Inter-generational arts in the lounge room

Part of bringing creativity more into my daily life is about what grows in the front garden. This is how it started....

...And 6 months later we are growing tomatoes, melon, corn, beans, capsicum, pumpkin, cucumber, carrots, silverbeet, strawberries and herbs! We wanted to make some home made baskets to grow hanging plants so we enlisted the help of my partner's mum, who is a guru of traditional craft skills. This has turned out to be a beautiful project to share together, and is rapidly leading to a regular arts day in her lounge room every Sunday.

Here is the first basket I have started with her...

Basket beginnings...

Growing...

Experimenting...


And still experimenting with finishing off...Think it needs another trip to the guru!

What is special about this story, is that this project has a certain therapeutic benefit for all of us involved. My partner's mum had stopped making a lot of these things for a long time, and our enthusiasm to learn has ignited her fire again too. It is wonderful to learn from her and to spend time chatting about life and art together. Art making, I find, has an intrinsic quality of being able to bring people together. Yay. I'm inspired!

Becoming a craftess

I've been enjoying getting crafty with recycled materials since moving to the country. This was my first go at making a soft toy. I'd been feeling an urge to learn some more traditional skills (including sewing!) to incorporate into my art practice for some time....So I took myself to a Soul Doll making class, facilitated by the wonderful Trace Balla....and now I am hooked!

These dolls are ones I have been making for a while from sticks on the property, wire, yarn and loved garments. When I want to invite a quality or aspect of something great into my life, I often make a doll around it....The intention works! I like to place a special object inside the doll's body that can't be seen from the outside, which is symbolic of the quality I am thinking about at the time.


My first sculptural basket making experiment using willow gathered from the local creek and recycled string and wire made in Trace's workshop.... The fun of collecting materials on a long walk through nature is half the fun.

Thoughts on companioning

These dolls are made of string and wire, with something unique inside the body of each one. I made them when I was thinking about this idea of being with another recently.

Beginning in Spring

This blog is about the process of integrating the experiences of studying and working in art therapy into my daily life. It is an ongoing exploration. Inspiration comes from being happily lost in the forest out back of my house, the beautiful experiences of collaborating and facilitating art projects with community groups, and how this is somehow always reflected in my friendships and personal relationships at the time. Things become richer. There is a sacredness in just sitting with and being understood by another.