Mandala- Tree of Life

In the art therapy group I facilitate for college students this week's directive was to think of stressors in your life that are holding you back from living the life you want/or to be the person you want to. They were told they could use any form of art medium, colors, lines, shapes, images and so on to depict this directive. 

Above was what I worked on while they were creating. I try to work on something relatively simple that is easy for me not to invest in so that I can observe the group members while they are creating. It's also interesting to see which groups ask the facilitators about what they created. I also try to create something that is more of a metaphor to the directive and use it to tie into the theme.  I ended up creating this mandala. I used watercolor paper and watercolor in the background. Then started making a flower with embroidery thread and a needle, then another flower, then some sprouts, then some roots. In the end I poked some holes through the yellow (sun) portion of the mandala so that if you hold it up in the air or adhere it to a window the sun will shine through.  This is the first thing I've created in a while since I've been back to work full time and taking night classes. It felt great to create!

Oil Pastel Self Portrait

I was having a difficult time finding inspiration for an art therapy project for my private practice work in a local group home with adolescents with disabilities. I remembered that my friend Joyce has an amazing Pinterest account http://www.pinterest.com/jkliman58/ and went surfing on it.  I found the above project on one of her art therapy boards and decided to use it. Most of the material I already had; oil pastels, fabric, white paper, buttons and colorful yarn. The only things missing were the black poster board, burlap and plastic large dull needles (all of which were found at Michaels Craft Store).  

I made this sample to show the group and asked them if it looked like me. They said yes. :)  I then told them that they were going to make their self portrait today. We did each step together and they did an amazing job on theirs. Most were even able to use fine motor skills and use the needle and thread and cut out their self portrait.  I hope to see them hanging the next time I'm there for a visit.

Little Free Library

I'm sooooo excited to share this project with everyone!  It's been a month in the making.  Anyone  who knows me knows that I love to read and always have at least one book if not many going at a time.   Most people would never know that as a youngster I was placed in remedial reading for a short period of time. For a while everyone thought I could read but the school realized that I had just memorized what was being read to me.  My family moved and we attended a different school when I entered fourth grade. I tested out of remedial reading at that time but was put in the lowest reading group that year.  However; by the beginning of fifth grade I was in the highest reading group and never looked back. I took AP English as a senior in HS and tested out of a class for college. I've been a voracious reader ever since and when given the opportunity to spread literacy to my neighborhood I found it a match made in heaven. I love to get lost in a book, to relax and forget about any worries for a little bit each day.  Beyond art and creating, reading is my break from reality that keeps me grounded.

Back at the end of June at the Altered Book Workshop I went to, I met Linda and latter her husband Roger. If you recall from an earlier post when visiting their home Linda show me this Little Free Library that her husband made. She told me about the project and it's mission and I was hooked! I told her I wanted to make one and thus I set out to do it.

The Little Free Library Concept:

The Beginning 
"The originators of this social enterprise are Todd Bol and Rick Brooks, both of whom have several decades of entrepreneurial and international experience.  They first met in 2009 while exploring the benefits of green practices in small businesses, discovering that they shared a commitment to service and the quality of community life around the world."

Little Free Library is Non-Profit Tax Exempt Mission
"Little Free Library, Ltd. began in 2009 as a program of the non-profit, tax-exempt organization Wisconsin Partners for SustainAbility, which has incubated several nonprofits projects and organizations.  Incorporated in Wisconsin, Little Free Library has a board of directors and a clearly defined non-profit mission.  "

Their Mission is:

• "To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide."
• "To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across generations."

This information was taken from the Little Free Library website. To find out more about this project or to create your own go to:http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/about-us.html

I started this project at the beginning of August. The library itself took a couple of weeks to put together  and paint. The bench and stool took an afternoon and the putting together of everything (gardening, rocks, library installation) took about half a day.  One of the best parts about this project was that I pretty much built the entire project ncluding the landscaping for $15.  I used all scrap materials I had around the house left over from other projects. The door was an old window from my house. Neighbor Bob had roofing paper and some quarter round trim that he donated.  My dad hunted down and lugged the river rocks up to Rochester for me. My mom brought up some perrenials and the greenhouse at Nazareth College donated the rest of the perennials.

Perhaps the best part about this entire process is that it brought together an entire community and beyond. Books were donated from my mother's co-workers,  my co-workers and their children, and from my book club group. Like I mentioned previously, some of the materials were donated or found.  I cut and designed the little library myself but needed my dad to help put it all together. Neighbor Bob saw me dangerously using my circular saw and struggling to put the bench together one afternoon and offered an extra set of hands to complete the bench.  Then my mom and dad donated part of their weekend to come up and help me install the library and complete it with the landscaping. (Their thank you was a homemade dinner followed by Netsin's ice cream.)

The library has been up for about 24 hours and a ton of neighbors have come by to look at it and comment on it.  Sometimes I'm nearby and talk with them and other times I'm in the house and hear them praising the concept and library through my house windows.

