… Lisa remembers and shares a creative prompt inspired by a yoga and visualization experience.

As Mom celebrates another year, that we were not expecting to have together, I thought “let’s share this story with my creative community, and maybe encourage or inspire others to explore ways to create legacy art with their loved ones if they are able.”

There is a tapestry of diverse human experiences, created and held together with the common threads of understanding. So many of us during intensely stressful periods of our lives, feel alone with our problems, and if compounded by social isolation, this sense of uniqueness and aloneness increases. When we reach out to others, and as sharing and disclosures occur, there is comfort in knowing that others may have been effected by similar experiences.

…“For me, everything starts with a sketch. There’s always a story to tell and you never quite know how it’s going to end. I love the immediacy of graphite, charcoal and pastel. I love the handiness of watercolours, and the power of ink and acrylic media. All those pigments have history and chemistry. They make music for the eyes.”

Sharing with consent Jill Hewlett’s recent Mailing from Brain and Life Reset and her wonderful story The Friendship Bench..

Sharing eco-art and earth sculptures created in community on Monday September 30th for Truth and Reconciliation Day. Moments spent in reflection on this important day and in response to the natural materials.

Sharing in this post powerful poetry and artwork by Luke Gustafson created this year during his training at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute.

Sharing in this post a recent creativity afternoon to celebrate Seniors’ Month. The day included resident art displays and 5 interactive creativity stations.

Creatively Connecting to Life at ALL ages… Sharing resources, links rationale around aging and the arts!!! A huge thank you to Andrea, Erminia, Gilda, Hannah, Lisa, Marillyn, Meg and Susan for their beautiful reflections about the value of creativity as we age.

…”Armatures are literally the backbone of what I gravitate to as a creator. Whether it’s static or animated, three inches or three metres, every creation starts with an armature. Some artists doodle on paper. I doodle with wire.”

Sharing resources, links in relation to aging, creativity and the arts. This is an ongoing evolving list. Do you have something to add? Please reach out and share if you do!!

This post shares the origin story of the ‘Supportive Hands’ painting - an art therapy project with my wonderful LTC team in 2013 that later inspired and planted the seeds for the larger resident-focused community LTC Supportive Hands Mandala in 2015, and many other smaller ‘supportive hands’ projects in the years to follow.

Peace, harmony and co-existence are so needed in these ruptured post-pandemic times, for change, shifts of direction and growth to truly occur, and for the global ‘we’ to move forward and heal.

For this post I am digging through the archives (so so many years ago), when I took a studio sculpture course at Camosun College in Victoria.

The hand is our signature, our symbol and our legacy. It is easily accessible to use as creative inspiration and for personal mark-making. In this post I am sharing snapshots of nine of these supportive-hands projects that I have facilitated over the years in various long-term care and retirement settings.

Sharing in this post the creative, co-teaching and co-learning eco-art therapy workshop collaboration with my dear friend and art therapy peer Susan for the Toronto Art Therapy Institute. Also wonderful to be re-connecting with Taylor as she develops the virtual Eco-Art Therapy workshop for TATI alongside us for later this year.

Sharing in this post my recent creative collaboration with my dear friend Heather at Amica Peel Village for Earth Day 2023. As an Eco-Artist and Art Therapist who works regularly with natural materials, I was excited to engage residents in a nature-based art activity. The afternoon included art displays and information tables and residents gathering in community to create earth sculptures to celebrate earth day.

I have such gratitude for the friends and colleagues that have supported the program at different times over the past 10 years, and as a result some kind of cool projects came into being that I feel very blessed to be part of. It is a great to have an idea, as I am an idea-girl, but without a community of support, it is challenging to put things into action!

For the longest time now I’ve have been so fortunate. When I least expect it, but always need it, a heart appears. Any time of day, any place. There it is.

Thanks to my personal growth journey, I was led to the knowledge and tools that I share with others in my professional life. Early on my path, I did not identify as a creative person, however, overtime I have come to realize that not only am I a highly creative individual, we all are! Life is a courageous act of creating, choosing, and becoming in each and every moment. HeartArt was unexpectedly birthed during this process.

…”I am and have always been a poet. I was a poet before I even knew I was. Poetry has enveloped me and invited me to see, explore and make meaning of the world. It has moved me closer to myself”.

…”After twenty five plus years working as a creative globally, my daughter and I chose to set down roots in Nova Scotia …..A place that you can still try out whatever you dream up. I started a film and art school in Mahone Bay with the directive of creating an environment where creativity could thrive”.

Connecting through Sharing. Art Therapy Resources for Art Therapists.

Sharing alternating photos of rich autumn colours and nature’s lines, with photos taken through the fragmented lens of a skeletal leaf during a recent nourishing nature stroll through the Royabl Botanical Gardens.

Were you able to take a moment this beautiful autumn weekend?

Independent Art Project for Nuit Blanche 2022.
Susan chose the idea of drawing breath in artful ways, because it is fully accessible to anyone who chooses to engage. This project is experiential; designed to be fully inclusive, intergenerational, and cross-cultural. Open to ALL ages/all abilities. Anyone who wants to participate has the opportunity.

It can be incredibly meaningful to take a pause to capture our state of being, and at times imperative to remind ourselves of who we are in a particular moment - connecting and reflecting upon the succint yet powerful words of “I Am”!!

Sharing a listing of Stories, Story Tellers , Creators and Contributors to the AP Connections Blog.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I started a brief gratitude project using images. I have continued this gratitude practice daily, through writing and mindfulness in nature. I decided that it would be helpful to introduce a self-compassion and self-love practice into my daily life because I had noticed a significant change in my outlook while practicing gratitude.

Painting my daily experiences among the trees created meaning and purpose when life felt confusing, overwhelming, and uncertain. They supported me and helped light the way when the path forward was unclear - Tania

Sharing my reflections and eco-art creation to celebrate all of the recent art therapy graduates from the Toronto Art Therapy Institute.

Inspiration…. In this post offerings of spring… eco-art and garden florals enjoyed and shared.