Today I was expecting the entire group- all ten of them. On Friday I reminded them that we would be painting today, and that it would be non-directive with tempera paint to a selection of music types. Instead of ten, a mere four people showed up (the lowest number out of any group).
I started them all with four colors and a piece of paper 11x18", and put the music on. As they painted, I added more colors to their selection. There were a few interesting aspects about today's group session. For one, no one asked me what my purpose in creating the group was today, and it might be the first time it hasn't happened. I figure no one asked me because of one of three reasons: One, the usual individuals who question my motives didn't show up today, two, they were starting to believe what I've been trying to tell them all along (probably the least likely to be true of the three), and three, something about today's activity distracted them from their concerns. One conclusion I have come to as a result of today's group, is how well music acts as a facilitator to the positive experience that I'm trying so hard to give them. Had I decided to let the residents paint freely without music, I expect that I would have encountered far more resistance than I actually did. As soon as I switched on the music, all of them were off painting. This means that somehow, having music playing in the background eliminates the hesitation factor which has been present (at least at the beginning) of every exercise I have directed them to try. I'm not sure why, but with the music playing, no one even thought twice about what I was asking them to do.
After class, one woman came up to me and explained how important she believes music to be- which is interesting because of her background teaching hearing-impaired children. During the activity, another woman voiced her dislike of one of the songs I played for the class, and someone else refused to come because she heard me suggest jazz on Friday. The second woman said- "I think we're too old to appreciate the types of music you are playing." To which the first woman replied, "that's not true, I like all kinds of music." I made a point to play a variety of songs in a variety of genres in order to get different responses from them. Among everything else I learned from today, it was a reminder of my inability to please everyone at the same time.
I started them all with four colors and a piece of paper 11x18", and put the music on. As they painted, I added more colors to their selection. There were a few interesting aspects about today's group session. For one, no one asked me what my purpose in creating the group was today, and it might be the first time it hasn't happened. I figure no one asked me because of one of three reasons: One, the usual individuals who question my motives didn't show up today, two, they were starting to believe what I've been trying to tell them all along (probably the least likely to be true of the three), and three, something about today's activity distracted them from their concerns. One conclusion I have come to as a result of today's group, is how well music acts as a facilitator to the positive experience that I'm trying so hard to give them. Had I decided to let the residents paint freely without music, I expect that I would have encountered far more resistance than I actually did. As soon as I switched on the music, all of them were off painting. This means that somehow, having music playing in the background eliminates the hesitation factor which has been present (at least at the beginning) of every exercise I have directed them to try. I'm not sure why, but with the music playing, no one even thought twice about what I was asking them to do.
After class, one woman came up to me and explained how important she believes music to be- which is interesting because of her background teaching hearing-impaired children. During the activity, another woman voiced her dislike of one of the songs I played for the class, and someone else refused to come because she heard me suggest jazz on Friday. The second woman said- "I think we're too old to appreciate the types of music you are playing." To which the first woman replied, "that's not true, I like all kinds of music." I made a point to play a variety of songs in a variety of genres in order to get different responses from them. Among everything else I learned from today, it was a reminder of my inability to please everyone at the same time.
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i did also in school, a sort of art therapy...well it was pretty different and still not too much.
my art teacher, i have the most respect for him, was using 30 minutes of our lessons for this exercise. we had to write on a piece of paper questions. a sort of made up questions, questions , easy questions but with a trigger inside. and he always told us that we just have to answer in our own way. we don't have to use the answer of the common sense..
questions like: what is communism? what is the rainbow? if angels are white, why are the priests dressed in black? how can santa close come to eachone of us only in one night?
the thing is, i really think that this exercises, twice a week for four years, developed my imagination...and we all know how important imagination is for an artist...if you are interested i can send you some of his questions/ translate them for you, and if you would like, also some of the answers that the kids were giving.
take care