One of the first things everyone asked me when I mentioned that I wanted to create a Little Free Library was "Aren't you afraid someone will ruin it?"  The answer is no. I'm an overall optimistic person and believe if you make something beautiful and put good intentions out there that everything will work out the way it was meant to. Besides I have plenty of neighbors around at all hours and I know they will keep their eyes out and make sure nothing happens. 

The last part to complete this project is that I've created a half sheet flyer that I'm going to copy and bring around to all of the homes in my area (which is a lot) to help spread the word.  I hope the neighborhood enjoys it!

Thank you to all of you awesome people who helped to make this project amazing!

p.s. Makerspace would like to work with others in the community to make more Little Free Library's. You can contact them via their website: http://www.rochestermakerspace.org/ or  Rob directly @ 

                                      (Five Eight Five) 210-0075

Update 9/5/13: 2 days in and there's evidence that it's being used!

Here is my flyer that I walked around and put in mailbox's. I only did my block (started with 60 flyers) and was 6 flyers short. Boy even I didn't realize how many houses were on just my block (not including my entire street which is another 3 blocks long!)  It was pretty cool because I met some new neighbors along the way.

** Updates:

 A friend of mine texted me this picture she saw while in Buffalo. She said it was outside of a church near the Frank Lloyd Wright houses. 

 

Check out these other blogs from an aquaintaince regarding Little Free Libraries:
http://thecuriousanduncommon.com/little-free-library-8308-rochester-ny/
https://www.facebook.com/TheCuriousAndUncommon/posts/338012853009406?notif_t=like

Boulderfest, Zombies, and Cheese

Here's an update on some of the things I've been up to, including the much anticipated Run For Your Lives Zombie 5k!

1. Boulderfest: http://feest.us/boulder-festival-rock-the-wedge-with-harmony-rochester-ny-2013 -  My friend and I decided to check this mini festival out after all it is for a good cause. It was quite an interesting eclectic mix of people and music to be sure.  There were two stages for music and an array of styles of Punk, Jam, Rock, Indie and more.  The spectators were also a wide variety of characters, from goth to a full purple velor outfit, to the homeless man with his dog, to a birthday guy who was being video taped by his friends while he was trippin'.  The porta potties were horrid (as reported by my friend). After her expression upon existing one I chose to be in pain and hold it until our next destination.  The vendors were lack lusters (only a few) but the food vendors were plentiful and all were generous in giving some of their profit to Harmony (who the festival was being held for).  Needless to say I was ready to go when it was time to leave to go to a nearby venue to watch a different band perform.

2.  Southwedge Fest 2013 or wait rather a no go fest. My mom was visiting and I was excited to check out this neighborhood festival for a few reasons; Hedonist Chocolate, The Little Bleu Cheese Shop- http://littlebleucheese.com/, and the fact that it was near where I used to live in the city so I wanted to support this up and coming neighborhood. Unfortunately, once we got to the area there was nothing going on!!  My mom thought I got the date wrong but I didn't!! As it turned out this isn't the first time this neighborhood has organizers from the neighborhood plan events only to pull out at the last minute which is apparently what happened to this years Southwedge fest. I do have say that's a loser move on their part.

Since it was a nice day and we were already there we decided to take the opportunity to walk the Southwedge main street and take a stroll through the shops.  A professor of mine and his wife opened up The Little Bleu Cheese Shop and it is so adorable and unique. A highlight of this adventure was checking out their store and seeing my professor at work.  Hedonist chocolate spelled delicious, was pretty expensive, and had No samples. What kind of a chocolate shop is that!  We went into a couple of other quaint shops and checked out a myriad of neat one of a kind sandwich shops and bakeries.

3. The much anticipated Run For Your Life Zombie Apocalypse 5k http://www.runforyourlives.com/ was held last Saturday. It was a very fun run, a little difficult from a running perspective, and incredibly dirty. The Zombies met my expectations as far as costumes. They were pretty vicious especially if you still had a flag on you by the mid-point (which is so atypical for zombies).  I would describe them at the beginning as the zombies from Walking Dead season 1 and then by midway they turned into zombies from the end of Walking Dead season 2.  They literally chased you and ran really fast if you had a flag on you.

The race took place in the backwoods on a motor cross field and then led into a narrow wood path through the woods and back onto the motor cross field.  Zombies were all over. There was a smoke house with live electrical wires (us ladies didn't get hit with the wires but the guys with us did and they hollered like girls!) and a blood tank which was practically as tall as me and freezing. There were a couple of mud pits that you had to crawl through with barbed wire above you and you had to go through on your belly or else you would get caught by the wire. I know this because I got my shirt and hair caught in it trying to stay on my knees. (ouch!) That was the grossest I've probably ever been.  There were some other fun aspects including the pictures you got to take with the zombies at the end.  I did get a trophy and t-shirt but sadly my trophy says "infected".  All of my flags were taken but I lasted the longest out of our group with our original flags. I also do not have my race bib to show because a vicious zombie yanked it off of me trying to get my flag. Damn zombies! If you like fun runs I would recommend this one. I even screamed once because a zombie popped out the woods one time.

