Watercolor Is Just Not My Thing

In my art therapy group with students a couple of weeks ago the directive was to challenge oneself by uses different art mediums then one typically uses. I used watercolor as it's always a medium that tends to frustrate me.  I ended up working through my frustration and creating an abstract piece that I was pretty okay with. So, when I was surfing The Brainery website for upcoming classes and saw there was a watercolor class on a Saturday afternoon (that I was actually free) I decided for $20 I would take the class and continue to challenge myself with watercolors.

.....well.....it didn't go quite as I expected. The instructor taught about watercolors for the first hour (different kinds of watercolor paints, brushes to use, different techniques, etc...) and then we chose an image that we brought or that he had there and set about recreating a regular image into a watercolor image.  The instructor stated multiple times that we would not leave the class with a Mona Lisa but still I think I some how thought something would finally click in my brain and I would "get it".  This did not happen.  I spent two hours not necessarily stressed or highly frustrated, just more like disappointed.

During painting time the instructor went around helping people, but for some reason he didn't help me. I'm not sure why...other than I didn't really speak up and ask for help (which is something I'm good at doing, but didn't feel like it that day). I think I was just looking for the space to create and perhaps in the instruction learn the "magic" to painting watercolor.  When that didn't happen I just set about making the best of it and messing around.  I did walk away with learning some new techniques such as using saran wrap and paper towels to create some interesting texture with watercolor.

Mantra Art

I've been dealing with a lot of stress lately and I needed to create and express myself to remind me of my resiliency.  The fact that I'm a firm believer in standing up for myself and others despite the stress it might cause me makes me who I am. And I'm very proud of who I am.  However; this doesn't mean that I'm immune to getting exhausted when fighting a battle for what is right and fair.  

I ended up creating this piece of artwork. I chose to work with watercolor because it's challenging for me and I don't consider it a medium that I am competent in.  I continued to work on calming myself down when I got frustrated with the medium and kept working with it. I then chose to put positive reminders all over the painting. I decided to hang it up at work in front of my desk so that when I need a reminder to keep up the good fight.

I then decided to sign up for a watercolor class at The Brainery this coming weekend to continue to challenge myself with watercolor.  

I had time after completing the watercolor and felt like creating a mandala. I wanted to not think and just go with patterns. The color is the positive things in my life but the thin black is the stressors. They always tend to be interwoven among the positive things.

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!

Saturday Afternoon Art: I Wish I May, I Wish I Might...

 I finally made it back to saturday afternoon art at Leslie's. It's been a while because the weekends have been busy.

She had these great watercolors that looked expensive but created vibrant colors. I decided to test them out. I'm not really good at watercolor but I like to really wet the paper, put the ink down and then rotate the paper to just see what kind of magic happens.  I then played with some iridescent acrylic paints and stamps for some added texture. I've been wanting to create a fairy of sorts for a while but as you can see I've been more into abstract art and since it's been a while since I've actually created an actual image I was nervous. I used watercolor pencils and started forming the fairy. I ended up using a fine tip permanent black marker to make her stand out more.  You can tell I was insecure at first while creating her because she is so small compared to the large paper. In the end I wish I would have created her larger. Perhaps next time. I added some already created wooden circles and star to the image for some additional dimension.  Then for some reason the Star Light Star Bright words popped into my head.  Maybe because I've been wishing for something for a while now and wish it would come true... Again, I'm amazed at the unconscious that comes out freely while I'm creating. Most of the time I don't recognize what my art means until I'm done and sit back and reflect on it. Then I'm like, "oh yeah that makes since...that's where I'm at emotionally right now."

I'm pretty happy with the outcome. It was really fun, I got into the zone while creating and as an added bonus I don't dislike what I created!

Wellness

One of the Art Therapy groups I've been facilitating ended this past week. I asked group members to reflect back on what the group experience has been like for them. I created this image to share in the reflection. I don't know if this is a quote already out there in cyber world or something that was created by someone. I saw it next to a mixed media painting at the Mental Health Coalition while I was there as a juror for the "Metamorphosis" art show coming up May 6th. I thought it was a great way to close the group.

Watercolor Reflections

I recently completed facilitating an Open Studio Art Therapy group. In the final group I asked members to reflect on their group experience and what it was like for them. I created along with the group and this was my piece I shared with them.

As my group members pointed out...there was a lot of "perfect accidents" that occurred through the haphazard mixing of watercolor, markers and stamping with watercolor. What a metaphor for life! Another perfect accident was the creation of a flower smiley face that I didn't see but a group member pointed out. Do you see it?

Right up here ^