Musings of an Artful Mind

At last the art swap cards are here! My cards arrived and I am mighty pleased with these lovely miniature works in my hot little hands. Check them out! At artists from top left to right are as follows: Stephanie Aliberti (NY); Melanie Glassey (PA); Diane Menna (NY); and Poppy Terris (FL). What really strikes me is how well these small works read. The compositions are unique, visually appealing, and have their own symbolic narrative. Now that I have my cards I realize I made mine smaller in width. It is time to invest in a ruler and not use the measuring tape for paper projects. Oh, no! Another trip to the art supply store, best buy required textbooks for this term first! I feel lucky to have stumbled this opportunity to participate in a community building project. Thanks again to the organizer Melanie Glassey and to all you hard working creative folks who participated in the Art Therapy Alliance 2nd ATC swap.

Artists are known to be messy. In fact authors go to great lengths to romanticize and glamorize the ‘starving artists struggle’. Today, while getting some supplies for an upcoming show, I wrote on my hand the name of a book I was having a hard time putting down it was Inside the Painter’s Studio by Joe Fig. Basically Fig goes around to various artists and ask them a battery of questions about their studio practices, how and when they dedicated themselves full time to art, how long they've been in their studio, and the process of their work. I just hope the school library or summit has it because I’d love some art literary candy. I have just about finished organizing my studio/ library room. There has been a good amount of workable materials that have surfaced and I’m fighting the urge to bring them all with me to school next week. Needless to say, I am greatly anticipating the Practicum Studio class. I skimmed the syllabus of the class and I already like the assignments, t

This summer I drew in watercolors during a quick trip out of the city with a fellow art therapy student and published poet Paula. She and I went out east toward the Colombia Gorge and observed the lay of land from a hill top at the Women’s Forum. This impromptu art happening gave me a fresh look making art out in the open, out in nature, away from the consumerism that can be the livelihood or bane of any artist. There we had time to take note of the timeless beauty intrinsic to this Pacific Northwest region. We found ourselves a sunny spot and were fortunate to meet members of the Portland Plein Air Society. They painted painterly landscapes in oils on French easels whilst Paula and I gave it a go with watercolors, sepia ink pens, and charcoal on scrap paper from a print exchange. The paper is Arches watercolor paper and is 4.5” x 20”. A panoramic landscape seemed to be just right for these left over bits of paper. Armed with a big sunhat, a water bottle, and an anxiety free disp

I recently participated in my first art therapy-artist trading card swap. I was once again gently reminded by this activity of the awesome power of making spontaneous art. Truly art gives us what we need to survive emotionally and spiritually. Despite being a dedicated studio artist I feel that I’m often asleep to what I really need inside. Yet this simple and meaningful task reminded me of what I do best which is to create from within. Am happy with how my cards turned out and I am a bit surprised at how peaceful they look. The themes that emerged within my cards are those that seem to have stuck with me during my graduate training thus far which are keeping a drawing journal, breathing, listening, and observing. The guiding theme for the artist trading card swap was collage unleashed so I brought it back to some old school fun by scanning three dimensional objects ( including my face), collaged items, packing tape, text in black ball point pen, and of course some iridescent fabric

The encaustic workshop led on Wednesday was a success! It looked like everyone enjoyed the process and were thirsty for an art experiential. Many thanks to Paula for hosting this meeting in her stunning backyard plein-air studio and to my co-leader Natalie who introduced our group to modern variations of the encaustic technique and provided hand outs for the participants. Thank you all for enthusiasm and eagerness to learn this art process. Coming up next in our Art Therapy Student Summer of Art WS: Watercolor and Acrylic: Water based techniques meeting site & leaders TBA soon!

pictures from my walk around town on March 5th 2010

C A R O L I N A M E D I N A - D U P A I X http://www.carolinamedinadupaix.com Education: Marylhurst University Masters in Art Therapy Counseling degree in progress Pacific Northwest College of Art: B.F.A 2000-2004 Portland, OR Scholarships and Art Related Experience: Teaching Assistant, Beginning Intaglio and Litho class PNCA 2/2010 Scholarship Recipient, James F. and Marrion L. Miller Foundation Art Therapy Scholarship 2009-2010 Curated, Dark Bohemian Carnival Vino Vixens Wine Bar 1-4/2009 Portland, OR Guest Services Representative, Portland Art Museum 10/2005-08/2009 PDX, OR Co-curator, Portland Art Museum Staff Art Show 8/2007 Portland, OR Live painting performance at The Woods Portland Round 8/2009 PDX, OR Volunteer, The Manor of Art at MILEPOST 5, 8/2009 PDX, OR Creative Consultant Convergence XIII, Crystal Ballroom 5/26/2007 Portland, OR Participant, PNCA Print Portfolio Exchange 2004-2007 Portland, OR Art Prepator Assistant, The Hesse Collection, Portland Art Museum 2006 PDX