#tbt swipe left for bottom half of painting. "Lucy's Journey" 2016, 21x39", acrylic on canvas. This one was a human skull I borrowed from the science department. Sold to @knowloveknowhope Thank you, darling!
A mandala every day for the past week (pretty much) - can you tell which days I had less anxiety? #arttherapy #commit2cre8
This is what art usually does to me. It fills me with color and warmth. I can go to a museum or gallery and feel things, good things. My mirror neurons alight with every busy brushstroke. #arttherapy #commit2cre8
This is what my job is like for me. I obsess over it. I lay awake at night worrying about it. I replay every mistake and imagine what all the new ones might be. I wish I had a switch I could flip to free my mind of it. There are many positive things about my job, but it's not in my nature to be haunted by positive things. I keep having to logically and purposefully return to the positive whereas the negative comes unbidden and fiercely. #arttherapy #commit2cre8
"Audra's Bones" was my first commission, and one of my favorite bone paintings. I loved having someone say they wanted a specific skull and specific color scheme. Thank you for the opportunity, Audra! #tbt #skull #painting
"It felt like a winter machine that you go through and then, you catch your breath and winter starts again, and everyone else is springbound." -Dar Williams. "After All" is one of my favorite songs and it sums up the cycle of depression pretty well. In the past two days so many have reached out to support me, which brings me to my favorite part of the song, "And the sun rose, with so many colors it nearly broke my heart. It worked me over like a work of art, and I was a part of all that." Thank you to everyone who reached out, and even those who didn't get a chance. I know you still got my back.
So I basically haven't made any serious art since my leave of absence in the 18-19 school year. Instead I've been battling with severe depression and anxiety while also trying not to be a terrible teacher. Teaching and staying alive takes up all of my energy. So aside from throw back Thursdays, I'm going to be posting some of the prompts I do in art therapy, like this one: An illustration of a positive word for me to meditate upon. #arttherapy
I missed #tbt yesterday so here it is. "Teddy Bones" 2012, acrylic, I think it's an elk skull. Gifted to me by my friend Chris.
#tbt "turned antlers" 2010? This was my first and only time using tracing paper to repeat forms around a circle. Not sure why this one is so unpopular. The color? The repetition?
#tbt "Blair Bones" oil on canvas, 2008. This was the first painting I did with the llama skull that @startafarm gave me. It was also the first time I used water soluble oil paints. It's one of my favorite skulls and one of my favorite paintings. It hangs in my bedroom.
