July for me meant conference, friends, colleagues, and another fold-out book. Early July, I prepared to attend the 46th Annual American Art Therapy Association Conference in Minneapolis, MN. As with last year I decided to create a multi-day activity that could be mirrored by my clients and we could discuss after my return. It needed to be something I could do while on the road. My clients were supposed to be simultaneously completing (I hoped) their own books as well. So here’s what we did.
The themes: Early in the month I had everyone in group come-up with 10 words. I used these to create the list of daily themes for July. As things go, I had to tweak some of their word choices but whenever possible I kept it fairly close to the original. I also decided to make every 5th day a “free-choice” (the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, and so on). Everyone was asked to write 1 word per page in a certain order, so we all responded to the same word on the same day. While I wanted us to do 1 piece per day, we discussed that some days would be harder than others and we may forget to. I therefore clarified that we could all go back-to and edit/add to any day that has passed, but (try) not to work ahead (of course some overachievers couldn't help themselves). Remember, the point was a daily creative practice (regardless of how much or how perfect).
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| July 1 - 6, 2015 |
Who: My MBAT (mindfulness based art therapy) group and myself.
Why: In July, due to the holiday, a semester break, and my conference, there was an extended period of time when group would not be able to meet. The activity’s purpose was to encourage daily creative engagement for distraction. Hopefully providing at least a several minutes of mindful art making each day.
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| July 6 - 13, 2015 |
Where: Everyone was to create with whatever materials were available to them in whatever space. I was on the GO in July. For me, this meant working while at home, on the road to St.Pete, back-again, then while in transit to Minneapolis, and back home.
When: Everyday in July (day 1 to 31).
What: Each day of the month respond to a (pre-chosen) word prompt using a visual response.
In order to accomplish this, my group and I spent 3 (1hr sessions) in preparation for the temporary break. We worked together to examine (book samples I had), choose a style of book, then create. Each mini book was required to be under 6x6 and had to have sufficient pages to last the entire month of July (at 1 page per day + 2-3 extras = 33 minimum). All books turned out quite different. *I will only be sharing photographs of my own work.
Frequency: The idea was that 1x per day (following the themes presented) you’d spend a few minutes creating a visual response. This would serve as a mindful creative practice.
Media: Everyone had access to different things, for example some had access to crayons, others magazines, some had markers, etc. I created a travel art kit similar to the one from last year but with less stuff. I took the bare essentials this time: safety scissors (TSA’s ok with those), pen assortment, #creativedeed365 cards [insert link], and a couple other things but not much more. I bought glue as soon as the plane landed and I was good to go.
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| Top July 14-17 / Bottom July 20-23, 2015 |
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| Top July 22-27 / Bottom July 16-21, 2015 |
1. Sound
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7.Natural
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13. Hobby
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19. Angry
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25.[freechoice]
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31.[freechoice]
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2. Home
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8.Tough
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14. Failure
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20.[freechoice]
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26. Guilt
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3. Thirst
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9. Independent
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15.[freechoice]
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21.Feeling
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27. Soft
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4. @Midnight
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10.[freechoice]
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16. Beauty
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22. Worry
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28. Grit
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5.[freechoice]
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11. Being Prepared
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17. Friendship
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23. Tasty
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29. Memory
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6. Race
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12. Slow
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18. Slam
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24. Companionship
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30. Mindfull
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| July 26-31, 2015 |
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