I'm not an art teacher. I'm studying to be an art therapist. I know that traditionally, people take art classes and want to learn techniques to make their drawings look more realistic. When's the last time anyone took a painting course in how to make things look surreal? I'm sure they're out there but I don't know much interest in them, other than people already in the art community.
I'm studying to be an art therapist. There are some art therapists who were artists first and they are trained traditionally. My internship supervisor is one of these art therapists. There is much conflict already between art therapists and their titles. Art therapists fight to not be called the arts and crafts lady or the art lady. We try to not be just artists or just therapists.
My internship supervisor suggested, as she has before, that I take an art class. In the past, this has really pissed me off. I did a piece I wasn't happy about and then she told me that I needed to take a human figure drawing class to improve. I didn't do it. So, now, here she is again. She's waiting to see my human figures and the way I draw.
Since joining the art therapy program, I have become more expressive. At first, this caused a lot of anxiety. I had been taught traditionally. And anything outside of picture perfect was "weird" or "outsider" art. But as I've learned to express myself and enjoy using art materials, I have been less strict with myself about making anything traditional.
In the past year, I've worked as a recreation therapist assistant (it's just a title, I actually run art activities in a therapeutic session and without my license, at this point, it's NOT art therapy). In the past year, I've maybe been around one or two people who liked their artwork to be perfect and traditional. If they are, though, they usually are in a class. But a majority of people I've seen don't mind a little doodle here or a word or two here. They even like coloring pages. I also bring a lot of collage materials. I think collage is good for people who are too anxious to draw and have it be like a picture.
I resent my supervisor, though, for suggesting an art class. The first time, I wanted to pull out past art projects and show to her that I could do it. But I didn't. I just festered and sat with my anger. Now that I have an awesome professor who I can talk to about the issues in internship, I feel that I can change the angry energy into something else and not let it get to me so much.
Yes, she believes that an art therapists should demonstrate to her that they have art skills. This is a lot of pressure that I don't want to deal with. Yes, I do have these skills. And no, I'm not going to share them with her because it's better if I just do my thing and not worry about how she (or others) might judge me.
Only one or two people who I've worked with in the art activities wanted to have something perfect. I think they wanted me to draw a star. I wouldn't and said I didn't know how. And they've said, "How are you going to be an art therapist if you can't even draw a star?" While it's a low blow, I don't think my art therapy license will ever depend on me knowing how to draw a star. I often encourage the clients to do their own artwork, no matter if they like it or not, because eventually, they do like it. They do get a sense of achievement. I don't want to take that away (and I'm not going to draw stars either!).
Vanessa
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Art Teacher Vs. Art Therapists
Many art therapists have relayed that we, as students and going into the field, have to make it clear we're not arts and craft teachers. I also resent being called this, on the few occassions it's happened, but I can understand how people might see art therapists like that. We are, after all doing art. I have had to take art classes and I do know how to do use (and teach) some techniques. The difference is that an art teacher teaches techniques and has a direction to get a student there. They try to get a student to be an artist or at least understand how the technique will help them in their realism. There might even be critiques with other students where people look at a student's work and offer suggestions on how to make it better or what they like about it. An art therapist may help a client with a technique if the person asks.
Most of the time, the art therapist wants a client to express themselves, not labor over the technique or materials. There are often not critiques in a group art therapy session. Mostly, an art therapist attempts to get a person to say something about their work and what it might say to others about them, if that's the art therapist's theory. Sometimes it's just that the person is able to express themselves (and often want to talk about it). There is an importance on titles and dates of pieces. A title to give an indication what the subject is or what the person thought. And a date so that there can either be a review or the client can go back to that artwork and remember what they were going through and if it's reflected in the art. This also marks progress, which is a benefit of doing art therapy compared to talk therapy. In the groups that I run that involve art therapy, I ask clients about what they liked about their work or the activitiy and what they might change about the work or activity or how they generally feel that day or at that time. I'd venture to guess that whether a student liked the activity or materials is inconsequential to an art class. I see this as a major difference between an art class and art therapy-- the art therapist cares about what the person liked and didn't like and how they are feeling.
I hope that more people in general are able to either participate or observe groups that art therapists run because it might give some clarity about the difference between art classes and art therapy.