**Stay tuned for the Dirty Girl 5k I'm doing with a friend in September. Also, we signed up for the Chicago Hot Chocolate 5k in November. I'm a little worried about the cold and my Raynauds but if there was ever a race tailored for me it would be this one!

PMC Jewelry Kicks Ass!

I've been wanting to take a PMC jewelry making class for over a year. I first heard about this through a colleague when I saw a silver ring she was wearing and asked her about it. She mentioned taking a PMC jewelry class at the Creative Workshop and making it in less than 3 hours. I looked into and signed up for a class this past January but it ended up being canceled. The only other time to take it at that place was during the day (which obviously doesn't work when you are working during the day).

A couple of months ago when I was at Studio 34 to make the hot glass beads the owner mentioned that they have PMC classes. We finally connected on a workable time and I was able to take the class this past week.  The teacher was Janice McKay Wiggins who has her own business JMW Silver and is a local art teacher. Her Esty shop can be found at: Esty.com/shop/jmwsilver.

One of the cool things about attending this class on this day was that Studio 34 and it's owner Marilynne Lipshutz were just featured in the Sunday D&C Living Social on the front page. What was even cooler to me was finding out that Marilynne was a recently retired psychotherapist who opened the studio in 2001 because of her love for creating.   www.studio34jewelryartslearningcenter.com/

So moving on...here's the skinny on PMC (Precious Metal Clay):

Metal clay is a crafting medium consisting of very small particles of metal such as silver, gold, bronze, or copper mixed with an organic binder and water for use in making jewelry, beads and small sculptures. Originating in Japan in 1990, metal clay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using molds. After drying, the clay can be fired in a variety of ways such as in a kiln, with a handheld gas torch, or on a gas stove, depending on the type of clay and the metal in it. The binder burns away, leaving the pure sintered metal. 

How neat is this medium! In 2.5 hours using 9 grams of silver PMC I made 2 sets of earrings and a pendant necklace. I learned the basics and picked it up pretty easily because it's very much like using regular clay, sculpty or fimo clay.  In the end I used patina to darken my silver and lightly sanded off the upraised portion of my design to the original silver look.  Later when I got home I added some beads to the earrings and got a chain for the necklace.  

My goal is to get back to the studio on an open studio day where I can just purchase the PMC, use the materials in the studio and then pay for firing in the kiln to make some more pieces. Through asking questions I'm pretty sure I can add layers and pattern both sides of a piece on my own and through experimentation.  This is definitely a material I'd like to continue to work with. If only silver wasn't quite so expensive. $30 for 9 grams!  I made the necklace and matching earrings for my sister for her birthday. I can still show a picture because my sister doesn't follow my blog or ever look on it to see what I'm too. Therefore she won't see her b-day present! Her loss. :)

Can't Get Enough of Books!

The summer job I took up to make some extra cash has allowed me to read a ton of books.  I've tried to read a mix of work related therapy books in between book club and random book finds.  A cool occurrence is that at a new local library I've been going to this summer has a summer reading program for adults with prizes! If you fill out a brief book review on each book you read you enter each review into a bucket and if your name/review is picked (the drawing is once a week) then you win a gift card.  I was uber excited and put out a positive intention that I would win and on my first week participating I received a call and won! I received a $10 gift card to the Pour House. It's a local restaurant that I've never been to so that's pretty cool.

 Below are some but not all of the books I've read this summer. I've rated them based on my opinion.

Supreme Influence by Niurka ***

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris ***.5

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris ***.5

Alter this!: Radical Ideas by Alena Hennessy ****

Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo ***

The Principles of Uncertainty by Maria Kalman ***

Monkey mind: A Memoir of Anxiety by Daniel Smith ***

Afraid to Eat: Children and Teens Wight in Crisis by Frances Berg **.5

I'll See You Again by Jackie Hance ****

The Impostor Bride by Nancy Richler ****.5

The Generosity Plan by Kathy LeMay ****

The Binky Patrol Project

Since making the decision to not pursue an Esty Shop at this time, I decided to look for a non-profit to donate the small blankets I had made.  I went searching out positive inspiring causes and came across Binky Patrol.

Their Mission:
We are an all volunteer, national, non-profit organization making and distributing homemade blankets to children born HIV+, drug-addicted, infected with AIDS or other chronic & terminal illnesses, those who are abused, in foster care or experiencing trauma of any kind. Our recipients are from 0-18. 

They can be found at: http://www.binkypatrol.org/


The blankets I had created fit into the binky patrol measurements so I sent all 6 of them off to one of the donation sites. Hopefully some babies will be comforted by them as I was (oops still am) comforted by mine.