To say that art has a way of sneaking into
every facet of my life is a bit of an understatement. When someone says "Oh, what a pretty
blue sky it is today!" I think, "No! It is Prussian Blue with just a
hint of Yellow Ochre!" When I am
watching the news, I invariably obsess about the lack of good composition in
the commentary photos. Is it any wonder
that when I went to counseling for grief management, art followed me in? The psychologist asked me to write a brief
note about my situation, and I wrote it in the form of a poem. When she accused me of following Dr. Seuss'
format, and not taking her seriously, I didn't understand her issues with
it. I had spilled out my heart to
her! The psychologist then asked me to
do a collage detailing my life through words and phrases cut from various
magazines. I arranged them into patterns
that completed a picture of Van Gogh with his ear cut off. She was not impressed. So when she asked me to do a self portrait,
she shouldn't have been surprised that I chose to do something a bit out-of-the-box. I picked up a cheap Bendy Doll at the craft
store, and proceeded to paint 'me' on it.
I found some felt tip pens in a variety of colors and painted flames
climbing up my feet, added designs on the body to signify my need for freedom
and expression. I sewed on colorful yarn
hair to show my wild side...but I put mirrors on my mouth and stomach to show
my need to reflect to people whatever they wanted to hear and see. My face is scribbled red to show that I am
holding in what I really want to say.
The flower at my side is a banner screaming, "I am here! Listen to me! See me!!! " The feather is my symbol for wanting to fly
away from it all.
Well,
the psychologist was speechless. She
asked to keep the doll for a few weeks.
I heard later that she took it to a convention and discussed the application
of art to psychology, and the volumes that it can tell you. She wasn't much help in counseling my grief,
but I discovered that following my art helped more than anything else could
have. Art followed me in, and I followed
it out.
1 comment:
I love your doll story and she is a work of art for sure! We need to have a doll workshop after we have our gourd workshop. We need to do coffee this week, let me know if you have a morning availabe.
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