Most of the time, the art therapist wants a client to express themselves, not labor over the technique or materials. There are often not critiques in a group art therapy session. Mostly, an art therapist attempts to get a person to say something about their work and what it might say to others about them, if that's the art therapist's theory. Sometimes it's just that the person is able to express themselves (and often want to talk about it). There is an importance on titles and dates of pieces. A title to give an indication what the subject is or what the person thought. And a date so that there can either be a review or the client can go back to that artwork and remember what they were going through and if it's reflected in the art. This also marks progress, which is a benefit of doing art therapy compared to talk therapy. In the groups that I run that involve art therapy, I ask clients about what they liked about their work or the activitiy and what they might change about the work or activity or how they generally feel that day or at that time. I'd venture to guess that whether a student liked the activity or materials is inconsequential to an art class. I see this as a major difference between an art class and art therapy-- the art therapist cares about what the person liked and didn't like and how they are feeling.
I hope that more people in general are able to either participate or observe groups that art therapists run because it might give some clarity about the difference between art classes and art therapy.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Creative Writing Class-- Memoir
It's my junior year of college and I'm not taking any psychology classes. I'm making sure I take the classes I need before I go on to be an upper classman in psychology. I signed up for a creative writing class. It is taught by a graduate student. He is a muscular black man who loves BBQs. He used to be a butcher. He looks it. There's something in the way he teaches that I can tell he is new and anxious. Things don't seem to run smoothly. He pauses and appears like he's thinking but I think he just doesn't know what to do next. He puts his hand up to his chin when he thinks. He goes over the syllabus-- short stories first and then poetry. I am not into poetry. I used to write it when I was 12 and people liked it. It was terrible. I have it in a binder in storage and I don't intend to look at it again. There are some poems in my journal. They're just for me. I shared one with my boyfriend because it was about him. I think he liked it.
We read stories in our book, written by famous writers, and comment or talk about them. We pretend like we read other stories that are included in our book but I really don't. A guy with a red hat mentions "Yellow Wallpaper" and I remember reading it once for a women's studies class so I say that I read it too.
We have to write stories for the class. They're supposed to be anonymous. They're not. Even if you don't know who it is, you can tell in the class discussion by who isn't talking. My short story is 10 pages and I want it to be more. I don't think I capture what I wanted in it but it is a story. I did some research for it by reading The Outspoken Princess and the Gentle Knight. My story is based on my friends and their dramatic girlfriends. When I took Abnormal Psychology a year later and found about the word hysterionic, I know that that's what they were. With my story, in the end, the prince, who wants to marry the princess who is cheating on him, realizes that she's not going to change so he throws himself off a cliff. I realize after I write this to not have a set ending because the characters didn't seem like the type to kill themselves-- just leave and move on. I don't want to make it longer than it is. I have to copy it at school and it's going to be a lot of money to copy it for the 15 students.
The night before I have to turn this story into the class so they could take it home and criticize it, the library card reader wasn't working after I just put ten dollars on my card to be used for the copies. I was upset. I wanted my money back so I could make these copies for the students.
I get up early the morning its due and go to the library early. The card reader was thankfully working and I copied and stapled them right there.
I walk five minutes to the building where my class is and step into the classroom. I set the copies on the professor's table and sit in my chair next to the door and wait for the class to start. The class before ours must have been cancelled because no one is lingering in the class, trying to talk to the professor. They usually look happy when they leave. I would have rather been in that class.
My story is ok. I think it's clever. It isn't too bad. It has a lot of potential and I hope others would see that.
This class we discuss a student's story about coming out at Thanksgiving and another story about an adventure-er with an inflated ego and how he changed by climbing a mountain and facing a lion. I heard a similar story in "Wayne's World."
The next class came. I am dreading this day. The girls in the corner don't like me, even though one has a Polish sounding last name like mine. I hang out with Mike and Vanessa in the corner near the door. They are nice. Vanessa is always trying to find a story in her life. I thought she wasn't creative or maybe she didn't know how to be. This class sure wouldn't teach her to improve.
We didn't go over how to do constructive criticism. I get back all the stories I had copied. They now have edit marks by the kids who don't know how to do criticism well. Each person has to do a write up on the story on top of editing it. The professors gives these to me too after he had checked that everyone had done one. I could tell that he unfortunately doesn't read what's written on them.
The most horrible thing is from that bitch in the corner with the Polish sounding last name. She wrote, "This author displays no creativity." I keep a journal for class about the things I read and what I think about certain things. I write about how I read up on modern fairy tales and there is only one where someone falls off a cliff and it isn't even for suicide. The professor mentions this in class after he reads the journals. He gives me a little inspiration but the damage is done. He said that no matter if we all write about the same thing, we will bring a part of us into it.
