Art Therapy Take Two

Ayyup...that went well.
I spent most of last nights solo session calming down my therapist's boss. Evidently the bleach twins felt threatened by me. Not quite sure how I became the villianess of the piece (evidently I'm a scary badass). I was just standing there minding my own business and painting. A formal complaint has been made against me and against the therapist (who did absolutely nothing but try to calm the silly twunt down)

Now I will admit...the idea of committing mayhem did come to mind. and I'm thinking that should I be faced with that 'tude again that there will be moustaches and goatees painted on.

I'm thinking something in a nice Pthalo Blue or Alizarine Crimson.

Welcome to my blog

Well hi there and welcome newcomers...

Failte!

Make yourselves at home, sit a spell.

My other blog RippleFx is where I post about the world in general.

This is where I come to whine or to laugh..or just sort out what's going on in my head/personal life. Comments are welcomed.  So is advice.

this is literally a window into how I'm feeling/where my headspace is so it's not always going to be a pretty place. Sometimes the artwork will reflect that ( and yes..some of the art that I put on this blog is indeed mine). If I disturb you..sorry...if I make you laugh or think ..then yay..good for you and for me too. This is personal space laid out in public so I've changed the names to protect the not so innocent.


Slainte and merry met.

Bump in the night...

So...last night or rather in the wee hours of this morning I was sitting here working on a layout project (2:45 am to be precise - I know because I looked at the clock on the computer) I heard someone open the side door of the house and go upstairs to the apartment that my landladie's son and his family used to live in ( they moved out this week in order to get the kiddo into a better school).

At first I didn't think much of it..the kids were always night owls so I was pretty used to hearing them move around but then it hit me.... they'd moved out.....there shouldn't be anyone up there.

There was definitely movement..someone knocked something over... I was wide awake and wired on caffiene so I wasn't dreaming noises. I listened a moment or two more then looked out and didn't see any odd cars so I picked up the phone and dialed my landlady. I hated to do it..it was odarkthirty..but I didn't want to call the cops if the kids had come to do late night painting or some such. They both have authority figure issues - they hate cops.

No luck.

I debated a bit then finally went outside and around to their door. The nextdoor neighbors lights were all on...and upstairs in the apartment over my place..every light was on  - whoa...brave burglars if it was burglars.

I thought about it for a moment then knocked..loudly.

all movement stopped.

Then it occurred to me that if this had been a horror movie I would be toast..I'd walked around the side of the house leaving my door unlocked and unattended.

dumbass....

Classic blunder.

worse than starting a land war in asia.

and what the hell would I do if THEY did answer the door? ask to borrow a cup of sugar?

So do I sit outside all night in the cold damp ghetto...or do I woman up and go back inside and face the potential axe murderer.

It started to rain....

I went back inside figuring that I had a nice big stick and that if it was just one scrawny serial killer I could probably at least scar them for life. If nothing else the fight would be cheaper than art therapy and I wouldnt get into trouble for smacking or biting.

I'm happy to report...there was no masked madman waiting when I got back inside....he must have read my last couplr of blogs figured out that I was both stressed and crazy so he slipped quietly out the back and went on to seek out  a nice nubile cheerleader.

The kids are up there now seeing what all's missing. I told them the next time I hear a bump or thump it's just an immediate call to 911.

A bad case of WTF

Well...It's been a wee bit since I've blogged. I've been kind of balls to the wall busy with work and sorting out life in general.
The last couple of weeks have been brutal with a whole squad of brutes. I've pulled a couple of all-nighters on a host of projects and have been attempting to have a social life AND juggle my various issues.

So far I haven't fallen apart, dropped dead or throttled anyone but it's been close a couple of times.

Work's been going gangbusters. It seems like since I'm not able to excell at my personal life that I'm damned and determined to kick work's ass  - and well....at the risk of sounding arrogant I rock the design stuff. It's something I can wrap my brain around and make do what I want it to..precisely if I just work it hard enough. God I love that. Man if everything else was that easy I'd be set.

I know that you're wondering about the title for the blog.......weeeeeell it's a long story.

Not satisfied with the piles of things on my plate at the moment I decided it was time to overhall my life from the ground up. Healthier eating habits (been loving that actually), daily exercise (Tai chi) and therapy. I've been toying with the notion for a bit even though I don't groove on spilling my laundry all over someone else's floor and sorting through it...I'm not really having that much luck on my own so I suppose it's time.  Cameron suggested I try Art Therapy....I researched it, it sounded interesting and certainly a much better fit for me than traditional lay on the couch and get your head shrunk stuff so I did some checking and we have several very good art therapists here in the Atlanta area.  I wrote some emails, did some phoning and ta-da! I was set up for both group and one on one sessions and it wasn't even going to break the bank.

