I want my art to be healing, so I must focus on process – true. The focus on process however does not mean that you cannot also be concerned with asthetics. You can be interested in the product! Just not obsessively perfectionist, snobby or judgemental.   It’s not a devil’s choice. I know I am harping on this. But when […]

Spirituality for me is a little like being on a balcony on a tall building.  I have this irrational voice that starts pondering the likelihood that I will suddenly be picked up by a strong wind and sucked out into the sky. Or worse, that I will inexplicably crawl over the railing and jump. The thrilling vertigo is not caused […]

Evolution. Healing. When I began doing expressive arts, and when I started this blog, it never occurred to me that I would begin to take myself seriously as an actual artist. I call myself an artist, because I do make art. But there is this whole other world of art that I have not participated in. So I’ve never felt […]

There is that cliche, “dance like no one’s watching.” Have you ever actually tried it?   Have you ever created visual art, knowing you will show it to no one, maybe even destroy it?  Writing in a diary, dancing alone, making private art…this is dialogue with ourselves and our spiritual extension.  If you’ve tried it, then perhaps you have come […]

Last week I explored the theme Marginalization/Belonging. It has me thinking about times I’ve felt like I belonged, and times (and ways) that I felt deliberately excluded. What is coming up is how often I marginalize myself, and that it is often just in my head. And that in order to belong or fit in, I tone myself down. I have the […]

Remember a few weeks ago when I was like “woo hoo!  I’m starting my arts-based research project! Yeah!”  Now, picture Eeyore. “Ho hum. I’m working on my research. No one cares. Poor me.”  Which isn’t true at all. I know I am supported.  But after years of learning and creating as part of various communities, I am realizing that doing […]

I’m doing arts-based research.  It was hard to start, lots of doubts. The first theme I am exploring is Authenticity/Conforming. I did an active imagination writing, and then played with some of the symbols that stuck out: a tree, a white bird, a glass sphere. As I created the images, it was hard not to constantly, anxiously look for a nugget […]

For years, I have been stuck behind a veil.  I saw others, and then I saw myself.  They were over there, I was over here.  No one pushed me out, no one said anything mean. They just said nothing. That silence that could be interpreted as passive aggression. At least, that is how I interpreted it.  I didn’t think I […]

Next week, I will be starting the arts-based research portion of my master’s degree. No doubt my findings will make their way to this blog. However, I am creating a little bubble of safety for myself, because I will be exploring aspects of my identity that are in conflict with each other.   One of the arts-based research strategies I […]