Art therapy!
yuli womie
I wanted to let you all know that things went well
with Aubrey today after the blanket thing yesterday.
We had a good talk, but I especially wanted to share
with you a great insight I had.
You see, we volunteer at a nearby nature center, doing
nature crafts with kids. Today we did pointillism,
like Seurat if you're familiar with him, only we used
pussywillows for making the dots.
It worked great, by the way; some of you might want to
try it with your kids.
Anyway, one kid discovered he could make dots with the
tips of his fingers, and soon everyone was
fingerpainting. Aubrey did two fingerpaintings, one
red and pink with graceful swirls and one green and
brown with aggressive slashes. I said, "This first one
looks like one of your good moods and the green one
looks like one of your bad moods." This was ok to say
at the time, because we'd talked about it a lot today.
She thought a minute, then said she thought they both
looked like good moods.
Then I was helping some tiny tots wash up, and next
thing I knew, Aubrey brought me a picture she'd made
of a BAD mood. Wow! What an eye opener! This picture
had MANY colors, MANY textures, all flung and
splattered and mingling and clashing.
It was, basically, a painting of chaos.
So a light bulb went off over my head. THIS is why she
NEEDS the blanket so much. In the bad moods, she's not
just angry. She's not just sad. She feels completely
out of control. The blanket is a stabilizer. It's
probably some sort of sacred, meditational talisman.
And this was only a picture of what she remembers a
bad mood as feeling like. Next time a bad mood comes
on, I'm bringing out the paints. I've just got to see
what one looks like as it's happening.
Juli, who now understands what art therapy really means.
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with Aubrey today after the blanket thing yesterday.
We had a good talk, but I especially wanted to share
with you a great insight I had.
You see, we volunteer at a nearby nature center, doing
nature crafts with kids. Today we did pointillism,
like Seurat if you're familiar with him, only we used
pussywillows for making the dots.
It worked great, by the way; some of you might want to
try it with your kids.
Anyway, one kid discovered he could make dots with the
tips of his fingers, and soon everyone was
fingerpainting. Aubrey did two fingerpaintings, one
red and pink with graceful swirls and one green and
brown with aggressive slashes. I said, "This first one
looks like one of your good moods and the green one
looks like one of your bad moods." This was ok to say
at the time, because we'd talked about it a lot today.
She thought a minute, then said she thought they both
looked like good moods.
Then I was helping some tiny tots wash up, and next
thing I knew, Aubrey brought me a picture she'd made
of a BAD mood. Wow! What an eye opener! This picture
had MANY colors, MANY textures, all flung and
splattered and mingling and clashing.
It was, basically, a painting of chaos.
So a light bulb went off over my head. THIS is why she
NEEDS the blanket so much. In the bad moods, she's not
just angry. She's not just sad. She feels completely
out of control. The blanket is a stabilizer. It's
probably some sort of sacred, meditational talisman.
And this was only a picture of what she remembers a
bad mood as feeling like. Next time a bad mood comes
on, I'm bringing out the paints. I've just got to see
what one looks like as it's happening.
Juli, who now understands what art therapy really means.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
[email protected]
>Gosh! How marvelous that, even though she cant express in words how
> Then I was helping some tiny tots wash up, and next
> thing I knew, Aubrey brought me a picture she'd made
> of a BAD mood. Wow! What an eye opener! This picture
> had MANY colors, MANY textures, all flung and
> splattered and mingling and clashing.
>
> It was, basically, a painting of chaos.
>
she feels, she could express the frustration and anger so well in a
painting. And equally wonderful, that a light bulb flashed in your
mind, that gave you a new understanding of your child.
Many many years ago when I was about 8yrs old. my aunty bought me a
new purse. I was there with her in the shop. I remember it well. I
didnt want THAT purse and I created such a scene. But the thing was I
didnt *not * want it. My aunty, who was usually very good with me,
decided in the end I didnt deserve a purse.
My emotions during that episode were so mixed that even today, I dont
know why I was such a little brat or why I was.
I still find it hard at times to distiguish which emotion I am
feeling, when i get upset about somthing.
Marianne
Olivia
What a wonderful insight for both of you. It is great that she could
express a mood in this way. You could definitely bring out the paints next
time she feels a change of mood coming on. Maybe that is how those great
artists fueled their inspiring paintings.
Olivia
At 08:57 AM 4/6/01 +0000, you wrote:
express a mood in this way. You could definitely bring out the paints next
time she feels a change of mood coming on. Maybe that is how those great
artists fueled their inspiring paintings.
Olivia
At 08:57 AM 4/6/01 +0000, you wrote:
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 19:02:41 -0700 (PDT)
> From: yuli womie <yuliwomie@...>
>Subject: Art therapy!
>So a light bulb went off over my head. THIS is why she
>NEEDS the blanket so much. In the bad moods, she's not
>just angry. She's not just sad. She feels completely
>out of control. The blanket is a stabilizer. It's
>probably some sort of sacred, meditational talisman.
>
>And this was only a picture of what she remembers a
>bad mood as feeling like. Next time a bad mood comes
>on, I'm bringing out the paints. I've just got to see
>what one looks like as it's happening.
>
>Juli, who now understands what art therapy really means.