All Summer I was still taking care of you

but it wasn't until the conditions

became just right again

that you decided to bloom once more.

Creativity is always there.

Mine goes through stages

but I know that as I go through my days

my creativity is still being nourished.

It is when the conditions are right 

that it will bloom again.

So Simple

Do you act upon a creative impulse when it hits?

Weekend Reflection: Preparing

 As I prepare to work with clients this week

I take the time to plan out my sessions.

What will be the focus in the groups?

What materials will we use?

How will I facilitate this?

From experience I know to not plan too much

since the real magic with Art Therapy is that

each session goes the way the clients need it to go.

I plan and prepare, but the secret is to let them lead 

and allowing the session to be flexible. 

Allowing this gives the participants the room

to share what they feel they need to express.

My job is to hold the space 

so they feel safe to do so.

 

Silencing My Inner Critic

This image is one I created while exploring my Inner Critic.  You know, that little voice that you hear saying things like, "this looks terrible, you can't draw, you should just quit..."

I gave her some space on the page but made sure she was 

contained so that her negativity could not reach me. 

 This was my message to her:

"Your words can't reach me now.  

I know you are still there but I have silenced you.  

Your negativity can stay there with you, keep it to yourself. 

 I have no need for it, it does not help me any 

and really gets old after awhile."

Do you have an inner critic when you create?  What do you do to work through the negative thoughts?

Weekend Reflection: Simple Things

Starting a new group,

wondering what the clients will be like

I begin to set up the supplies.

Crayons, markers, glue sticks,

pens, scissors, pastels and chalk.

They are simple things.

They invite exploration,

they don't intimidate

and they welcome the timid.

The clients come in,

they all choose their seats 

and almost instinctively reach out and touch the supplies.

Most ask for a piece of paper.

Let's start.

 

Shifting

Part of me has been asleep,

dormant,

dreaming.

Part of me has started to stir,

eyes open,

noticing.

Part of me is ready to engage,

create,

explore.

A Gift

A gift

to remember

to enjoy

the little

things

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Week-End Reflection: Deep Inside

It is time to create and I have no idea what is about to take shape.

I sit for a moment

then begin.

The process is magical when I let it happen.

I trust myself; quieting my inner critic

and following the process.

It is like I let my hands lead and the rest of me watches.

I am surprised at times at what my hands reach for

but I let them chose and I let them create

and I witness it all.

I go to a place of stillness.

I feel the difference of not leading with my head.

I know I am tapping into something deeper 

when I create from place of stillness.

Wish

Sometimes looking at something

through the perspective of a child

changes everything.

Week-End Reflection: An Apple a Day

Standing at my art table

I grab a brush and see some red paint.

I grab some paper and start.

An apple takes shape.

So simple.

For me being creative often means jumping on an impulse when it presents itself.  No matter what it is that I create I feel a shift in me as I work.  I focus, relax and go to a place deep within.  I grounds me, nourishes me and gives me an outlet.  So simple.

My Inner Child

I do not have many memories of my Grandfather.  He was not the most warm and friendly man.  The memory that stuck with me most is when I saw him for the last time.  He was at his house, in a dark room, dying of cancer.  I was in grade 3.
I remember being scared to go in and not being able to see much since the room was so dark.  My mom had told me it was important to go in and see him this time and say goodbye.  Even as a child I could sense that he was close to dying.  Minimal words were exchanged and I think he briefly touched my hand but as I left the room I knew it would be the last time I saw him, and it was.  He died shortly afterwards. 
I got to know death well as a child...I lost my older brother 3 years later.  When I explore my childhood death is often explored in my images.
For this painting I remember working quickly and was not aware of what I was going to create.  I painted with my fingers and allowed the mess to happen.  My grandfather and I emerged in the image and I allowed myself to revisit this moment in my life.  I let myself feel those emotions again and witness them now as an adult.  This image encouraged me to reconnect with my inner child and it gave her the space to express herself in a way that she hadn't before.  Painting with my fingers allowed me to tap into her since I could not get too caught up in my head about the finished product since I had little control over the paint. 
My inner child wanted to be acknowledged...she had a lot to say and I continued to give her the space to do so in other pieces I did later on that allowed me to further explore death and the loss of my brother.

Wise Words

On Wednesdays I will share an image from my Inspiration Deck.  I loved taking part in this project and I hope you enjoy the messages on the cards as much as I do!

Card Created By:

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Week-End Reflection: Celebrate

 Listening to the subtleties 

of my creativity

that come to me

in flashes,

and acting upon them.

Wise Words

On Wednesdays I will share an image from my Inspiration Deck.  I loved taking part in this project and I hope you enjoy the messages on the cards as much as I do!

This Card Created By:

 

www.insearchofdessert.com

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!

Index Card A Day

I'll be honest...I'm finding it hard lately to tap into my creativity as much as I would like.  The warm weather seems to have me pulled in different directions lately and I am not found seated at my art table in the evenings as often. 
Lately I stumbled across an idea that sparked my creativity a bit again.  I think it is just what I need; something to keep making some art, but with a realistic commitment for time right now.  It is called Index Card a Day  (ICAD) by Tammy at Daisy Yellow.  The idea is to create something on a small index card everyday for all of June and July 2012, check out the link for more info. 

Here are my two first cards:

June 1st 2012

June 2nd 2012

I can already tell I am going to have quite a variation in my cards at the end of all this!  What I have enjoyed so far is for my first card I was into it and had the time to spend on it and that shows in the final product while for my second I really just did something to tell myself I had done it.  The magic though is realizing how much I was enjoying making the second one.  It took only a couple minutes, and I really didn't feel like doing any art, but I did, and when it was done, it felt good.  I needed a gentle reminder of this...making art, any kind of art, feels good. 

Wise Words

On Wednesdays I will share an image from my Inspiration Deck.  I loved taking part in this project and I hope you enjoy the messages on the cards as much as I do!

This Card Created By:

Nadia 

Shadow

Both are me...

aspects of me.

Both give space to sides of myself

that are not always acknowledged

but need to be.

I can not ignore either.

When the sun

shines warmly against me,

 to one side of me

there is a 

shadow.

Instant Inspiration Monday

Every Monday I will be inviting you to share an image that showcases your creativity.  Link up to your Blog or share URLs from Instagram, Photobucket and flickr.  Come by on Mondays and share with others here.  I look forward to seeing what has inspired your creativity, it will likely inspire mine too!