Wednesday, September 26, 2012

What do you see?

Austin sent me a link to this art. This one is my favorite. Click the photo to link and see what it really is, but first think about what you see :)


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Heart Melted

This melts my heart.  I know I want to adopt a child one day. Interning this summer at a center for people with developmental disabilities, it's hard not to fall in love with some of the kiddos you interact with daily. And then coming across adoption stories like Tracie's, makes me really wonder who I will adopt and what my life will be like in 10 years.  This is absolutely beautiful.  I found out about her story from the International Down Syndrome Coalition (click photo below to link).


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Life long friendship

Tonight I was looking at my blog when I realized I had some old drafted blog posts I never published!  This was one I thought worth editing.  Spring semester 2006 I met one of my first friends in Tallahassee.  Today he is one of my best friends and will be life long. Our last couple of years living in Tallahassee, our thing was going to coffee.  I started this blog post the last day we went to coffee before he was leaving for South Africa for the summer, and when our coffee date was over I wished him a wonderful summer.  By the time he returned from summer, I had moved to Kansas to start grad school, and as soon as he got back, he moved to California with his girlfriend to start grad school, also. He said to me that day, "See you soon."  And I knew it would be true.  I would never let such a good friend go.  Later that school year, Austin and I visited San Francisco for Spring Break and we had a lovely time with Nike and Stephanie.  This past summer, he traveled to Jordan to work on his Master's thesis research.  I am so lucky to have such a motivated, compassionate, intelligent, thoughtful, and beautiful friend in my life, Nike Start.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

How I celebrated International Dot Day

Earlier this week I blogged about making your dot and that blog entry linked to a great idea about International Dot Day, which actually is today! I celebrated all week by sharing the book, "the dot" by Peter H. Reynolds with my fellow grad students, and suggesting a dot mandala directive.  I also shared this story with pre-schoolers I work with on Mondays.  I did the same dot directive with them.  I pre-cut blank circles, and provided them with crayons.  After I read the story aloud to them, I suggested they draw circles, or dots.  After a couple minutes, I also gave them bingo markers, and let them paint dots.  They really enjoyed this.

the "dot mandala" I made



animated version of Peter H. Reynold's "the dot"

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Poster Girl

Yesterday in my Supervision class for Internship we watched a documentary called "Poster Girl".  I think it is a very powerful documentary and pertains perfectly to today(9/11/2012).  A young lady named Robynn Murray enlisted in the army at the end of September in 2001.  She was only 19 years old, and said she had no idea what she was getting into.  The documentary is semi-graphic with depicting what she saw in other countries such as blood, people dying, etc.  It talks about her struggle with the VA (Veterans Affairs) to get a disability check after coming back to America and suffering from many physical illnesses as well as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  She gets involved with an organization called "Combat Paper" and creates some art to help her through her healing process.  She claims that art kept her alive.  I think it is a wonderful film and portrays Robynn's message well.




Sunday, September 9, 2012

SMB: Satisfied

Not the best video or audio because it was recorded with a phone, but wanted to share this song!

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Make your dot

Want to make your dot?  You can.  Do it next week for international dot day.  I am going to a dot art directive next week with pre-school age children while interning to inspire creativity.  What will you do for dot day?

http://fablevisionlearning.com/dotday/

Friday, September 7, 2012

Putting perspective into words: I am thankful.

Tuesday my "Bahamas Family" met as a group for the first time since we returned from our trip.  We shared our various assignments that we all created on our ipads while we were there.  If I have not previously mentioned, my professor had a grant which funded ipads for the art therapy program.  We were the first group to use them, and we had photo assignments and a project to make with the ipads on this trip.  I made an etsy site for the Bahamas Association for the Physically Disabled, which I previously blogged about.  A couple others made movies, which were lovely.  Two girls made a scrapbook together, and a few girls blogged.  Everyone did a wonderful job.  It was so nice to have everyone together again and share what we created.  While I was presenting my photo assignment, I got to one, and paused for a moment because I was not sure why I had included it in the presentation.  I had remembered taking the photo because I thought the neon on two of my new friends shoes were neat because they matched.  But underneath the photo, I had written "I am thankful" and the assignment for this photo was to find "something learned".  As I was speaking to my "Bahamas Family", I laughed and said, I don't know why I chose this photo, but I can tell you what I learned on this trip.  I learned how thankful I am to be able to walk.  The very last day we were all volunteering, one of our professors walked in from the heat, and said "I am thankful for air conditioning", and after taking the entire trip in and processing everything, I realized, and said to her, "I am thankful to walk".  It was a very emotional moment for me when I realized this. The culture is so different from ours.  If I had been born and lived my early childhood years in the Bahamas, or maybe another culture, instead of America, and not had been blessed with all of the surgery and physical therapy I have had, I may not be able to walk as well as I do.  I am so thankful to walk.  And I am so thankful for this experience.  About midway through telling my story to my "Bahamas Family" in class this past Tuesday, I realized why I selected shoes as the photo for "something learned".

You all can take a look at my photo, too.  Enjoy.
"something learned"

Sunday, September 2, 2012

art therapist blog and an artistic savant

Art therapist, Liz Beck blogs about a very talented artist. Take a look at her blog and this wonderful video for some ouuus and ahhhss!

See Stephen Wiltshire below, you'll be impressed :)