After that all meanness stops and instead there is nothing more than, "Wow, that was nice and well written." I don't think anyone actually improved their writing, just their attitude, worried about being too mean. Or maybe that bitch with the Polish sounding name in the corner gave an F-U to every thing she read and the others don't want to be mean like her anymore.
It's unfortnate that such damage came from a place that is supposed to be supportive and encouraging.
I stop writing after this; until my second senior year in college where I took a class about writing. The professor was encouraging. She even had me looking through the Writer's Resource book from the library, looking for periodicals to submit my memoir about my cat. The professor of the second writing class is much better at refining writing, about educating us on how to do critiques, about giving us an opportunity to learn about the writing we'll do in our future fields. I have been writing memoir stories ever since.
We read stories in our book, written by famous writers, and comment or talk about them. We pretend like we read other stories that are included in our book but I really don't. A guy with a red hat mentions "Yellow Wallpaper" and I remember reading it once for a women's studies class so I say that I read it too.
We have to write stories for the class. They're supposed to be anonymous. They're not. Even if you don't know who it is, you can tell in the class discussion by who isn't talking. My short story is 10 pages and I want it to be more. I don't think I capture what I wanted in it but it is a story. I did some research for it by reading The Outspoken Princess and the Gentle Knight. My story is based on my friends and their dramatic girlfriends. When I took Abnormal Psychology a year later and found about the word hysterionic, I know that that's what they were. With my story, in the end, the prince, who wants to marry the princess who is cheating on him, realizes that she's not going to change so he throws himself off a cliff. I realize after I write this to not have a set ending because the characters didn't seem like the type to kill themselves-- just leave and move on. I don't want to make it longer than it is. I have to copy it at school and it's going to be a lot of money to copy it for the 15 students.
The night before I have to turn this story into the class so they could take it home and criticize it, the library card reader wasn't working after I just put ten dollars on my card to be used for the copies. I was upset. I wanted my money back so I could make these copies for the students.
I get up early the morning its due and go to the library early. The card reader was thankfully working and I copied and stapled them right there.
I walk five minutes to the building where my class is and step into the classroom. I set the copies on the professor's table and sit in my chair next to the door and wait for the class to start. The class before ours must have been cancelled because no one is lingering in the class, trying to talk to the professor. They usually look happy when they leave. I would have rather been in that class.
My story is ok. I think it's clever. It isn't too bad. It has a lot of potential and I hope others would see that.
This class we discuss a student's story about coming out at Thanksgiving and another story about an adventure-er with an inflated ego and how he changed by climbing a mountain and facing a lion. I heard a similar story in "Wayne's World."
The next class came. I am dreading this day. The girls in the corner don't like me, even though one has a Polish sounding last name like mine. I hang out with Mike and Vanessa in the corner near the door. They are nice. Vanessa is always trying to find a story in her life. I thought she wasn't creative or maybe she didn't know how to be. This class sure wouldn't teach her to improve.
We didn't go over how to do constructive criticism. I get back all the stories I had copied. They now have edit marks by the kids who don't know how to do criticism well. Each person has to do a write up on the story on top of editing it. The professors gives these to me too after he had checked that everyone had done one. I could tell that he unfortunately doesn't read what's written on them.
The most horrible thing is from that bitch in the corner with the Polish sounding last name. She wrote, "This author displays no creativity." I keep a journal for class about the things I read and what I think about certain things. I write about how I read up on modern fairy tales and there is only one where someone falls off a cliff and it isn't even for suicide. The professor mentions this in class after he reads the journals. He gives me a little inspiration but the damage is done. He said that no matter if we all write about the same thing, we will bring a part of us into it.
After that all meanness stops and instead there is nothing more than, "Wow, that was nice and well written." I don't think anyone actually improved their writing, just their attitude, worried about being too mean. Or maybe that bitch with the Polish sounding name in the corner gave an F-U to every thing she read and the others don't want to be mean like her anymore.
It's unfortnate that such damage came from a place that is supposed to be supportive and encouraging.
I stop writing after this; until my second senior year in college where I took a class about writing. The professor was encouraging. She even had me looking through the Writer's Resource book from the library, looking for periodicals to submit my memoir about my cat. The professor of the second writing class is much better at refining writing, about educating us on how to do critiques, about giving us an opportunity to learn about the writing we'll do in our future fields. I have been writing memoir stories ever since.
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