All happy and healthy feeling I gathered up my stuff and off to AT I went. the one on one session was great. I like my ..uh....teacher/therapist. She's got a great BS detector and is straight up to the point with her insight. It was a get to know you session. I felt like I was off to a great start and was looking forward to the group session. Group is a 3 hour class that includes studio time. The talking portion of the session went fine. I didn't talk much, just the usual getting to know you crap. Hi I'm X, I'm a graphic designer, blah blah blah.
I was actually looking forward to studio time..then it started. We were allowed to bring music ( I had my shuffle and some tunes that reflected the things that had been pressing on my mind lately) so I had my earbuds in and was caught up in what I was doing rather than what was going on around me.  Next thing I knew one of my fellow students was right there tapping on my shoulder with a sullen angry expression on her face - I'm going to call her SoccerMom....mostly because Twunt is already taken and I do try to be polite and reserve titles.

SoccerMom "What're you doing?"

Me "um...Painting...."

SoccerMom "well what are you doing it like that for?"

Me "beg pardon?...this is the way I paint.... oh you mean the style, It's called underpainting, it's the way I learned how to paint"

SoccerMom "You're a professional artist"

Me "No..I'm a professional graphic designer."

SoccerMom " well..I don't think there should be professional artists in this class"

Me  "I'm a graphic designer..not a painter"
(looking around for the therapist and trying for a little humor) " Why not? trust me...artists are just as crazy as nonartists"

SoccerMom " well I think YOU people should have your own class, you make us look bad"

Me (still wrapping my brain around being one of YOU people so my mouth went on and answered for me..big mistake) "No ...somehow I don't think that I'm going to be the one making you look bad..you're doing that just shiny without me BUT that's behavior, and this isn't an art competition, this is therapy. I'm here for me and my inner demons. I honestly couldn't give a flying frak about anyone's artistic talent or training, or lack thereof. I'm not here to win...I'm here to work my issues out." I went back to painting..nice angry strokes now

Therapist approaching " Is something wrong?"

SoccerMom " She's swearing at me!"  Big tears forming (OMG...she's one of those... a weeper)


Me one eyebrow raised "Yes I did indeed swear if you count using a term from a Sci-Fi show as swearing, after she came over and told me that my kind of people..ie ..professional artists shouldn't be in this group and was generally unpleasant I told her that I didn't give a flying frak about anyone else's artistic talent that this wasn't a competition and that I was here for the inner growth and understanding but I did not swear AT her....specifically...at least not yet"

Therapist " Uh..um... well thanks for the explaination." Hurriedly (SoccerMom and her bestest buddy Barbie both look like they're about to blow) "Yes..it's not about the level of ability...this is about working on one's problems."

(angry glares from the bleach twins)

SoccerMom " well ......SHE should have to do some other kind of art so she's on the same level as the rest of us.

Barbie " Yes! it's just unfair to the rest of us to have someone who knows how to paint in here"

(the group is looking very uncomfortable and embarassed at this point)


Therapist "Well...that would be her decision but she could switch mediums if SHE wishes to, her materials are covered by her fees" she's giving me a pleading look. "we have clay already..."

SoccerMom is looking smug. Barbie looks like she's about to pee herself.

And that's when my temper just gave an audible POP

Me as I turned to the Therapist and smiled " well sure sugar...I'll switch over to clay"

SoccerMom started looking a bit less pleased and I turned to her

Me "So....Bitch.... by the way that was me swearing AT you specifically...I just wanted to make sure you got it! My major in art school was photography...not painting.....would you like to know what one of my minors was?"


I didn't wait for her to complete her meltdown or to ask

"3D Design....also known as sculpting.I prefer assemblage work but I enjoy clay as well."

That got a couple of snickers from the rest of the group

Groupmate (One of them worked up enough nerve to say boo) " she was just standing there painting and SoccerMom went over and started being hateful."

The rest of the session was spent hearing Soccermom's meltdown about how she's always so misunderstood and treated so badly.

I left with an underpainting that I'm going to work on at home and the firm resolve to either find a different group or to shove my fanbrush up her nose if she pulls shit on me again next time.

Solo session should be interesting.